horn not working and hand brake light not working!!!

Hi does anyone have any ideas? fuse keeps blowing disconnected both horn and hand brake light. Could this be a faulty ignition switch/barrel ?this is on a mk1 golf cabby1984 1.6 GL.All other electrics work fine but key barrel is not that great as this is the original one.

thanks Mark.

Does the fuse blow when you do something? Or just when you put a new fuse in?


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i put a new fuse in then turn ignition on then it blows.

Which fuse number is it blowing?
Could be a faulty ignition switch shorting something out.

Horn only works with key in and on.
If the fuse blows then you have a issue with something shorting to ground.

The horn uses a switched ground to the horn, so it could be that your horn is shorted, that is if it is the horn fuse that is blowing.

The circuit for the horn is:
Ground on the steering shaft low up through the shaft to the slip ring, the depressed button completes the path to the relay the relay picks and switch ground on to the horn.  There is 12V full time to the horn.

see: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8241841-My-horn-finally-works!

But telling us which number of fuse that blows helps us help you, after all we are not clairvoyant.

Hand brake is the only connector in the dash that you can put in backwards.
so your seat belt and parking brake light can fail to light.

The hand brake has a switch on the Tunnel that has a single wire, it can become mispositioned or broken.  make sure that the switch is making contact when up, and breaking contact when down. They can go bad, and debris can insulate them so cleaning it isn't that out of the ordinary.

the horn and had brake light use the same fuse it is a 15amp it is the 5th fuse in from the right can not remember exact number .

5th in from the right is #18 which is the switched live for the horn relay plus the handbrake warning light.  It also feeds D/7 pin in the engine loom.

D/7 can be used for the coolant level control relay, also for some of the electrics on the carb depending on what engine it has

18 also feeds the accessory 'G' spades number 2 and 5, these go to things like heated washer jets, electric windows etc.

for an 84 GL I'd start looking at the carb wiring, then work back from there

Have you checked the wiring if the casing is broken, which might let the wire touch against the body

reply here was in answer to a post which now doesn't exist, ignore

Check your Horn, If you have the round circular one that is behind the lower Valance, it is easy to "pop" the wires off on a Parking Bumper.  Since the Horn has 12V on it if the power wire comes loose it could be shorting directly to frame.

its not the horn wiring shorting if fuse 18 is popping, it doesn't feed the horns just the ignition trigger for the horn relay. the horns themselves are fed from fuse 16

thanks guys i have lots to look at. bought a new ignition switch and barrel  just in case .

Thanks everyone for the advice i fitted a new ignition switch and barrel and all sorted now.