BTW horn relay key-in relay is not all that expensive . you were looking at NOS = add $50-$100
Why isn't my horn working...and where do I start ?
- Thread starter diymirage
- Start date
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If you can’t fix it, a sticker might be in order? 
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
Well, it's on my list
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
how are the leaves looking ?
sorry, silly autocorrect, that was supposed to read "yes, i have continuity from the black wire at the horn button to the wire where it connects to the relay"
so i guess that means the relay is shot?
(all 3 wires at the relay do what they should, when i ground out the horn wire in the steering wheel)
that brings up the second and third issue
issue 2, is the part of the steering wheel, where the horn pad is supposed to ground out, is painted
so when the pad is pressed down there is still not a great ground
issue 3 is the spring that keep the horn button off of the steering wheel...it isnt there
so, got a couple of things to address
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
Oh, they look real comfortable on the ground there, now that the snow has finally melted.
Okay, so when you ground the terminal on the relay that the black wire goes to, the horn blows?
Or did I get that wrong?
There's been a lot of back and forth.
Touch wire from horns to +12v, horns should blow.
Touch terminal that goes to the horn button to ground, horns should blow.
Touch connected wire at steering wheel to ground, horns should blow.
If all of those things happen, then nothing's wrong.
Gotta scrape / sand it off until it makes a good ground.
Gotta have your wife wiggle her nose and make one appear.
At least that's what Darren used to do.
– Eric
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
no, the horn does not work with the relays hooked up
there are 3 wires in the relay, the hot purple one, the black signal in from the horn button and a green/red signal out
IF i jump the purple to the green/red (basically bypassing the relay) the horn blows
postive to horn, check, that blows
touch terminal from on the relay from horn button to ground...crickets
ground out wire at the steering wheel, also crickets
all that makes me think that the relay is bad for sure, but we may still have a grounding issue in the steering wheel
believe it or not...its on the list
right after i figure out if it makes sense to keep the wheel or if I should buy a new one (it's not as old as the car but it sure ain't new)
If I'm gonna ask her to wiggle something for me, I don't think it will be her nose, but we can always try
Thanks, Eelco
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
Yup. Relay.
If you didn't mind a little messing around, and losing that ignition key buzzer we all love so much, you could replace it with a generic cube "foglight relay."
I just bought four Bosch relays for $3.69 a piece, shipped.
– Eric
If you didn't mind a little messing around, and losing that ignition key buzzer we all love so much, you could replace it with a generic cube "foglight relay."
I just bought four Bosch relays for $3.69 a piece, shipped.
– Eric
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
great minds, that is exactly what i did for now
i had a few relays kicking around that even came with a 6 inch wire loom attached
so i put a few spade connectors on there to plug it into the OEM pigtail, and ran a new momentary switch to a hole that was allready in the dashboard
this way, i got a horn while i decide what to do with the steering wheel, and if i go back to running the horn button the traditional way i think i only have to attach the black wire from the steering wheel to the ground of the relay and move the red/green wire from the "normally closed" post of the relay to the "normally open"
i think
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
Sounds like you know what you're doing.
If you've got your new horn button set up to trigger the relay by grounding, then all you have to do is replace one horn button wire with the other.
And who among us hasn't driven with a horn button on the dashboard at some point in our lives? (GM "Rim-Blow" [yes, that was their name] Tilt/Tele wheel, anyone?).
– Eric
If you've got your new horn button set up to trigger the relay by grounding, then all you have to do is replace one horn button wire with the other.
And who among us hasn't driven with a horn button on the dashboard at some point in our lives? (GM "Rim-Blow" [yes, that was their name] Tilt/Tele wheel, anyone?).
