horn stopped working

[rddaves54]

I have a problem with the horn I need help with.

I had only one horn the low one. The other day I went to salvage yard and bought a used high note horn and put it on. They worked a few times not very well and then stopped. I replaced the horn relay today and that did not fix the problem.

The horns work when hotwired. Could this be a bad ground or what? What should I look for and how can I trace the problem down.

Thanks in advance.

[rsavage]

I would guess ground first. Clean up and get to bare metal where you are mounting them and make sure all connections (male spades and female couplers) are clean too.

[69GMCLonghorn]

Use your middle finger instead of the horn??

[Classic Heartbeat]

When you press the horn button do you here the horn relay clicking under the dash? If not, that could be your problem. WES

[cdowns]

make sure that you have a good ground cable from the radiator support to the frame too

[cparman]

when you use the horn, listen to see if you hear the horn relay clicking
If you do not, I might suggest that you remove the horn pad on the steering wheel. There are 3 phillips screws that hold the horn contacts together. One of the components is a steel " washer/thing' with holes in it for the plastic spacer. Clean it on a wire wheel, use a test light at the horn relay to make sure the the test lights up when pushing the horn button. if that is all good, move the test light to the connector at the horns. SOMEWHERE the test light will not light up. HTH
Chip

[rddaves54]

I put on new steering wheel and all was working great. Then last night the horn came on and stayed on I had to go out and unplug the wire. The horn this morning does not work, did they burn out? That is what I am thinking. It is a Grant steering wheel and installation kit.

I went out this morning and took it all apart and put it back together carefully and the horns are not working. It all looks great and should work. When I hotwired the horns they still will not work.

I am wondering what may have set them off last night when no one was around the truck. Could I have a bad place in the wire and it ground itself out and if so why did it wait so long. Could the wire from the low horn to the high horn be bad? I do not know.

[cdowns]

grant steering wheel horn kits have been imfamous for thier poor operating performance for well over 50years

[rddaves54]

I checked the wires going to the horns with a test light and they are hot. The test light comes on without pushing horn buttom that can't be right can it but what would cause that?

[cdowns]

the function of a horn botton is to take the hot wire in the steering column and grond it when pressed causing the horn to blow

[rddaves54]

So the horns must have burn out. I wonder what caused the horns to come on last night when no one was around? I rechecked and I had everything connected correctly. I will be looking to replace the horns.

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by rddaves54

I checked the wires going to the horns with a test light and they are hot. The test light comes on without pushing horn buttom that can't be right can it but what would cause that?

The horn wire going to the horns (green) should not be hot until the horn relay is energized. The red wire going to the horn relay provides the positive voltage to the horns when the relay closes. The points in the relay connect the red and green wires when the coil in the relay is grounded by the black wire that goes up into the steering column to the horn button.

Disconnect the horn relay wires and see if the green wires to the horns are still hot. Also listen to the relay when you disconnect it to see if you can hear it click. You can check the horns by jumping between the red and green wires in the relay plug with a short wire or cotter key. If the wires were hot with a test light then they should have been blowing so it is possible that they are burnt out although I doubt it because they will usually blow a long time.

You can also check the relay by jumping the black wire in the relay plug to a good ground. If the red wire is hot and the relay is good then the horns should blow.

[Matt Man]

Originally Posted by 69GMCLonghorn

Use your middle finger instead of the horn??

[rddaves54]

Checked relay and it is working, unplugged the relay and wire to horns was not hot. Plugged it back and it is hot. Horns are burned out. I hotwired the horns and nothing. I guess they were on longer then I thought.

I had to lower the steering column to work on it during the rebuild could I have grounded or trapped the black ground wire under the column when I put it back up?

I believe the problem is with the black wire. I do not think it is in the new cap and hub but was wondering what else it could be.

[ebgwd]

Originally Posted by cdowns

the function of a horn botton is to take the hot wire in the steering column and grond it when pressed causing the horn to blow

Could you help me understand how the parts on the horn button really work? Mine looks like it may be missing a part and the 3 books I have do not go into enough detail for me to understand. See the photos of the parts/disassembly and please suggest a fix. The horn will work if I ground the "button" in the steering column to the center of the steering wheel. I tried putting the parts back but could not push hard enough to get the horn to work.

Oh, yea, the plastic oring clip/spacer broke into pieces when I pulled the parts out of the horn. Any suggestions for replacements?
Thanks

[rddaves54]

You have to replace the broke plastic ring and it looks like you need to clean it up relly good and remove the rust.

If the horn worked as you say I would think the dirt and rust is keeping it from grounding and from working properly.

[ebgwd]

Thanks, I cleaned it up and put the old broken ring back together, as best I could. It works now. I did notice that the spring loaded button thing that will sit in the collar has a detent that it will fit into. While it is fitted into the detent, the horn would not work. When I moved the spring loaded button so that it would come out more and not rest in the detent, the horn started working. Not sure why there is a detent in the plastic piece around the spring. Maybe a generic part for several models?
Thanks

[dgreen]

every time i press my horn button it blows the fuse. what could cause this

[VetteVet]

What truck and what fuse?
Unplug the horn relay and see if it still blows the fuse. If it does then the problem is in the steering column.

[dgreen]

Originally Posted by VetteVet

What truck and what fuse?
Unplug the horn relay and see if it still blows the fuse. If it does then the problem is in the steering column.

1987 r10 350 and were is the relay located ?

[VetteVet]

Found this on Google....http://www.mombu.com/chevrolet/chevr...-11790958.html

They use them on suburbans and other full size chevys.