hope i get as lucky on this as i did on a earlier post, on my wiper motor-- john z had the right answer as usual. on my horn is it suppose to have voltage at the spring loaded button under the steering wheel? i hope so i finally find the wire in the turn signal wires and spliced into it and got voltage up to the button. when i cross the button to a ground it will ark but no horn and i know my horns are good.how exactly does the relay work? if someone could help i would be thankful, maybe sorta walk me through how it all comes together.i think i am on the right track just need alittle alignment, THANKS

"on my horn is it suppose to have voltage at the spring loaded button under the steering wheel? i hope so i finally find the wire in the turn signal wires and spliced into it and got voltage up to the button."
*There is no true voltage on that wire or another way of saying it is: That is not a positive wire. It is a ground wire. What you are seeing is voltage coming through the horn relay coil and up the wire in the column. This is normal.*

"when i cross the button to a ground it will ark but no horn and i know my horns are good.how exactly does the relay work? if someone could help i would be thankful, maybe sorta walk me through how it all comes together."

*Are you sure the horn is OK? Have you tried the horns by themselves? If not disconnect the wire on the horn. With a short jumper wire jump between the horn contact and the positive terminal of the battery. Be sure to first touch the horn contact and then the battery. This will prevent the horn contact from getting pitted from the electrical arc.
If the horn is OK hook up the horn wire back on the relay. Disconnect the lead on the relay that runs to the steering column. Using your jumper wire, ground this relay terminal to ground. If the horn checked OK, and the relay is OK, the horn should work.
From what I read the wire from the horn relay to the horn button is OK. If you are unsure, measure continuity from one end of this wire to the other. Do this BEFORE you hook it back up to the relay. If this wire is OK, reconnect it back onto the horn relay.
At this point everything under the hood is functional.
Now try grounding the horn wire on the top of the steering column. Don't ground it to the steering column. Ground the wire to a known good ground under the dash. If the horn works, now ground it to the steering column shaft. If is doesn't work grounding it to the shaft, you have a problem in the steering shaft rag joint.*

" I hope so I finally found the wire in the turn signal wires and spliced into it and got voltage up to the button". Are you saying you spliced that horn wire to a voltage source and now made that wire in the column a hot wire?? like John said that's a ground wire.Undo your splice!! Check continuity of that wire from horn button to relay.Then do what John said.

SSchevyfan
There is voltage on that wire. There is no need to undo the splice. What happens is +12 volts is always tied to the positive terminal of the horn relay. The negative side, of the horn relay, runs up the steering column and is just sitting there. Where does the voltage, on the negative relay come from? It comes through the relay coil. Relay coils are nothing more than a large amount of wound wire so voltage from the positive side goes right through to the negative side. Without a load, on the negative side, this is close to 12 volts.
This is the same thing you will find if you disconnect the resistor wire off the ignition coil. If you measure that disconnected wire, you will see 12 volts, not the 8-9 volts that is present when attached to the coil with closed points. Without a load, there is essentially no voltage drop.

All this doesn't tell me if the horn relay is any good. It tells me that the relay coil is not open. It doesn't tell me if the coil is shorted. Both conditions would be a bad relay. I suggested jumping the coil's negative side to a good ground under the hood. This would tell if the coil is good (it clicks) and the relay contacts close (horn blows). This is also a "safe" test. I can't tell the skill level that everyone has. I try to suggest tests that won't screw up anything and are able to be performed by most anyone.

Here's what I'd do..Locate the wire at the horn relay that goes to the horns. Apply direct current to that wire by unplugging it and connecting it to the power input wire from the battery to the horn relay. If the horns don't sound, either that horns or wiring to the horns is faulty. Since you have aching at the horn button wire, the wiring from the horn relay to the button is okay...SO..if your horns blow in step one, you have a bad relay, if not, bad horns or open in the wire going from the relay to the horns.The horn button simply provides a ground for the relay..Once it has the ground signal, the contacts clse and provide battery voltage from the battery to the horns via the horn relay.

I thing I would scrap the horns and get the bumpersticker that reads.
"Horn's broke, Watch for finger"
Just kidding
I don't have a clue about it.

well, i got them fixed. there was rust on the terminals of the relay. i will have to say i unhooked the hot wire i had spliced into the wire under the dash to the button under the steering wheel but i can still touch a test lite to the button and waahaa boom ----lite, i think i understand.ahot is feeding through the relay is that correct.

Yes you will still see a voltage on that wire if you are using a test light. Sounds like you understand it. Looks like you are on your way.

John thanks but I know electricity well and I mean this very nice,not snotty by any means!!Yes the ground wire from the relay is 'hot' because it's not actually a ground until it is grounded such as pushing the horn button but what I read from the post was he spliced that ground wire making it hot.I thought he tapped into a voltage source.Maybe I read it wrong? I just read it over again and don't know what he meant by splicing it? Anyway it's fixed.See ya.

Sschevyfan
No offense taken and none meant on my part. I was only trying to explain why. I can't tell the skill level sometimes as I stated above. It's actually easier for me if someone does truly understand electrical theory.
I read hideaway's statement as a repair to the turn signal wiring. A repair of the harness wire that runs to the horn button.
"i hope so i finally find the wire in the turn signal wires and spliced into it and got voltage up to the button. when i cross the button to a ground it will ark but no horn"
What that told me indicated that he didn't patch it into a 12 volt line. Had he done that there would have been one major arc as he touched ground. One or two attempts would have popped a fuse. Anyway, that's why I said there was no reason to undo the wire.

That's where I guess the confusion is coming from on my part.He is working on the horn so what is the splice about with the turn signals? When I hear "splice" that usually means they have tapped into something.Get what I mean?? I guess what I was looking for was "I found the horn wire damaged and repaired it".I suppose he could have meant 'butt spliced'.Al

If you haven't already done so, it's a good idea to remove the two screw terminals from the horn relay (disconnect the battery ground cable first) and clean up the contact surface on the horn relay AND on the wire terminals that connect to it. This is a main power feed junction point for the car, and if these connections are corroded (as they usually are on 30+ year old cars), the resistance at those connections will reduce voltage and make the voltage regulator operate erratically.

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JohnZ
CRG
'69 Z28 Fathom Green