Strange Horn Problem

[djsk8r33]

long story short. one day i was on the horn for an extended period of time. and it 'changed sounds' kinda went from a nice low tone to a high pitched.

it would only do that when i held the horn for a longer time period.

Now it does it all the time. its quite wimpy and doesnt much so help me on the road

i got a new OEM replacement from JCW. some "mini package, BIG blast"





i found where the [stock] horn is and it looks like there is a little speaker, or mega phone attached as well. besides the fact i have to lay down to get to it... the bolt is nearly rounded and rusted.

i pull off both terminals from the horn. one leading to the relay/switch(?) and the other was a shorter wire from the horn to the speaker(?)

well i tried hooking up the new one... and no go. so i put the wiring back in the stock one. and i couldnt figure out the wiring... so i just put the main wire (switch/relay(?)) back on and it still works, but that wimpy tone is still there.




ii am not sure what i am even asking. is there a way to mount this thing somewhere else. like actually accessible spot. i'm sure i can take the longer wire(switch) and get it around the coolant resovior, but what else do i need? to ground it? how do i do that?

thanks for any and all help, im a carpenter, not an electrician

 

[walterd140]

Your horn should be next to the washer resevor. Not sure about the added speaker. Sounds like you lost the horn guts. Did you try a bone yard? Should be able to grab one from a ex or ranger truck.

Walter

 

[boggs1227]

now i have not looked at the horn setup in my explorer but if it's like any other horn i have seen you should have 2 connections on the horn it'self.
one should be a + 12 volt and the other - neg ground .

first i would see how the old horn hooked up (meaning that one of those two wires will have power on it when the hown button is pushed ...that will be 12volts + ) ( the other will most likelly be a ground ...it may not termanate right on the frame in that location ,it may go back into the wireing harness's a way) .....but regardless of that the " + " is the one you want to extend witha butt connector to get it to the new location of your chooseing .

the ground ......once you attach the new ground wire onto the " - " side of the new horn then you can just go to any frame piece to ground it there.if you have no hole to attache the new ground too then geta self tapping screw
( panhead type is the best ) and get a small crimp on lug termanal thats the same diameter as the screw .be sure to remove some paint on the frame metal to exspose fresh metal to have a good strong grounding point .

once your all done then maybe get some silicone and dab over the head of the new ground location to prevent rust from forming .

hope this helps out .

scott . . . . .

 

[X-North]

On some models theres two horns. One for low tone and the oher for high tone. If you have both then the small wire connecte both together and the metal plate that is bolted from horn to body is the ground. the long wire is the one who bring current. maybe the big horn is blown ....unplug the short wire use jumper wires conect the big horn directly on the negative of battery and unplug te long wire and also plug it with a long jumper cable to the positivte of the batery..if the horn dont make noise then its blown.

 

[boggs1227]

sorry i forgot to say that to identify the 12 volt + side you may need a volt meter to figure out which one is the " + " ....if ya aint got a meter then a small 12 volt light bulb can be used to tell which one is the hot lead .just hook one side of the bulb to the neg side of the battery and hook each one up at a time while pushing on the horn button till it lights up

 

[djsk8r33]

im sorry for my lack of terms but i do not understand any of that really...

the new horn i bought, this would be INSTEAD of the hi/low horn now correct?
it does seem that way [i have low/hi]




in 'my terms' if i went to just unplug the old horn [forget about it]
and mount the new one somewhere else in the compartment.

the long wire goes on one terminal. and the other terminal is for a ground (this term i compreheand)

 

[Willard]

That's correct. And if it doesn't work one way, switch the wires and see if it does. Although, I wouldn't think it would matter on that. Just take a short length of wire and bolt it somewhere on the body for a good ground, and you should be alright.

 

[djsk8r33]

On some models theres two horns. One for low tone and the oher for high tone. If you have both then the small wire connecte both together and the metal plate that is bolted from horn to body is the ground. the long wire is the one who bring current. maybe the big horn is blown ....unplug the short wire use jumper wires conect the big horn directly on the negative of battery and unplug te long wire and also plug it with a long jumper cable to the positivte of the batery..if the horn dont make noise then its blown.

THIS, i understand. i just dont get the last part on how to test it. [ i dont really need to. i KNOW its blown]

if for some reason my plan fails to relocate my new horn. can i just leave the old **** one on there because its going to by VERY difficult to get it out... and just get a JY one and put it somewhere else?

 

[djsk8r33]

That's correct. And if it doesn't work one way, switch the wires and see if it does. Although, I wouldn't think it would matter on that. Just take a short length of wire and bolt it somewhere on the body for a good ground, and you should be alright.

ok, great. yeah it shouldn't matter. i may just try tonight in this freezing weather

 

[djsk8r33]

well UPDATE:

just now, i took the 12V or the switch (the long wire) and connected it to one terminal
and the little ground wire (it came with the horn) i held it to metal inside the engine compartment. i know that the grounding has to be good there are other wires i can see grounded the same way, close by.

am i going something wrong. or should everything just be nice and tight. i dont even knoe what this new horn sounds like, or if ill like it over the stock one