How to Fix a Car Horn in Few Easy Steps

CarsFellow
By CarsFellow 7 Min Read

Having a fully working car horn is very important because it can protect yours and all the other vehicles that are around. This way, you can prevent some horrible accidents and collisions, so we can say that a working car horn can save lives.

Hopefully, your horn is working just fine, but if by chance your car horn fails at the worst times, you can quickly fix it. If your horn is not working, you need to fix it as soon as possible, and thankfully, setting a horn is not that difficult if you learn its components.

Here are some easy and fast steps you can apply to fix your car horn.

Start with looking at the Fuse

You can find the fuse box with relative ease if you have the owner’s manual. In most of the vehicles, you can find the fuse box in the driver’s side dashboard; otherwise, it will be near the engine bay.

Now when you get the fuse box, you can quickly look in the back panel for a diagram that will let you know where the fuse of the horn will be.

If the diagram is not there or you cannot find it no need to worry about it, you can briefly look at the manual for more information. When you find the fuse of the horn, then you will pull it out with pliers.

Check the Relay

Once you have checked the fuse, because you still have an issue, you need to look for the horn relay. You can find the relay box under the hood of your car.

The only way you can check that your vehicle’s relay is working or not is to replace it with another relay. If you find the identical relay for your vehicle, but the horn is still not working, then you have read the next step.

Relay switch Test

The next thing you should be focusing on is the relay switch. The multimeter and use of Ohms measurement are to proceed with the relay switch test.

Use the multimeter probe, at the time you remove the relay at the negative battery terminal of a car. If you have a friend or family or anyone around, they can help you by pressing the horn button on the steering wheel.

On your multimeter, if you see out of limits, then your relay switch is in a nasty condition. If your relay switch is working correctly, then you should proceed to the next possibility or point.

Workability of the horn switch

It’s time to move to the horn switch after the relay switch step. Sadly this step can be the most difficult one to perform and fix.

The pad of the steering wheel is typically known as the horn switch; you will have to remove the wheel pad to get the switch. If your car has an airbag facility, you will need to get rid of the airbags first.

You need to do this step very carefully; if you do not feel confident enough to do this step, may it is time that you take your vehicle to a trained mechanic.

Whether you do it by yourself or go to a mechanic and spend your money, remember when to get past the airbag, just depress the electric flow to the horn. That’s how you will get your sound back. Remember to replace the pad on your steering wheel, or the horn won’t work again.

Testing Time

Now, if you have done all the possible steps to fix your horn, its time to check the horn itself. Some cars have the horns on the radiator core of the vehicle itself; others have the horn mounted right behind the car grille.

After that, just find the horn, take its connector. Now use a jumper wire and connect it with the positive terminal of the horn, and the other hand combines it with the car’s battery.

For the negative terminals, the negative side will be connected to it and also with the battery. When you connect the negative terminal, your horn should start working at this time.

If your horn doesn’t have sound at this point, you will have to change, but before that, there is another step you can perform.

Test the horn Circuit

Before a full-on replacement of the horn, the last thing to do is to test the horn circuit. Recheck the owner’s manual if the test doesn’t go wrong, and the horn circuit is perfectly fine, it is time for a full replacement of your vehicle’s horn.

Replacement of the Horn

The last thing to do is replacing the whole thing, you can get a brand new trumpet, or you can get a used one and take it from another vehicle.

Conclusion

After following all the steps, you will easily find out the fault in your vehicle. Each step with take your time and give you the best solution for your problem.

Just remember it is essential to have a working horn in your vehicle, and if anything wrong happens to it, fix it as soon as possible.

Share This Article
Cars Fellow create well researched and thoughtful automotive stories, news, and reviews.
Leave a comment