So I keep having trouble with the #1 bell in my k3, and after doing the following, it still doesn’t work right:
swap out for a fresh #1 bell from realtrainhorns.net, get a new mount made (from stainless this time not aluminum like last time!), change to a non-swivel fitting, new air hose.
Here’s the catch - it works fine if I just set the bell on the ground with it screwed into the mount. Sounds off like a boss this way. However, as soon as I bolt the mount onto the car, the horn just “warbles” -it’s hard to explain other than that, it’s like it wants to blow but can’t quite do it.
I have separate mounts that I made from 1/2" thick by 1.5" wide bar stock - the mount currently being used for the #1 bell was made fresh from 304 stainless by a friend of mine who is a machinist.
What could possibly be the problem here? I assume it must be leaking somewhere, otherwise it would blow properly, but where could it possibly be leaking? This is starting to drive me nuts, i’ve been chasing this ghost for about 3 months now and I can’t seem to get it right.
Yeah that sounds like a brain teaser. Somehow it’s not getting enough air. What does your manifold look like?
For kicks, you could try disconnecting one of the other 2 bells and plug it. Or both the 2 & 4a. Force all the air through the 1 while mounted in the truck.
Do you have a pressure gauge?
You could also try switch airline positions on your manifold. Pics might help too… or describe every last fitting and tube to us.
i’ll try to get some pics later. For testing purposes, i’ve been plugging up the #2 and #4a positions on the mount to force all the air through the #1. I’ve got a gauge on my tank and the pressure switch always seems to stop right around 150.
Rough description of my system, i have 3/4" OD airline from the noid to the manifold. The manifold is composed of a bunch of 1/2" NPT “T” fittings like such, strung together with short sections of pipe.
I have three of those fittings, and they have 1/2" NPT to 1/2" OD push to connect fittings which then connect to 1/2" OD to 3/8" NPT elbows on the custom mounts.
Here’s a few pics of the mounts that I do have - these are old, so you see my old manifold, etc. And the airlines are all larger now. But everything worked back then! Lol.
yeah, the #1 still won’t blow right with the other two plugged off, when the mount is bolted to the car. When the #1 is just sitting on the ground bolted to its mount, it sounds off perfectly, and I can hook up the #2 and #4a and listen to the awesome beauty of a fresh k3
That is a weird one. Nice work on the mounts by the way - I like it.
Couple of things I’d try:
Leave the bell on the car, disconnect your line and take a new line straight from separate source of compressed air (even just a new single line from solenoid if you don’t have a shop or home compressor) - that way you can at least isolate whether it’s got anything at all to do with the mount, the air line or fitting whilst it’s on the car.
If you still have the same issue - dunno - time for a new mount perhaps. Also, try putting a good dollop of pure dishwashing liquid all around the base of the horn mount, the fitting etc - then blow it to see if you get any bubbles. Do you have an o-ring seal between the bell and the mounting block?
believe me, this is a headscratcher. I’ve been trying to fix this for awhile. I don’t think the airline is kinked, BUT it’s possible that the bend is too intense for the push-to-connect fittings to seal properly.
I can try to run an airline straight from the output of the noid - interesting idea. I believe I have enough fittings floating around at this point that I should be able to cook something up
I’m going to have a friend assist me sometime later this week, he will activate the noid for me and I will be using soapy water and such to try and find a leak. It’s got to be leaking somewhere, but after all the stuff I’ve replaced, I can’t think of where it might be! The biggest challege is that the horn is mounted upside-down on the car, but I think we can figure something out. Oh, and the o-ring seal is the stock o-ring that’s on the horn. I figure that should be sufficient since it works on the regular k3 manifold.
Here’s a few more pics of stuff:
This is the brand new mount for the #1 bell that my friend cooked up for me. It’s not all that easy to machine stainless but he did a fine job!!
mount without fitting:
mount with fitting on #1 bell:
#1 bell has been removed, but you can kind of see the manifold in this picture, as well as the #2 bell (top left) and #4a (bottom center)
This is where the #1 bell’s mount bolts on - you can see the three threaded holes in the piece of aluminum right in the center of the picture.
Long story short, there is no leak. I had a friend come assist me - basically he honked the horn while I played around with the bell. It turns out that, even with me holding the horn in my hands, it simply won’t honk properly in the location it was in. Move it a few inches forward, face it downward more, or turn it sideways some, and it works fine. However it just will not honk where it is.
We believe that the location it was firing into created some kind of interference wave that prevented it from sounding correctly. Makes some sense, because the horn was firing almost directly into a 90 degree corner of two frame rails, and constrained upwards by the outside of the floor of my trunk. I will try to get pictures of this later if I can.
In any case, it seems like the problem will be eliminated by moving the horn forwards some and firing it in a slightly more downwards direction. Hopefully I can get this new mounting configuration cooked up by the weekend or so, and all will be well. Videos will follow once this gets fixed, I miss my k3 something fierce right now :eek::eek:
Having a fair amount of ‘clear air’ in front of the bells is pretty significant. I used to a have a bash plate under the front of the car which was angled away from the horn but about 2 inches in front of my 1 bell. It made a huge difference when I took the plate away.
thought i’d share some pics of the new mounting location:
basically I just have the aluminum plate bolted to the frame. Since that will not be making contact with the horn I don’t care if it’s aluminum, it can get pitted to heck if it wants and I don’t care.
Then the mount which does bolt to the horn is 304 stainless steel. I will eventually get this powdercoated as well and it will survive the elements this way.
the horn definitely sits lower now, and you can vaguely see it poking out of there when you’re far away from the car, but since it’s flat black it doesn’t really look out of place. I plan to eventually get a hitch for this car and I think that will hide everything nicely.
Pic of the air setup in my trunk. Yes I know it’s a mess, i’m working on it.
