Automatic horn

[oaf]

Greetings all...

I have a 1970 W108 mercedes 280SE which I am in the process of restoring and need to replace some (3) small rubber grommets which insulate the horn ring lugs where it mounts on the steering wheel. I have contacted the local mercedes stealership and they don't have a listing for them so was hoping someone might know where I can get some from! I noticed the horns were disconnected after buying the car and after connecting they were fine until one day they suddenly started blaring. the only way to stop them was by juggling the horn ring. I have disassembled the mechanism and the copper spring plate seems to be intact and tight, however I noticed that a couple of the rubber grommets were worn/broken and it looked like there was a shorting/burn mark on the inside centre of the horn ring. I suspect it might be due to a short through the ring at those mounting points...??

also does anyone know whether these cars came with a tool kit? I have jack etc but no tools and would like to get hold of some.

cheers

brenden

[OzBenzHead]

Brenden: Welcome! :D

Try the forum sponsor for the grommets. He can usually get parts that the stealerships declare to be NLA (because they can't be bothered).

And yes, your car would have come with a tool kit - in a burgundy cloth roll (at least that's the description of the original toolkit that came with my 1970 W108). They often appear on eBay, but if you can't find one there, someone onthis forum might have a spare, or again the forum sponsor might be the way to go.

Good luck with the resto - a most worthy project. I am rather fond of the W108 - I have one that was my daily driver for 22 years and has now exceeded 850,000 km.

[Stuart]

Hi Brendan,
If your car is automatic, are you certain that it is the lugs on the ring? MY W108 had just the same problem, mainly in reverse, I fixed it by replacing the little bushes at the top of the column selector (a 'Vukollan ring' according to the service manual). Ask John for parts 111 268 0392 and 111 997 1240. If it isn't automatic, sorry.

Cheers
Stuart

[Rauchen]

In regards to the tool kits. They are out there on e-bay, but WOW they are pricey. The newer tool kits seem to be cheaper, but if you want original "period, circa" be prepared to hand over a fistful.

[saa]

hey, did you ever find out the solution to your horn problem?
I had the same thing happen to me the other week. I haven't yet gotten around to doing anything about it. All I've done so far is disconnect the wiring to the horns at the front of the car (it was getting embarrasing randomly beeping people)


stuart, my car is column shift auto. what is a 'Vukollan ring' ???

[kaiser]

I thought the red cloth tool rolls appeared a bit later than the 108 era? I have factory red one in my 123 and there was one in my 124, but the older ones were different i think

[saa]

Is anyone else able to shed light on a solution to the erratic horn problem? I've currently just disconneted mine, since it was getting pretty annoying having it go off at random intervals.

I tried pm'ing stuart, but I guess he doesn't come on here much

[Tony From West Oz]

Have you contacted our forum sponsor yet?

MB Spares can usually get most OEM parts or good equivalents from alternative suppliers.

Tony

[saa]

Tony, I wasn't sure what parts were actually needed, so I hadn't called MBSpares yet..
Stuart just replied to my PM, so I have a bit more of an idea now

Cheers,
Ross.

[vhhemi]

Please feel free to post a solution when you find one as my W108 has developed the same issue!

[vhhemi]

Apparently the solution is new isolator bushes in the column and new shifter bushes (for those cars with a column shift). Forum sponser can get the kits in from germany at a very reasonable price!

[Stuart]

See that this thread is still going. Re. my earlier post, contact John and ask for part 111 268 0392 and 111 997 1240. These are the two bushes at the top of the auto selector linkage - they wear and allow the selector shaft to push the horn contacts together (like having a mirror image of the horn ring).

[vhhemi]

Fitted my new bushes today.... should have done it a long time ago! Its ridiculous how cheap it was to fix such an annoying little problem. The horn is also fixed, but it wasn't actually the bushes this time. One of the horn wires was worn and exposed inside the column (wire between the indicator stalk and horn switch). Bit of electrical tape fixed it for now.. will shrink wrap it next time I take the steering wheel off.

[saa]

yeah just had my bushes replaced at the mechanic and it fixed the horn problem (although my main problem was I couldn't get it out of park - 2 birds with one stone)

[oaf]

I replaced the 3 little rubber lugs from MB spares ($0.91 each!) and that fixed the problem. still chasing a tool kit though...

[dynamike]

Digging this thread out of the grave but it seems still current so, firstly, I wanted to add a great pictured step by step guide from someone called Art Love on the M-100 forum: http://www.m-100.cc/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5960

Secondly, I'm hoping to get some clarification on whether I should have a pressure spring (1119932401) in my steering wheel or not. It's currently not there and I'm wondering if it's just missing or simply not needed.

s-l1600.jpg

horn ring.jpg

[Mercmad]

It's missing, it keeps the ring up against the wheel. And guess what? they are NLA.