Club 80-90 Forums

ok my horn has now just stopped working out of the blue...

it was a bit weak sounding before - what do i check first?

Errr "The Horn"

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Sorry couldn't resist - seriously tho, take the horn off and connect it to a known good battery first.

If that is OK there is a lil earthing spring at the bottom of the steering colunm ( near where your feet are ) that can break or otherwise go faulty.
Test by holding an earthed piece of wire to a bright bit of the steering colunm whilst operating the horn, if it sounds ok like that, then that earting spring arrangement will be the cause.

Could be poor contacts in the horn relay, though this is less likely.

Check the connections to the horn itself. My horn is under the front bumper and gets covered in road muck. Give both terminals a good clean and try again.

If that doesn't help, one of those wires should have 12v on it. Check you have. If neither have 12v then check the fuse. (Could do this before cleaning but if it was feeble before a little clean won't hurt). If one has 12v then run a bit of wire from the OTHER terminal to an earth point. If the horn sounds then its probably the wire that runs up the steering column, most likely at the base of the steering column where the wire gets twisted. If grounding the horn doesn't work then its new horn time.

All this assums you have a horn with direct feed, not a relay powered one.

hahhaa

ok thanks, ill try that.

Just in case you haven't noticed, the horn only works with the ignition on. At least that's how my early-type van is wired.

I'd have saved quite a bit of time tracing my horn fault if I'd know that sooner!

Check the contacts on the horn button on the steering wheel. Mine needed a good clean, but since then it's been fine.

If that is OK there is a lil earthing spring at the bottom of the steering colunm ( near where your feet are ) that can break or otherwise go faulty.

Had the same problem ie. weak and intermittent horn,( pardon the pun).
Mine as previously stated, was the spade connector on the steering coupling near your feet.
The connector had opened up over time, crimped it up now it's as good as new..........
lhd.................

I've been having the same problem, I checked everything that was sugggested here, without joy. Currently I'm in the process of going through all the wiring, having removed the dash. Basically the last guy ruined the electrics, and anything that has been fixed with electrical tape is being ripped out and replaced. I've tracked down my problem to some unwanted grounding on cables to an unused alarm, that wore through in non-grommeted holes.

be methodical, go through connections one at a time, check grounding, then check resistance, also make sure to test all the connections when they are plugged together. go through them all, fix all problems, test again. it'll save time.