When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
During my recent safety inspection the independent garage tech noted the horn was not very loud. I've never listened to the horn form outside the car so I had no basis of comparison.
Recently I took the car into the dealer to have the steering wheel heater fixed among other items. The tech is in sunny hot Las Vegas and has never dealt with anyone concerned with heating a steering wheel and could not solve the problem in the 2 hours of diagnostic time I was willing to pay for. No big deal as it does not get cold enough around here to need the heater.
But now I find the horn does not work. I checked the fuse and its fine. Any suggestions?
I wonder if the tech may have done something to the steering wheel wiring while trying to fix the heater?
Interesting. I would not have suspected the horns were defective. I just assumed it was wiring and the horn and steering wheel heater problems were related.
Where are the horns located? I'll disconnect the wiring at the horns and test to see if they are getting a signal.
Looking into the wiring caused me to remove all the panels under the steering wheel in hopes of finding a connector loose. No luck. Tons of wires tightly bound. In any case while rolling around on the floor of the car with the key in my pocket suddenly the horns beeped twice. I thought maybe I had hit the panic button on the key fob but I have since tested that and found the panic button sets off a siren not the horns. Still a mystery why the horns beeped. But that tends to imply they work and they problem is elsewhere. Horn button contacts maybe.
Interesting. I would not have suspected the horns were defective. I just assumed it was wiring and the horn and steering wheel heater problems were related.
Where are the horns located? I'll disconnect the wiring at the horns and test to see if they are getting a signal.
Looking into the wiring caused me to remove all the panels under the steering wheel in hopes of finding a connector loose. No luck. Tons of wires tightly bound. In any case while rolling around on the floor of the car with the key in my pocket suddenly the horns beeped twice. I thought maybe I had hit the panic button on the key fob but I have since tested that and found the panic button sets off a siren not the horns. Still a mystery why the horns beeped. But that tends to imply they work and they problem is elsewhere. Horn button contacts maybe.
For what it's worth: My shop told me my horn didn't work and they needed to replace it, however it turned out it was just rusty, and after knocking off the rust it has worked fine ever since.'They said I need to be more like a New Yorker and lean on that sucker now and then!
FYI, the horns are located in the front right corner of the car. There are two ways you can get access to them:
1) Remove the large cover on the underbody of the car (covers the bottom of the whole engine), then reach up into the area forward of the right front fender liner.
2) Remove the right front wheel, then remove the right front fender well liner, then attack the two horns from 'behind'.
Personally, I recommend the second approach. It's a bit more disassembly work, but it makes fixing the horns a heck of a lot easier. Plus, while you have that front right wheel off, you can inspect the brake disc and rotor to evaluate wear - this will permit you to better estimate when it will be necessary to service the brakes.
If you are the really enthusiastic 'do it yourself' type, there is no reason why you could not jack the car up and remove the front right wheel, then remove the front right fender liner yourself. Just be sure that you get some form of stand-alone automobile support to place under the frame of the car (near the jack) to provide a more sturdy and substantial support than the tire-changing jack while you are removing the fender liner.
The tire changing jack is fully satisfactory for lifting the car up for the purpose of changing a tire, but I would not feel comfortable getting inside the fender well with nothing but the tire changing jack holding the car up.
Michael
