Appreciate all the knowledge here. 49 Ford 12 volt car factory oogah type horn. I like to cruise with my arm on the door sill. Sometimes when people give a thumbs up I do the "head up" but I decided to toot the horn at a lady who smiled at me and waved (which I believe qualifies as consent) My teeth clenched and I got a jolt through my horn hand to my window arm and everywhere in between. Spine, soul, cartilage. I was basically DC cardioverted. I flopped around and needless to say the lady was unimpressed. As I take it apart I realize the entire horn ring is attached to the wire coming up through the column. The insulators don't isolate the chrome ring I press, just the "detent ring to column" I am utterly at a loss for how I can keep from getting shocked without wiring a momentary button in. I do not understand this specific circuit...though I have wired two cars I am still a hack 1. when horn circuit is pressed it completes the circuit from the wire to the steering shaft...i had assumed this was a ground 2. My arm is on door so it is happy to complete a circuit there through my horn hand to door hand, is the horn ring positive??? 3. the horn itself only has one wire to it I appreciate any advice you can share. This site has helped me build my dream car and I drive it everywhere! Lots of knowledge on here could not have done it without everyone Jim
The original system was positive ground...is it original? If not then you are dead shorting the entire electrical system when you use that horn button. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
It is negative ground but honestly has layers of wiring that has been redone by many different owners
Thank you!!! Weird that those guys only got a little tingle mine felt like i was getting alternator output??? Anyway I am going to wire a resistor in thank you!
No matter it it's 12 or 6 volt the current has to go to a Ground. If your 49 Ford is all stock hardware and the Horns are still mounted on the underside of the Hood, it's still a Ground issue. In stock form there is a brass scraper on the Cowell that makes better ground when hood is closed. Grounding through hinge bolts isn't enough. Another issue can be to much paint or just enough Rust to make a week ground, next route of flow is back feed and to your arm.
Bingo! This makes no difference. I know polarity can be confusing. In layman’s terms, the car does not know whether it’s positive or negative ground.
James, This would be a good repair for this.... Make sure you have a good heavy body ground strap and the connections are clean. Make sure the mounting for the horn is clean. Most of these new novelty OOhga horns are plastic so there may need to be extra steps to ground it like a short ground wire from the metal part of the horn to the horn mount. Once the horn ground to the hood is confirmed, I would run a 12 or 10 gauge ground wire from the horn mount to the cowl or firewall. You can incorporate this ground wire into the existing horn wire harness.
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