I went out on a nice bright sunny day a few weeks ago. People around town were waving, shouting, and honking their horns. On my way home, I tried to honk back at one car and found that I couldn’t. On top of that, my the relay for my turn signals was no longer clicking.
Arriving home, I started diagnosing the problem. From what I found, I no longer had operating break lights, turn signals, windshield wipers, and a horn. I replaced a broken fuse, but nothing started operating again[
I’ve been troubleshooting these problems over a few weekends. Today I had my sights set on just getting the horn working. I confirmed that it was still operating by wiring it directly to my fuse block. I located the two wires in the turn signal controls that wire up to the horn. I then ran a wire from the fuse block to the steering wheel, and another wire to the front of the car and onto the horn. The horn now has its own 10 amp dedicated circuit.
The horn works again – but now the headlights and dashboard lights stopped working. Oh what fun times these are. I long for the days that Teddy and I can drive my little car on the streets again.
The Chez 
Thinking of buying a C-Car – there’s a couple for sale but they need work. I’m not sure where I can find replacement contactors for example. I have read through the service manual and it seems there are 2 of them the SP/I and the F/R contactor (forward/reverse). What does the SP/I contactor do and where would I find parts to substitute (the original manuf. HB Elec. seems to be out of business)
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I believe SP/I is the contactor that changes battery configuration between single and parallel (24 or 48 volts), as well as the other mode to limit the voltage to 18v via nichrome resistor. Replacements … you’d have to buy another car for parts, buy them off someone else in C-Car group or eBay, or use new/modern parts. Modern parts don’t include the single/parallel/resistor tower. I upgraded to a modern motor controller used in golf carts and have a smooth transition in speed. Sw202 controls motor direction. You’ll be looking at parts for golf carts, motorcycles, boats, and airplanes. I get a lot of help from the C-Cars Facebook group. I found my car via Facebook marketplace. Most cars are run down. Many do not have a title, not working, bad breaks, or no batteries. Batteries are expensive – about $2000.
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You’ll also find that the nichrome resistor burns out quick and hard to replace. That’s another reason I use a modern motor controller. You’ll need to put a pot box on your accelerator pedal if you upgrade.
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