Horns again

[rollinstone]

The horns won't toot.

- Clock spring is OK
- Horn contacts under air bag no corrosion
- 20 amp fuse is good
- Horn relay is good
- Got power out of the horn connector using a 6-12 volt test light (haven't tested with a meter)
- Grounded the horns directly with a separate wire (lots of rust and corrosion where the horn bracket normally attaches)
- Horns blast when connected directly to the battery

The only thing I got left is that it's possible there's insufficient power coming out of the power connector to jolt the horns into tooting...OR the interior horn contacts are so old it takes a direct jolt from the battery to get them to toot, and they blast me into next week when I go direct from the battery.

Any other ideas?

 

[lounge lizard]

the steering wheel does not toot the horns. it only triggers the relay that toots the horns.

so if you push the steering wheel and the relay triggers. all that is good.

if you have voltage at the horn connector when the horn button is pushed. then the relay is working.

if you hook up the horn directly to the battery and it works. I would say you need to clean up the mounting point where the horn bolt up to bear metal on the fender and on the horn bracket. bolt it up tight and then spray paint over the area after the horns are in place to help cut down on corrosion.

 

[rollinstone]

Thanks LL.

Like I stated, EVERYTHING checks out OK. I can hear the relay clicking when I push the steering wheel horn pad. I have voltage at the horn connector.

Besides thoroughly cleaning the mounting point to get good metal to metal contact for grounding, I ran a grounding wire from the horn to an established grounding point on the frame.

That's why I was wondering if the horns have gotten to the point where they're so old it takes more power than that coming out of the connector, such as that straight from the battery, to make them toot. The only way to test that is to buy another set of new horns...PITA, but maybe necessary.

Any other ideas greatly appreciated.

 

[lounge lizard]

go to a junk yard and for a few bucks pull a set of horns out of anything that has the same connector hook up.

just to give it a try.

then if it turns out that is what you need to do you can always buy a set of horns that you like and not just factory horns.

I myself I have a bully dog air horn on mine

 

[rollinstone]

Thanks again, LL...yep, I figured that's about the only thing I can do at this point.

I plan on staying with stock-type horns. The ones I have on there now are Fiamms...and they blast really good. What's on the market, besides the dealer (who wants $120 for a set) that are comparable? I want something that gives a decent blast, but doesn't have to be an air-horn.

 

[lounge lizard]

I googled car horns and came up with all different types. that when I settled for an all in one air horn.
it was only $35.00 so I bought one. and it was better than the stock horns, but not as loud as my air horns.

 

[jab2007]

check the conector that goes to the clock spring under the dash there is a ground that goes to the clock spring that ground may be ripped its a black/white and a white/black they joint toghether if it is ripped at thr tip you can splice them together at a higher point in the wire. By the way do you cruise control buttons light up if they dont it may be that ground wire.

 

[rollinstone]

check the conector that goes to the clock spring under the dash there is a ground that goes to the clock spring that ground may be ripped its a black/white and a white/black they joint toghether if it is ripped at thr tip you can splice them together at a higher point in the wire. By the way do you cruise control buttons light up if they dont it may be that ground wire.

Yep...the CC lights are OK, but I'll check that wire. Right now I've got a multimeter and I'm going to see just how much voltage is coming out of the horn connector...it should be about 12 volts. If it's less then I've likely got a short in the power line somewhere...and that wire bundle is so tight and hidden I might as well forget about having a stock horn.

If there is sufficient power coming out then the horn(s) is the problem.

 

[budwich]

there isn't a short if you have less VOLTAGE at the connector than you expect.... note we are not talking POWER, but VOLTAGE ... two different things. Anyways, your problem is likely a wiring issue and not a horn issue since the horn works when wired "directly". As you suggested, check the voltage level at the connector FIRST. It should be 12v or greater consistently. Next run a seperate ground to your horns directly to a KNOWN ground. This is likely your problem IF your voltage levels are good.

 

[rollinstone]

OK...problem solved! It appears that the problem was a combination of a poor ground and a faulty relay. I knew the ground was bad due to all the rust a corrosion where the horn assembly attached to the frame directly under the battery. So, I took the horns out and tested them directly off the battery and they worked fine.

While the horns were disconnected I thought I was testing the relay by depressing the horn pad and I got a clicking sound. That led me to believe I had a working relay...supported by the fact that I seemed to have power at the connector and I also switched similar relays and got the same click.

The very last thing I tried after doing everything above was hook up the horn using a separate direct ground to a known grounding point, switched the horn relay with the wiper relay...and voila...the horn worked! With the horn relay in the wiper socket, the wipers worked, BUT only on intermittent and low speed...the high speed wiper function was disabled. Who knew?

Anyway, bought a new relay and everything is back to normal. All this falls under the category of a variation of Occam's Razor: the simplest explanation is usually the solution to a problem...or something like that...

 

[lounge lizard]

good deal on the new relay.