– Eric
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
Well, this didn't work
Let's start with the good parts, I emailed Grant last Friday and explained my issue
They gave me two options, a new spring or 3 little foam pads, that attach to the ring and act as springs
I opted for the pads since it is such a pain to install the cap with the spring (I feel like the spring pushes the cap away from the ring while you try to install it)
Imagine my surprise when i got the mail today
So, I installed the pads put it all back together, but for the life of me, I can not get this to work with an aftermarket relay
I got power running to the 30 post, the feels for the horn on 87 (and I tried 87 a)
I believe 87 just blows the horn, even without grounding the relay
I intended to ground it through the horn wire on the steering wheel at post 85, but that made no difference
mopar head
DoD nuisance Alien/Squatch extermination team
Chrysler had em too.
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
Do you have it wired like this? (assuming you are using a SPST relay):
(Of course, instead of a light, it's your horn, and instead of a switch, it's your horn button.)
This is a standard "cube" SPST relay:
Or this, if you prefer:
This is a SPDT relay, which will work, but has a terminal you don't need:
Hot and horn button wire go to 85 and 86, either way, doesn't matter.
Hot and horn go to 87 and 30, either way, doesn't matter.
You end up with hot going to 2 terminals, horns to one, horn button to the other.
Take another look and check how you did it.
You'll get it.
– Eric
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
So your saying I need 2 hots to the relay ?
That might be my issue, I only tried it with got going to 30
(The more I think of it the more that makes sense, given how a relay works)
I'm using a 5 post relay, simply because I have one
If I understand it correct, I can use it as a normally open, or normally closed, depending on which post I send out to the actual horn
I got a few errands to run then I'll report back
MDchanic
Connoisseur d'Junque
Yes, usually when I do it, as I solder the connectors on to the wires, I "double-up" the hot and a 3" length of wire in one connector, then solder a second connector to the end of that 3" length, so I have one wire that I can plug onto two spade lugs on the relay.
No, you have to use it as normally open, otherwise the horn will blow constantly, until you press the horn button, then it will stop.
Would work fine in "Bizzarro World."
– Eric
That is correct THE relay can be used as NO or NC depending on terminal used.
BUT.... As MDchanic noted you must use the NO terminal or your horn will honk till you activate the relay by pressing the horn button. ( I think your neighbors would not like that)
Dartswinger70
Well-Known Member
Think of a relay as a low current used to activate a high current circuit hence the two hots one hot powers the coil inside to activate the switch on the high current circuit. Does your car have that 10 pin column connector and does the horn wire run through that? My 70 had issues with the 10 pin connector
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diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
Thanks gentlemen, we got it sorted out
The thing that was tripping my up was the 'second' hot wire
The stock relay only had 3 pins (hot, signal and out) and so it never occurred to me to "add" a second hot wire
I followed this diagram
With 85 and 30 jumped together, and being fed by the hot purple from the OEM plug
I used the horn button wire as ground to post 86 and 87 plugged into the green/red signal wire to the horn
My last hurdle were the little foam pads I used as springs, they say too close to the edge of the ring making it hard to get a good ground
I moved them as close to the center as I could and now they act as pivot points
I'm not sure what connector is on the column, but now that we got the relay properly wired up, the horn works
The thing that was tripping my up was the 'second' hot wire
The stock relay only had 3 pins (hot, signal and out) and so it never occurred to me to "add" a second hot wire
I followed this diagram
With 85 and 30 jumped together, and being fed by the hot purple from the OEM plug
I used the horn button wire as ground to post 86 and 87 plugged into the green/red signal wire to the horn
My last hurdle were the little foam pads I used as springs, they say too close to the edge of the ring making it hard to get a good ground
I moved them as close to the center as I could and now they act as pivot points
I had these relays kicking around from a previous project, I didn't mean to say I was planning on wiring it up as normally closed, just pointing out the possibilities of a 5 pin relay
That's what there me off, normally I have different feeds for the low and high current
I'm not sure what connector is on the column, but now that we got the relay properly wired up, the horn works
Dartswinger70
Well-Known Member
Nice to see it all figured out! 
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