Horn blowing on 71 Eldo for no reason

[76eldo]

I'm away for the weekend and the recently acquired 71 Eldo is outside on my driveway.
Last night at 1:00 AM my daughter called and said the horn on the "Red car" is blowing. Very loud, of course it's a three tone horn.

Luckily her boyfriend was able to disconnect the battery so when I get home on a few hours I need to start checking things.

Where would you start?

I realize it can be in the wiring, something going on with the horn pad, or possibly the relay.

Anyone run into this if so and what was the fix?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Probably need to refoam the horn pad. What happens is the decomposition of the foam membrane between the pad and the contact plate allowing contact between the two. If the pad is definitely diagnosed as the culprit, check with Superman on how to do the job. It's not too difficult.

[35-709]

Eric posted his response above as I was typing mine, but here is my response anyway and I agree with Eric.

Check your steering wheel horn blow pad.  Over the years that plastic covered pad shrinks and/or deforms and will do so to the point it will blow the horn.  Had that exact problem on a '71 Fleetwood.  If the horn is blowing on its own, pull up on the pad here and there and see if it doesn't stop blowing --- problem found.

[76eldo]

Makes sense to me.
Actually I picked up a pretty mint steering wheel for the 71 the other day including a horn pad.
I might be able to solve this easily.

When I get home I'll see if it's still blowing when I put the battery cable back on. If so I'll unbolt the horn pad and start there.

Thanks.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

If removing the horn pad stops the horn, it's a pretty safe bet the pad is the culprit. Very common issue with Cadillac steering wheels as they age.

Mikey found a suitable foam material. I think he used the old foam as a template to make the replacement piece. The support plate is held onto the pad with small rivets that need to be drilled out. Then replace the foam with the new one and rivet it back together. He did this with his '78 horn pad and said it now works perfectly.

[76eldo]

I am going to get on this mid week.  I will report back.

Thanks!

Brian

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

....... of course it's a three tone horn.

Shouldn't that be four tone?   As in 4 horns.

Bruce.

[76eldo]

Probably is.
I thought they were three.

I texted both of my neighbors and they are not upset with me.

That's good.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Three on the main stack, and the trumpet separate.

Boy, if your neighbours were so far away that you had to text them, then they probably wouldn't have heard anything.

Bruce.