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Help fixing my horn.

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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 12:16 AM
  #1  
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Help fixing my horn.

My horn had been working, but I removed the steering wheel for maybe 10 minutes and once I reinstalled the wheel, the horn no longer works. When I push the horn button I can hear a click near the clutch pedal where the fuse box is. I believe it is the horn relay that I hear but then no horn. What could cause this and how could I fix it?
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 05:46 AM
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From: Mile High
The horn relay is in the nose of the car.

Remove the steering wheel again.
Behind the wheel is the turnsignal unit and protruding from that is a spring loaded pin...this is the horn circuit.
If you bridge that pin to the steering column (a screwdriver will work), the horn should sound.
If so, the horn circuit/fuse is fine.

That pin contacts the brass slipring on the back of the steering wheel.
There is a wire connected to the slipring that either goes to the horn buttons (two spoke wheel) or the center pad (three spoke wheel)...make sure it's connected.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 08:44 AM
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also, make sure your battery is fully charged.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 09:02 AM
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From: Virginia
Originally Posted by clokker
The horn relay is in the nose of the car.

Remove the steering wheel again.
Behind the wheel is the turnsignal unit and protruding from that is a spring loaded pin...this is the horn circuit.
If you bridge that pin to the steering column (a screwdriver will work), the horn should sound.
If so, the horn circuit/fuse is fine.

That pin contacts the brass slipring on the back of the steering wheel.
There is a wire connected to the slipring that either goes to the horn buttons (two spoke wheel) or the center pad (three spoke wheel)...make sure it's connected.
I tried the screwdriver thing when I took the wheel back off to see if something was wrong and it didn't help. The horn button on the center pad is connected inside the steering wheel. It's starting to make me wonder if its just being complicated haha.

Originally Posted by 87 t-66
also, make sure your battery is fully charged.
The battery is low, I have been having to jump the car everytime I crank it the last few days. Once I jump it and the car is running it will run on its own though. If the battery is just slightly low will this cause the horn not to work.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 09:24 AM
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From: tulsa,ok.
The largest plug on the CPU houses the 3 wires that go to the horn relay. Green/White always has voltage, Green/Orange supplies the ground when the horn button on the steering wheel is depressed and the Green/Red wire supplies the voltage to the horn themselves. If you jumpered the G/O wire to a ground then the horn should sound as long as the battery has sufficient power to it and the Horn fuse is good, which since you hear the click coming from the horn relay that would indicate the fuse is good.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 09:24 AM
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From: Mile High
Originally Posted by batmanfc
I tried the screwdriver thing when I took the wheel back off to see if something was wrong and it didn't help. The horn button on the center pad is connected inside the steering wheel. It's starting to make me wonder if its just being complicated haha.



The battery is low, I have been having to jump the car everytime I crank it the last few days. Once I jump it and the car is running it will run on its own though. If the battery is just slightly low will this cause the horn not to work.
Low voltage will make the horn blaaart instead of honking...you should still hear something.

The horn circuit is about as simple as it gets.
With the steering wheel off, push the spring loaded horn pin back and make sure the wire is still connected to it's end.
If so, check continuity between that pin and the relay.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 10:24 AM
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i left my doors open with a low battery while installing a quick release and new steering wheel. when i tried to use the horn it would just click in the CPU. once i charged the battery, the horn worked as it should.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 10:42 AM
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From: Mile High
Originally Posted by satch
The largest plug on the CPU houses the 3 wires that go to the horn relay. Green/White always has voltage, Green/Orange supplies the ground when the horn button on the steering wheel is depressed and the Green/Red wire supplies the voltage to the horn themselves. If you jumpered the G/O wire to a ground then the horn should sound as long as the battery has sufficient power to it and the Horn fuse is good, which since you hear the click coming from the horn relay that would indicate the fuse is good.
I apologize for the misinformation I posted above.
I sometimes forget that my car isn't normal/stock.

That said, the way you describe it, the stock setup is absolutely retarded.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 01:45 PM
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From: Virginia
I hear nothing when I press the button other than the clicking in the relay so I know the signal is traveling that far. The battery is low, so I will charge it and try that and also jumpering the G/O wire together to see if I can get anything.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 02:08 PM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
I hear nothing when I press the button other than the clicking in the relay so I know the signal is traveling that far. The battery is low, so I will charge it and try that and also jumpering the G/O wire together to see if I can get anything.
Just a heads up, but if the relay is indeed clicking it is doing so because the G/O wire which is connected to the horn button sends a ground signal to the relay to activate it.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 05:17 PM
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From: Virginia
Ok. So jumpering the G/O wire wouldn't do anything to help me?
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 05:29 PM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
Ok. So jumpering the G/O wire wouldn't do anything to help me?
If you did jumper it to a "sufficient" ground and it worked then where do you believe the problem exists?
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 05:37 PM
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From: Virginia
I'm not exactly sure to be honest. I know the answer is probably simple and I'm just making to hard to see.
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 05:43 PM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
I'm not exactly sure to be honest. I know the answer is probably simple and I'm just making to hard to see.
If the G/O wire originates at the horn button located under the steering wheel then where would you think the problem would lie?
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Old Dec 14, 2010 | 07:17 PM
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From: Virginia
Ok. I understand what you are saying. It would be somewhere from the horn button to the CPU. Would that be the problem though since I can here the clicking there has to be a signal getting there?
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 07:34 AM
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did you charge the battery yet?
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 08:46 AM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
Ok. I understand what you are saying. It would be somewhere from the horn button to the CPU. Would that be the problem though since I can here the clicking there has to be a signal getting there?
Correct on all accounts. If you provided a ground on the G/O wire then what reading would you expect to find on the G/R wire?
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by 87 t-66
did you charge the battery yet?
I haven't had a chance to just yet with college and work so far this week. I am going to tomorrow to see if that helps anything.

Originally Posted by satch
Correct on all accounts. If you provided a ground on the G/O wire then what reading would you expect to find on the G/R wire?
That I'm not exactly sure about.
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 09:05 AM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
That I'm not exactly sure about.
If the G/R sends voltage to the horn itself then what would you expect to find on the G/R wire?
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 09:13 AM
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From: Mile High
Little beep packets.
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 03:36 PM
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From: Virginia
Originally Posted by satch
If the G/R sends voltage to the horn itself then what would you expect to find on the G/R wire?
Some sort of voltage?
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 03:51 PM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
Some sort of voltage?
Bingo! You've now spent enough time in class and now it is time to take this newly acquired knowledge and put it to good use.
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 09:07 PM
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Haha. Thanks. I'll go give it a shot and see if there is any voltage.
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Old Dec 15, 2010 | 10:25 PM
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From: tulsa,ok.
Originally Posted by batmanfc
Haha. Thanks. I'll go give it a shot and see if there is any voltage.
I'm not really trying to be funny other than to point out you have been provided with enough information to get at the root cause of your problem. We and others can talk about it all day but that in itself isn't going to solve your problem as diagnosing the problem is realistically your only hope.
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