Problem with Horn

[hightower]

The horn that was fitted to my van was really cr#p and you could barely hear it, how the mot place passed it i dont know, any way i was in halfrauds today getting a few bits and got a new horn.

I thought it would be the easiest job of the day, just take the old one off and put the new one in, well not so.

I press the horn button and just get a little 'be', not even a 'beep', i've tested the horn on the battery and it works as it should do, i've put a multimeter on the horn wiring and get just over 12v coming through.

Any ideas on what could be the problem?

Does it need a bit more than 12v to work as doing it over the battery terminals was giving it just under 13v. if so is it a case of a fresh feed from the fuse box or to check the negatives on the horn switch?

Thanks in advance

[AngeloEvs]

12V should be fine, connect the 12V side to the horn but check if your new horn is polarity sensitive (some are some aren't) and just link the other side to a good earth point. If it works then the problem is in the earth path via the horn button. If it doesn't work measure the voltage as you link the horn to earth and see if the reading collapses. If it does then you have a poor 12V connection en route to the horn.

[squire]

That is why I have never bought a novelty horn for the reasons you have mentioned and i saw a cracker on e-bay a while back that played Tequilla

[hightower]

12V should be fine, connect the 12V side to the horn but check if your new horn is polarity sensitive (some are some aren't) and just link the other side to a good earth point. If it works then the problem is in the earth path via the horn button. If it doesn't work measure the voltage as you link the horn to earth and see if the reading collapses. If it does then you have a poor 12V connection en route to the horn.

Thanks for your reply.

There's no mention in the horn instructions that it needs wiring in a certain way, just gives 2 different sets depending on whether the original horn had a single or 2 wires to it. I've tried the wires on both terminals to no avail.

Using the multi meter on the cables it seems to earth ok when you press the horn button with no drop in voltage on the meter with the button kept pressed down, however i couldn't seem to get a reading from either wire on the meter when trying to use the negative probe to ground it ? bit confused on that issue.

The horn is just a standard electromagnetic 12v lo note made by Ring, so nothing fancy.

I also need to go and buy a new multi meter today as the wire snapped out of the probe just after i had finished testing my sink pump wiring

[hightower]

That is why I have never bought a novelty horn for the reasons you have mentioned and i saw a cracker on e-bay a while back that played Tequilla

Squire The horn is just a standard electromagnetic 12v lo note made by Ring, so nothing fancy.

[irishkeet]

hi
i had a similar problem with mine
I cleaned all contacts with sandpaper and it improved but i also needed to replace some of the cable which had become brittle
Also check under the button on the wheel that the contacts are touching.

irishkeet

[Ray]

I had a similar problem and also bought a ring horn (never used) The problem was the earth connection in the steering wheel. it was badly corroded - a clean up and old horn now working.

[Red Westie]

Remove your steering wheel, clean up horn ring and brass sprung contact arm, bend the arm for more tension and better contact, apply a thin film of grease to the horn ring or it will sound like a cheese grater.

Martin