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Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:35 am

I am replacing an aftermarket steering wheel on my 74 standard beetle with an original one. It is my assumption that the wire that comes up the steering column from the horn has been modified to work with the aftermarket steering wheel. Can anyone out there tell (or show me with pics) me what an unmodified connection looks like for that wire that comes up the steering column? There doesn’t appear to be any place on the back side of the original steering wheel for me to connect that wire to.

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:24 am

Quote: There doesn’t appear to be any place on the back side of the original steering wheel for me to connect that wire to

It doesn't hook to the steering wheel. It hooks to the horn 'button' itself.

Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:46 pm

I have been wondering this as well. The wire hooks to the steering column coupler bolt then runs up the center of the column and hooks to the button or horn ring depending on what you have. Then another wire comes out of the steering column with all of the turn signal wires and hooks to what? How do i complete the circuit? I have a 70 std. by the way.

Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:05 pm

The 1970 beetle used a different wiring setup from the 1974, so I couldn't tell you womp, sorry.

As for the '74... There's a positive power wire going to the horn, and a wire coming from the horn, through the trunk to the turn signal switch wiring. The turn signal should have a brass horseshoe-shaped bit on it, towards the wheel. The self-cancelling ring on the 1971+ beetles is different from the others in that it has the horn contact on it, as well, and a wire that connects through to the horn button.

That's what the self-cancelling ring on the back of your stock steering wheel should look like

Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:01 pm

OK....this is a picture of the horn pad removed from the steering wheel. You can see the wire that goes from the back side of the horn pad down to the self canceling ring on the back of my steering wheel.

This is a picture of the back side of my steering wheel. I would have thought that there would be something here for the wire coming out of the steering column to connect to. The brass piece you see pictured at about the 1:00 position is where the wire from the back side of the horn pad is connected to.

This is a picture of what is in my car now. I have not yet removed the after market steering wheel. When my car was in the shop recently, I got it back and was told that my horn button had dry-rotted. Personally, I think they probably just pressed too hard. Anyway, they cut the wire as you can see. Is that yellow connection with the red wire coming out of it supposed to be there? I'm thinking that may have been added to adapt to the after market wheel. Please advise me. What do I need to do to get this back to the way it should be?

Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:42 pm

Hello? Anybody?

Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:12 pm

Is the connector broken off of the back of your steering wheel?

Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:05 am

wompninja wrote: Is the connector broken off of the back of your steering wheel?

What connector? Should there be a connector? Where would it be located? I don't know. When I bought the car, it had an after market steering wheel. I just purchased a used stock steering wheel and that is what you see in the pictures I provided. I have no way of knowing how it should look.

Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:47 am

Did the horn use to work?

Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:25 pm

runamoc wrote: Did the horn use to work?

Yes, the horn has always worked. I am simply trying to go from an aftermarket steering wheel (which has been in the car since I purchased it 16 years ago) to a factory one.

Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:32 pm

bump......

can anyone help me?!