Series 3 horn working issues
 

Hello
kindly assist me solve the problem with my 85 series 3 horn, the horn can not blow from the pard but there was a time when I dismantled the steering wheel and got to know that the horn blew when the horn rod was loosed and pulled up a little. I can't figure out what the issue is, please help.

is the push pad making contact with the brass contact in the long plastic part?

the long plastic part needs to be fully turned in place. Hand tightened, not excessively tightened or it will crack.

if everything else is good, then the problem might be the inner steering column ground contact located about one third down the steering column. Impossible to diagnose without being there.

Sometime in the early 1990s Jaguar stopped selling the repair parts for the XJ sedans and the XJ-S steering columns.

People were apparently damaging the collapsing part of the column during repair and 'tack-welding' the sliding telescopic parts together.
Since this is a safety feature built-in to the car, ONLY the complete column was sold.

I used to buy the plastic insulator parts with the spring after they got jammed and damaged.
Jaguar listed the Series III XJ parts as NLA but I looked up Series II and ordered those numbers (They worked!!)
Jag got wise and discontinued ALL steering repair parts a few months later!!!!!

The parts to fix the horn are not available but there might be some alternate insulator mechanism to keep the circuit separated in the column until the horn switch is pushed?

I've never really understood how the XJ horn is supposed to work, but I have never broken the plastic contactor because I am very careful disassembling anything. But I have a spare plastic contactor just in case. So really I cannot help much with the horn issue.

The plastic 'shell' is not usually damaged during disassembly, but gets 'wadded-up' in the column parts sometimes when the column is in operation.

Something 'catches' on the inside and things go bad from there.

Does anyone know of any "preventative maintenance" that can be accomplished to prevent issues?

Thanks, Bill

​​​​​​ not messing with it. is the only one I know.

I have partly fixed the horn, the issue was with one of the copper ground touches to the steering lower column, that copper blade did not have a good contact to steering rod. I pushed to tight well and left the whole compartment uncovered to study and investigate further the issue. I took a test drive to access how it would work, along the road, the horn started blowing by itself it did for a couple of times.

I have parked to return to it tomorrow or some days to come where I will free/loose the copper a little from the rod.

Or you have any other suggestions to me to work with in regards?

The horn grounding tab
 

Attached photos are one of the horn ground tabs at the lower column part of the steering rod which caused the horn not to work when it detached from the steering column.

As seen in the photos, is it at the right setting/configuration or it needs further works on it to set well?

Pls help.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...a52bab6e47.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...4a05712a27.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...986916c444.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...dab962dd1e.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...d812ec1d43.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...52fd3c1075.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...d231dcf9b7.jpg