Hitchcocks Forum

Noticed the the horn on my Sixty5 had stopped working, so I set about adjusting the tone screw at the back, only to find my screwdriver sparking against the timing cover! The horn then worked for a while, then stopped working again, and the ammeter showed a full discharge (short?) when the button was being pressed. The horn sparks accross the earthed screwdriver EVEN when the horn button is not being pressed! (When the ignition is on). When the horn does work, the ammeter behaves normally, yet the body of the horn will still spark against the screwdriver. Is it likely to be just a faulty horn, or is there something else going on? (Even if the horn is faulty, I wouldn't have expected it to be "live" like this when the button wasn't being pressed!). The rest of the electrics are still working normally.

Hi Barry,I THINK it's normal that the horn has a LIVE feed when the ignition is switched on and that the horn switch provides earth.But the whole body shouldn't all be live. I'm not at home at the moment or I'd check it on mine for you. Or in the manual. Have a look at your wiring diagram or check it out with a lamp to see what's connected to what. Or somebody who knows the answer properly might turn up....Good luck, Chris

Chris is right, permanent live to the horn with ignition on.. commonly through the blue wire, (pun intended)..

Yellow wire also live to the switch/button which provides circuit to earth when pressed..

Horns knackered probably corroded points come adrift or coil shorted..

Not worth trying to repair as cheap to buy and will get damaged trying to get it apart if its the crimped ring type...

Thanks Chris and Gwilly. I have now ordered new horn - it's the Electra one from the catalogue. Cheers!