MG Magnette Forum

Welcome! Sign In Register

Please Sign In or Register to Search

Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!!

Posted by racedriver

Want to advertise your business in this space? Click here for more information!

Topic List Forum List Newer Older Start New Topic

Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #1
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 04:37AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

Title says it all really.

It happened to me yesterday afternoon as I was reversing onto my drive, I thought I'd caught the Horn Ring whilst turning the steering wheel whilst looking backwards but this morning on the way to a meeting it went off a couple of times again, I popped under the bonnet (hood?) and disconnected the thin brown cable from the thick brown cable with black trace (workshop manual to hand I'm pleased to say). I got back in and drove a little further and again the horn came on but stayed on for a long time whilst in a traffic queue. Not wanting to appear like a hooligan I dove under the front of the car and disconnected the horn totally and that's the situation it's in at the moment.

So by disconnecting the thing brown wire I can figure it's not the actual horn switch (steering wheel centre) or the wiring that is shorting out so it has to be somewhere after the brown/black wire. I've found the huge relay where the brown/yellow comes from. Are these suspect or am I jumping in at the deep end again and have missed something else?

Still loving it though.

We're off to our first MG Car Club evening tonight as it's our local area Pride of Ownership meeting and I'm looking forward to taking the Magnette with or without horn!

TIA

Andrew

Sponsored Links. You can hide this ad & support this site by upgrading to a Gold Membership ~ click here for more info.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #2
magnette1535 Martin O'B Carlow, Ireland 1958 MG Magnette ZB "Phyllis"	Posted: May 15, 2012 06:30AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 30

It would be worth disconnecting the wire running from the relay to the steering column( brown/black) and running a temporary replacement. If the problem persists, then the relay is faulty.
The original relays are pricey, so worth ensuring it's not a wiring issue first.
Martin.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #3
Wray Wray Lemke ., South Carolina, USA 1956 MG MGA 1958 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1973 MG MGB 1974 MG MGB GT 1974 MG MGB GT	Posted: May 15, 2012 10:09AM Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 10,987

It's a pretty good bet the the wire in the column (stator tube) is grounding. If you follow the wires where they come out of the stator tube in front of the steering rack you can find the bullet connection for the brown/black and disconnect it there. Or, do it the easy way that Martin suggested.

The relays can be serviced if you don't mind taking it apart.

Sponsored Links. You can hide this ad & support this site by upgrading to a Gold Membership ~ click here for more info.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #4
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 10:17AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

Wray, I'd already disconnected the thin brown from the thicker brown/black wire thinking that it must be the column switch or the wire inside the column, however it continued to hoot occasionally after that so could only assume it was something else in the circuit.

I think I may have found it though, it appears that the woven loom has been resting on the metal bar that is the pivot point for the accelerator and it does look like it has worn it's way through to a brown wire. I think I'll reconnect the horn at the horn and try to force it to hoot by touching the loom against the pivot bar and if it does then I know to bypass that section. There's a new loom on the list of things to do when it goes for the body work doing.

So far (apart from the clutch issue on my other thread) it's going to plan, just to get to know the car and it's foibles before we strip it down for it's rebirth.

A.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #5
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 11:08AM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

Horn sorted, it had indeed chaffed through the woven and plastic cover and was causing the relay to activate, I could hear it clicking even without having the horn connected.

The loom in that section looks very generous, lots of curves that don't appear to be needed and a metal tab that obviously hold the loom to the shell that looks in the wrong place because of the generous loom.

Has anyone got a photo of how the loom should route on the bulkhead.

Thanks again.

Andrew

Sponsored Links. You can hide this ad & support this site by upgrading to a Gold Membership ~ click here for more info.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #6
Wray Wray Lemke ., South Carolina, USA 1956 MG MGA 1958 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1973 MG MGB 1974 MG MGB GT 1974 MG MGB GT	Posted: May 15, 2012 12:19PM Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 10,987

Good find! I love the sound of twin Windtones. I have a set I want to hang on the MGB, they really get people's attention.

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #7
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 02:34PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

Mine has only got one, albeit it's a bloomin' big one at that. I notice the workshop manual states two but I can't see the second mount point and there doesn't appear to be another brown/yellow lying loose anywhere near the existing horn.

Should they be the same size as the ones found in MGBs and Midgets. Though I must admit I do like the quite deep sound of this horn, a proper horn it is not an airy fairy squeak as the ones in my Midget are.

It's on the list... this list is growing considerably now.

smiling smiley

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #8
magnette1535 Martin O'B Carlow, Ireland 1958 MG Magnette ZB "Phyllis"	Posted: May 15, 2012 03:55PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 30

Here is a photo of the bulkhead area, hope it helps. This is a replacement loom from Autosparks in the UK. Well made and they will add extra wires/ alternative connectors as requested, Lucar connectors on my voltage regulator. Fitting the loom is not for the feint hearted!!
The car should have 2 large windtone horns, one on each side of the front chassis leg. They are much larger than the horns fitted to an MGB. Can photograph if you wish, each horn has an individual feed from the relay (brown/yellow).

Reply Quote

Attachments:

photo (2).JPG (40.7 KB) –

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #9
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 04:08PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

Thanks Martin.

That's certainly a much different layout to what's under my bonnet.

The regulator is is a different place,I can't see the fusebox in yours yet mine is between the two heater pipes.

I think this is another thing for the list so that it's tidier under the bonnet.

A.

Reply Quote

Attachments:

WireLoom1.JPG (43.3 KB) –

Please Sign In or Register to view additional attachments.

WireLoom2.JPG (38.7 KB) –

Please Sign In or Register to view additional attachments.

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #10
davido David Overington NSW, Australia	Posted: May 15, 2012 04:27PM Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 172

Andrew,
Your layout is from a ZA, not a ZB! Very odd.

David

Reply Quote

Re: Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!! #11
racedriver Andrew McGee Holmfirth, United Kingdom 1957 MG Magnette ZB Varitone 1966 MG MGB GT 1967 MG Midget MkIII 1969 MG Midget MkIII 1972 MG Midget MkIII → more	Posted: May 15, 2012 04:31PM Registered: 1 year ago Posts: 267

It's a 57 car first registered on 11th May.

It certainly has the varitone window in the back and has indicators.

I'm now wondering how early in the production run it is.

A.

Reply Quote

Topic List Forum List Newer Older Start New Topic

RSS

Add your reply here, or post your own questions!

Members Sign In if you've already registered, or
Register a New Account
Registration is free and takes less than a minute

MGB & GT · MG Midget · Buy, Sell & Trade · Vendor & Group Buy · MG Engine Swaps · Original MG · MGA · MGC · MG Magnette · 1100 & 1300 · T-Series & Prewar · Modern MGs · MG Motorsports · MG-2013 Event · Member Meetup · Other Vehicles · Off Topic · Clubs

Having trouble posting or changing forum settings?
Check the Forum Help File (FAQ) or contact the webmaster.
View the archived version of this thread.
Built using Phorum Open Source Software

The MG Experience

www.mgexp.com

MG Magnette Forum

Horn Problem... it's goes off on it's own!!!!

Add your reply here, or post your own questions!Members Sign In if you've already registered, orRegister a New AccountRegistration is free and takes less than a minute

Join Our Club

MGExp Menu

—

Adjust Text Size

More to Explore

Add your reply here, or post your own questions!

Members Sign In if you've already registered, or
Register a New Account
Registration is free and takes less than a minute