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Good "Troubleshooting" is the Key

No one can tell you how to fix something without knowing what is causing the problem.

Horn "failure" could be caused by one or more of several things.

In order to fix the problem, someone who knows what he/she is doing needs to troubleshoot the entire horn wiring system including:

  • First the fuse for the horn circuit.
  • All connectors, plugs, splices, etc. [for being disconnected, loose, or corroded]
  • All wires in the horn circuit for cuts, breaks, orunintended grounding.
  • The horn relay [if so equipped].
  • The horn ground [for looseness and/or corrosion is key issue here]. Usually horns are grounded internally [no external ground wire] and thus are grounded by their mounting mounting bracket to the sheet metal of the vehicle. IF corrosion builds up between the mounting bracket and the sheet metal it's mounted on, then that acts like turning off a switch.
  • Most horns operate using a vibrating internal set of points, and sometimes are adjustable. Over time, wear can cause the point "gap" to change and prevent the horn from working. The adjustment is a small "screw" on the back of the horn that doesn't have a "head," but only a small slot in the screw shaft. The screw has a nut which is used to "lock" the setscrew once it is properly adjusted. To adjust, insert a screwdriver in the slot and hold the screw while using a small open end wrench to loosen the lock-nut. Then have a "helper" hold the horn "button" down. While the horn button switch is being held down [switch closed], you gently turn the adjusting screw back and forth a little at a time until the horn starts to blow. Then continue to "tweak" the adjustment until the best horn "sound" is achieved. IF this process does not allow the horn to blow, then it's probable that the horn button/switch is defective.
  • The last item to check is the horn switch button itself because it's inside the steering wheel cover and thus is the most difficult component to get to.

There are probably other things which don't come to my mind now. Good luck!

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Wiki User

15y ago

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