Dirk Diggler Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 The horns on my Z were not hooked up when I bought it, but they came with it. I hooked them up in the front, and when I press the horn button, nothing happens. There is power to it, I pulled the horn button and pressed the plates with my fingers and got a little shock. All I hear is a clicking coming from under the dash, which I think is coming from this box with the 3 wires Any ideas? Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 horn relay has power yah? Power at the horn? If power at the horn, and its not working. you might be able to adjust it slightly, otherwise replace it. These things freeze up after so long Quote Link to comment
hellamikey Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Are the horns grounded to the chassis? Also, pull the wheel off, and really check the horn contacts. Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 horn relay has power yah? Power at the horn? If power at the horn, and its not working. you might be able to adjust it slightly, otherwise replace it. These things freeze up after so long Unfortunately, Im not much of an electrical guy. I do know how to check for power, I just dont know where to check it at. The horns are original, plus they are pretty rusty, so that could be it. Are the horns grounded to the chassis? Also, pull the wheel off, and really check the horn contacts. I had the horns resting on the chassis, but no ground screw or wire attached. I pulled the wheel off already, horn contact is good. Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Dood. lol You have to know how to check for power. You get a 2 dollar test light at any auto parts place, hell walmart. Attach the alligator clip to some metal on the body (not a roach lol) Touch the needle tip to what you want to see if has power. If the light comes on, yes. If not, check your ground, make sure its on again, test again. If light still dont come on, well then theres a problem :rofl: Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Dood. lol You have to know how to check for power. .I do know how to check for power, I just dont know where to check it at. I already have a test light, I just dont know where on the relay to test at. Like I said, Im not an electrical guy lol Attach the alligator clip to some metal on the body (not a roach lol) Already did that :D Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 :rofl: Well, have someone press the horn button and touch the needle to the connector on the horn. Or pull the spade plug off and put the needle in it and see if you got power, if not start working backwards and find out what the cause is. Someone mentioned the horn button, check that too Quote Link to comment
skunk Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 ground the horn and then take a long piece of wire and tuch it to the + on the battery for a second. if theres no sound then your horn is junk, Quote Link to comment
hellamikey Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 I had the horns resting on the chassis, but no ground screw or wire attached. I pulled the wheel off already, horn contact is good. not good enough. they need a good ground. Attach them to the body like they should be. you should also test them straight off a battery to make sure they work like Skunk said. Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Awesome, Ill give that a shot. Thanks guys Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 if the realy clicks when you push the horn swith means your getting power and the horn switch at steering wheels worrks as its a cammand from you. So that tells you its working. So i bet the relay has a corrossion on the cantaks that is a very high resisitace thus the horn not working. If you have 2 horns swap them .See if that works. Test the horns as Skunk said. if using a test light I bet 2 of those contack has 12volts all the time and when you hit the button youll loose the 12volt light . meaning one side is going to grnd((you hit the horn button) Take photos of the relay so you know the wire colors and open the can up see the contakts. and maybe clean them up with some fine sandpaper. make sure the can is grounded good also. Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 The horn relay case does not need to be grounded. It only needs the three connections made by the wires. There are two thick wires on it, and one thin wire. One thick wire has power all the time. The thin wire is grounded by the steering column. this closes the relay, and applies power to the other thick wire, going to the horns. The horns should then make noise. If the relay is bad, you can replace it with a Bosch type cube relay. Apply power to pins 30, and 86. Hook the small wire up to pin 85. Hook the wire going to the horns to pin 87. Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Outside probability. The horn button contact goes to ground through a copper/graphite composite brush riding on a copper arced strip. It wears out! No surprise there. Few if any manufacturers will sell you a new brush, no prifit there. I fixed my daughter's pickup by scrounging in my plumbing parts box for a fitting used to connect plastic water lines to the ice maker on the refrigerator. The threaded inside diameter was just right for what was left of the brush to slip inside after I retracted it with a tweezer, Being copper, the fitting had no problem making contact with the copper arc on the column. Being solid copper it had no problem scraping any corrosion away [we live in the California coastal region. You have no idea what salt air can corrode when your back is turned.] It lasted 25 years until she got rid of the truck. Probably still working No, I don't have photos of what I did 40 years ago. Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted January 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'm going to pull my wheel again and take some pictures of the contact for you guys to look at. It looks worn on the contact point, but I expect that. I don't see any rust of corrosion. I colored in the contact point with a marker and put the wheel back on, turned it a bunch, then pulled it again and all if the marker ink was gone, so its contacting well. Mike, where at in California? Trust me, I've lived within 5 miles of the ocean my whole live and have seen the effects of salt air (mostly on my rusted out Chevy 4x4) Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 I'm going to pull my wheel again and take some pictures of the contact for you guys to look at. It looks worn on the contact point, but I expect that. I don't see any rust of corrosion. I colored in the contact point with a marker and put the wheel back on, turned it a bunch, then pulled it again and all if the marker ink was gone, so its contacting well. Mike, where at in California? Trust me, I've lived within 5 miles of the ocean my whole live and have seen the effects of salt air (mostly on my rusted out Chevy 4x4) Like the "Location" spot below my sign-in says. Rancho Palos Verdes. Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Like the "Location" spot below my sign-in says. Rancho Palos Verdes. Viewing from a phone won't show location ;) Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 am I the only one that thinks "watch for finger" when reading the thread title? :lol: Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted January 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 Viewing from a phone won't show location ;) Exactly Quote Link to comment
hang_510 Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 2eDeYe' date='28 January 2011 - 02:48 PM' timestamp='1296254926' post='418840']am I the only one that thinks "watch for finger" when reading the thread title? :lol: Quote Link to comment
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