Lotus Europa Community

The 12v feed to the horn comes from the fuse box, and you sound the horn by earthing the wire from the horn to the chassis.

So check that there is power to the horn when the ignition is on. If the fuse has a bad connection, that may be the fault.

If you have power to the horns all the time (access behind the left headlight bowl) then the problem is with the earth or the horns. European spec cars earth through the centre of the steering wheel, US Federal cars earth through the indicator/dip stalk on the steering column.

Test the horns by earthing the horns with the ignition on using a new wire attached to the horns, and earth it to the chassis.

Classic car horns are cheap and available on eBay. 2 x 1/4 UNF nuts and bolts hold them to the left front wheel arch, so they are covered with mud. Take out the left headlight bowl to see them, and to get a spanner/socket/wrench on to the bolt heads, and for access to the 2 electrical connections.

   

Do you have the stock horn? If so I'd throw it away and get something that makes a lot of noise! I might try running the horn directly from the battery to see if there is something in it that is causing it to draw a lot of amps. Then I would try to follow the horn wire from the plug for the steering column stalk assy to the horn to check for shorts, frayed wires, poorly crimped connectors, etc.

This page (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/) has a lot of great information including searchable online manuals, color wiring diagrams, tech data not found in the manuals, useful mods, etc. I think this is your wiring diagram (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/electrical/tcfedc.gif).

This isn't likely to be your problem but since you're dealing with your wiring, you should know that US fuses are not rated the same as UK fuses (see attached document). You should make sure you have the proper fuses in your car.

I hope that helps!

Congrats D Man! Very exciting stuff. 

Congrats DMAN on your first drive!  I remember mine and my reaction was the same as yours.

I have that car as the background on my work computer