Hi, when I first bought my van I had a slight gap between the steering wheel and the cowelling (think thats the right term?). Then when it returned from having some work done my mechanic had closed the gap (hed fitted a new ignition barrel) and it looked normal. However, the last week or two I've noticed the gap reappear, and is slightly larger than it was before. The horn has also stopped working. I've looked under the horn push and it looks as tight as it was. I'm unsure of what's causing it and whether I can just tighten the nut up under the horn push? Here's a pic Any help appreciated!
From memory I think the copper contacts from the horn sit between here so the fact your column has dropped probably indicates that these are now no longer contacting the track and enabling the button to work. Are the two screws (13mm head) either side of the column under the dash done up and holding the steering column up correctly? Doing up the nut under the horn push won't make a difference as its the shrouding around the steering column which has dropped - ie the steering wheel has not raised up!
Had a similar problem which may be unrelated - when I changed the rubber coupling between the steering column and the steering box it pulled the steering wheel back down tight on the plastic cowling - the old rubber coupling was sort of banana shaped which caused the steering column to lift.
Amazing ...I have just been out in the drive sorting this exact same problem. There is an allen bolt on the LHS of the column, accessible through the plastic cowel. If overtightened it can strip and the column drops and the horn no longer works.
Thanks for the great replies! Pretty ridiculous but I kept imagining getting knocked out by a flying steering wheel! Lol it never occurred to me that it was the cover dropping :-[ Silver- that is amazing!
It's likely the outer black column has dropped, or the clamping casting for the ignition switch has moved down. The standard gap should be about 2mm. If it's more, the horn'll stop working and the indicators won't self-cancel. Have a squint in the hole in the plastic shroud on the left-hand side opposite the ignition switch. This should contain either an odd-shaped shear-head bolt or (if someone's replaced it) an allen-head bolt. Need to loosen this, then push the casting back up the column, then tighten it.
