Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Mota Lita horn push bad ohmic contact

Hi all,

I have a problem with my Mota Lita horn push. The electrical resistance is typically 5 ohm but varies up and down a few ohm. The car is a plus 8, 2001 and as far as I can understand there is no relay and the bad ohmic contact causes a voltage drop resulting in that the horn does not work (not even a new horn for test)

Does anyone know how to demount the horn push. I will send a similar question to Mota Lita later but it is always nice to consult Talk Morgan first :-)

BR //. Hakan from Sweden

Maybe it depends on the model of wheel/horn push that you have. I can take off my wheel by removing the nine fixing bolts and then the retaining ring and horn push can be removed.

Haken,
You may have the black plastic version https://www.moto-lita.co.uk/accessories/black-plastic-horn-button/

Or the alloy one https://www.moto-lita.co.uk/accessories/morgan-engraved-billet-horn-button/

Both remove by easing your finger nails or a credit card under the outer edge and teasing it upwards, when fully out, if you unplug the spade end connector from the back and just touch to the boss metalwork the horn should work as a test

Hi,

I have demounted the steering wheel and removed the actual center push button house

My problem is to demount the actual push button itself. From the back side there is one electrical connector at the center and one screw at the circumference. Both these can be loosened or removed but I am hesitant if it will help to separate the moving part from the base.

Please see the centre boss I am talking about and want to demount if possible, https://www.moto-lita.co.uk/accessories/morgan-engraved-billet-horn-button/

When I ordered my MOG I chose the alloy engraved hornpush.

Sometimes I really need it. A car in front of the Mog turns backwards and backwards… and the hornpush doesn‘t work.

But the thing was: it works, but needs a very hard push. After some expierence I changed it against the cheap black plastic hornpush.
Works when it‘s needed. Very helpful.

The hornpush are only pressed in. Being a little careful you can undo them with some tape and (a old and rounded) screwdriver.

Greets René

Have you checked and cleaned the slip ring which maintains the circuit whilst wheel is turned? A dirty contact here could cause a volt drop. The wheel needs to be removed to reveal this. Note position on splines before withdrawing after removing central nut.

Note as Cooperman suggests you do not need to remove the wheel to gain access to the horn push itself. It's held in place by spring clips and prises out with wheel in-situ.

Have you tried the test he suggests to prove the problem is the actual horn push?

Forgot to mention the spring clips that hold the horn push in place form the electrical contact through steering wheel and it's nut to give the switched connection to chassis/ground. Unlikely there would be an interruption there but worth bearing in mind.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the resistance you measured with a high impedance meter. The horn push contacts are, to a degree, self cleaning with the higher current draw from horn(s). Working the contact by repeated use of horn push may improve matters.

Interesting question is this since I have experienced similar hesitation with the horn to sound which alters by the way the horn is depressed. If its pushed at its centre, the contacts seem to work better. I added a second horn and eventually a third which gives a more pleasing chord and is more of a blast. If the horn remains unused for a long while I also find it goes to sleep but with more regular summer use the thing works just fine.

Also a point of trouble: the wire in the boss is connected to a brass contactring.

In my MOG the wire was disconnected (in cause it was broken) very early in my ownership.

Greets René

Thanks to all for excellent comments :-).

First I agree that I can not trust the resistance measurement to much and after practicing the horn push a number of times it look better. After all if one use the horn very seldom it is not surprising that things does not work properly all the time.

I will improve the earthing of the push house to the steering column and I will also consider to exchange the two horns from 2001 with new ones and look for some with lower power level as the normal 60 -70 Watts

Once again thanks to everyone. Talk Morgan is really wonderful!

BR. //. Hakan