CJ horn button assembly

The plastic part with the metal plate inside is a spring. It has to be put together the right way or it doesn't spring right.

There is also a small plunger-like part that has a spring that might remind you of the spring inside of a ball point pen. This is the electrical connection that makes the whole thing work.

I think there were two different assemblys. Mine is a "sport" wheel that came with a Laredo or some other high end CJ. Doesn't have any spring with it. That is according to the Chiltons too. Now there is a metal rod like that comes out of the column..but this doesn't come off with the wheel.

rebounds...what

The metal plate is the spring.

They are a bugger to get together correctly too. The spacers have to be in right. I have cursed at more than one of them....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Allen wrote:

I am working from memory here, so there may be an error or two.

When I put the steering wheel on, I have to orientate it correctly -- not only for straight ahead, but also for the horn electrical contact. When the wheel is on right, there is a hole in it that allows a spring - similar to that which might be found in a ballpoint pen - and a plunger. This spring and plunger is encapsulated in a plastic sleeve to isolate it. (When this part touches ground, the horn will honk.) My plunger is the only part that I have in here that is still the stock part. The spring has long since been replaced with one that actually came from a ball point pen, and the plastic sleeve has been replaced with a straw from Mc Donalds.

Then, there is a flat, round, metal plate that is not really flat -- if you look at it closely, you will notice it is concave or convex, depending on which way you are holding it -- that is held by a plastic ring that has three small screws that mount it to the steering wheel hub. Basically, these parts fit around the nut that holds the steering wheel on. The metal plate is actually a spring that offers the return when you press the horn button.

Then, there is a cup-like piece that has a plastic piece which fits into three small holes. Small is a relative term, I suppose -- these holes are probably on the order of 3/8". There are insulators that fit into these holes, and screws through the insulators that hold the cup on. The cup only fits one way, and the horn button itself will clip to the rim of the cup when all is assembled correctly.

There is 12v sitting on the underside of the flat spring in the center of all of this stuff (via the spring that looks like it came from a ball point pen). It is pressing the cup up against the bottom of plastic insulators that fit into the three holes that are 3/8". The steering wheel is grounded through the steering column shaft. When you press the horn button down, you connect it to ground. The electrical path is battery power through a relay and up to the horn button. When the horn button is pressed, you supply the ground to power the relay, which closes contacts that send juice to the horn.

There are parts under the steering wheel that will keep the horn from working, even if the stuff above the steering wheel is all put together correctly.

If I attempted to inventory the parts, I would have ...

three small screws that hold the plastic ring around the flat metal spring the flat metal spring the plastic ring around the flat metal spring three plastic insulators and three appropriately sized screws that hold the cup-like part on the cup-like part that the horn button clips to a spring that looks like it came out of a ball point pen a plunger that fits on the spring that came from a ball point pen an insulator that isolates the plunger and ballpoint pen spring

My steering wheel is the tilt steering, and I think my CJ is a Renegade, but I am not sure on that detail. (My hood has lettering on it that says it is a Renegade, but I thought that Renegades were CJ7s and I have a CJ5, and the hoods are interchangable. I do not seem to have any other stuff that would come with a Renegade package, except that I have some kind of aluminum rocker guards that have been parked in the corner of my garage for as long as I have owned my Jeep.) I suppose tilt steering is a Renegade option ... Maybe Loredos are CJ7s and Renegades are CJ5s, they have the same - or similar options - for each of these models. Either way, I don't think the arrangement of the horn button parts would be significantly different. The steering parts are common with GM, so maybe you can find a diagram in a Hanyes or Chilton manual that you have out in the garage.

Here are some good images of a basic Jeep steering column, it might help, I used this info when I tightened my column up last month.... some other pages of use are listed directly below

Other Steering column help pages of use:

Jeep Steering column Images shown here: On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:17:45 -0800, "CRWLR" wrote:

When I put the steering wheel on, I have to orientate it correctly -- not>only for straight ahead, but also for the horn electrical contact. When the>wheel is on right, there is a hole in it that allows a spring - similar to>that which might be found in a ballpoint pen - and a plunger. This spring>and plunger is encapsulated in a plastic sleeve to isolate it. (When this>part touches ground, the horn will honk.) My plunger is the only part that I>have in here that is still the stock part. The spring has long since been>replaced with one that actually came from a ball point pen, and the plastic>sleeve has been replaced with a straw from Mc Donalds.http://www.wagoneers.com/JEEPS/tech/FSJ-TECH/Tilt-Column-Repair/SJ-column-4.jpghttp://www.wagoneers.com/JEEPS/tech/FSJ-TECH/Tilt-Column-Repair/SJ-column-5.jpghttp://www.wagoneers.com/JEEPS/tech/FSJ-TECH/Tilt-Column-Repair/SJ-column-6.jpg>Then, there is a flat, round, metal plate that is not really flat -- if you>look at it closely, you will notice it is concave or convex, depending on>which way you are holding it -- that is held by a plastic ring that has>three small screws that mount it to the steering wheel hub. Basically, these>parts fit around the nut that holds the steering wheel on. The metal plate>is actually a spring that offers the return when you press the horn button.http://www.wagoneers.com/JEEPS/tech/FSJ-TECH/Tilt-Column-Repair/SJ-column-1.jpg

Those pics are great.

The OP only was trying to get his horn working again, but it might help him to see the underlying parts. I was not aware that mine was broken where the electrical contact comes up through the steering wheel hub. I thought the plastic part that does the insulation duties was supposed to be a separate part. It is lots easier to work with this contact if the plastic is not broken like mine is. ;-)

>When I put the steering wheel on, I have to orientate it correctly -- not> >only for straight ahead, but also for the horn electrical contact. Whenthe

>Then, there is a flat, round, metal plate that is not really flat -- ifyou