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Latest update - dipstick tube replaced by my local independent garage ccmhelp.co.uk/ and I got them to check it over before an MOT - threw up a few issues, and I've bought the parts to sort most of them. But one is the windscreen washer. It has a universal aftermarket electric pump, which all seem to last about one MOT before failing - does anyone know of any which might be a bit better made and last a bit longer (but not £90 for an original equipment one!) cheers folks Cortinaman |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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So, as the sun was shining I thought I would have a look at the windscreen washers on the Jag. Turned on the ignition, flipped the washer switch and nothing (no surprise as I knew they weren't working, but we live in hope!) Got out the multimeter and attached the Cortinaman patented extended one man electrical checking cables (crocodile clips on the end of long wires!) and clipped them onto the end of the wires to the washer pump.  So a decent voltage reading when the switch was flipped, which rather suggests the pump is knackered, but worth a check, so hooked the pump up to the battery - and it worked! Hmmm, so switch is clearly working, and pump is clearly working, just not together. So I rechecked the pump, and got the wires back to front and nothing - I wonder if the pump was connected backwards? Wired it back up the opposite way round and:-  So for future reference - this is the way round it is supposed to be wired!  So now its just finding out why the horn goes "doink" rather than "parp"! |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Further updates! I have had a look at the horns and nothing obvious is loose, dirty, missing etc. When I push the horn ring one of the horns goes "doink" but does not sound - its not a relay clicking, but almost as if the horn is about to sound but then stops. The horns are old Lucas Windtone horns. Any thoughts as to what to check - it seems like power is getting to the horn but it isn't doing its stuff? cheers in advance Cortinaman |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,236 
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You can download a pdf of the workshop instructions for Lucas Windtone horns from my website here LinkyHTH Jimi |
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2021 15:34:10 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Cheers jimi - useful, but it looks much more complicated than I had hoped! I'm tempted to buy a cheap aftermarket horn, just to prove whether its the horns themselves or the wiring/switch. |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Norman
Part of things
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You could try a bulb across the horn, this will tell you if it’s the horn or the wiring. If the bulb lights it’s the horn if not it’s the wiring.
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,236
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Easy to check, connect tbe horn direct across the battery that will eliminate wiring/ switches etc, you can even use your extended meter leads to do it.
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2021 16:04:09 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Easy to check, connect tbe horn direct across the battery that will eliminate wiring/ switches etc, you can even use your extended meter leads to do it. Good idea - I will give it a try! |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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You could try a bulb across the horn, this will tell you if it’s the horn or the wiring. If the bulb lights it’s the horn if not it’s the wiring. Another good idea - good job I've got next week off work! |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
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Horns are funny. Sometimes they'll stick from lack of use and either a tap or 24V across them brings them back to life. Often it's a rubber washer that's gone brittle as well.
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auswol
Part of things
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I had a similar issue with the horns on my car, which often didn't work at all or would only give a low note output at best.
This was largely due to the volt drop caused by 60 year old wiring and the fact that the circuit path was longer than it needed to be. I added a relay to the circuit and they immediately started working as they should. Jimi's suggestion of connecting the horns to direct power will eliminate any volt drop in the circuit. If they work properly then adding a relay should fix the problem.
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If it goes POINK then the coil is good and you've got current. You're just not getting repeating action.
Usual cause is it's all out of adjustment. Follow the "adjusting the horn for the best tone" portion of the manual- there's a screw you can dial in to set the position of the points compared to the arm. That'll get it making noise again.
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2021 23:55:31 GMT by PhilA
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jimi
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^^^^^^^^ That's the follow on to my previous suggestion  |
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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If it goes POINK then the coil is good and you've got current. You're just not getting repeating action. Usual cause is it's all out of adjustment. Follow the "adjusting the horn for the best tone" portion of the manual- there's a screw you can dial in to set the position of the points compared to the arm. That'll get it making noise again. Thanks phila, such things fill me with dread, so I was hoping to avoid it! So, todays update. With all the useful advice from yesterday, I decided to be a bit more methodical today. So I broke out the jump leads and some wire and connected one horn up directly to the battery.......nothing, not a parp or a peep! Hmmmm, so why was it doinking when I pushed the horn ring? So I delved into the the Jaguar maintenance manual, and read a bit further than yesterday, to find that later cars had the horns run through a Lucas relay in the fuse box under the bonnet. So I roped in my glamorous assistant to push the horn ring while I listened to where the "doink" was coming from. Not from the horns after all, but from the relay! So I tested the output from the relay and got around 12v when the horn ring was pushed - so it must be the horns then!  Inside of old horn At this point I remembered I had bought some special "made in China" remanufactured windtone horns a few years ago when the car was rewired but never fitted them because the brackets were wrong and they wouldn't fit. Had a look and they are a close enough copy that the Lucas brackets would fit with a bit of opening out of the mounting holes. Result! The first one fitted ok with the old bracket with a bit of drilling out. The bracket on the second horn was in a rather worse state, so I got out my largest fine adjusting hammer, and beat the living daylights out of the new bracket to make it flatter so it would fit.  largest fine adjusting hammer  Knackered bracket  New horn  drilling out a terminal (exciting I know)  New horn with flattened bracket ready to go on. All wrestled back into place, with a new earth lead connection as I didn't trust the rather rusty brackets to conduct much electricity, and we have sound! I singularly forgot to record the moment or photograph the finished product (but as the horns are behind the bumper there isn't much to show). So thanks folks for all your help - I couldn't have done it without you. Now I might try and adjust the old horns to see if I can get any life out of them if I get a moment! It's going back to the garage next week to do the suspension bits I didn't fancy doing myself and hopefully getting an MOT.,, cheers Cortinaman |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Take a photo of the top of one of the old horns with the lid off and I'll draw on it what needs to be cleaned and adjusted and how.
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Take a photo of the top of one of the old horns with the lid off and I'll draw on it what needs to be cleaned and adjusted and how. Thanks, PhilA I'll get a photo. |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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