My apology letter, Intermittent horn on..... To my neighbors and friend; I must apologize for the solid but intermittent horn honking coming from my 71' Buick GS in the driveway. I don't know @ this time what is causing the horn to honk. Possibly moisture? But where, If this is even the problem. This past weekend about 21:00 I went in the house and heard the horn honking. I wasn't even sure it was coming from my car. Lo and behold It was my car! I instantaneously opened the hood and threw the kill switch to the battery of which I installed in the engine compartment, last year. I then wiggled the harness on the steering column. At this point, I got enough confidence to throw the kill switch to see if the problem still existed. That seemed to work. It worked for four day until 01:45 this morning, Damn..... My wife woke me up out of bed this morning and told me The buicks' horn was going off. I got my bathrobe on and in bare feet in the cold I opened the hood and threw the kill switch again. I tried to get some sleep...No luck. My alarm goes off @ 05:15 This morning while it was still dark out, and w/ flashlight in hand, I jiggled the harness again hoping that if there is a connection to ground, or (+) just maybe I'd jiggle it enough not to make contact. I also looked for a fuse Just in case I had to disconnect the horn from that point. Could not locate a fuse for the horn. Again I got enough balls up to throw the Kill switch, and it didn't honk this time. Then I went to put the key in the ignitition switch and the horn started honking again. Went into the engine compartment decided to pull the slide connections off the horn and drove it to work. I'm not sure what the problem is yet, but hope not to cause anyone any noise inconvenience. Any suggestions or opinions on V8, Thanks........................ o No:
normally, water ( condensation or splash from driving through puddles ) has gotten up into the horn and rotted it out. you've got an intermittent short. as far as i know the only real fix is replacing the horn itself. that main power switch is good too though. you could just kill that every time you get out of the car. of course, that power switch isn't going to help you if you're driving down the road and the horn goes off. then you'd just have to yank the wiring harness off of the back of the horn.
Just a word of advice, if the horn is blowing when you "don't" want it to, it will also (Murphy's Law) NOT blow when you "want" it to. Better check the contacts or maybe there's a short to ground somewhere in the circuit. o No:
With the horns disconnected I can hear the horn relay clicking with the horn buttons switch on the steering wheel. Possibly it could be the horn relay contacts? I don't know, might be worth a change.... Anyone? Thanks <img src="http://images.scottfisher.multiply.com/image/1/photos/11/400x400/101/horn-relay2.jpg?et=aLrwssK%2BEy0331CGqN%2CmRQ&nmid=227551223" width="643" align="center">
I doubt it the horn causing the problem, there must be another cute Buick near by it wants to mate with. But seriously, where are the contacts for the horn on the steering wheel. I had a Mustang that did the same thing when I left the windows up and it got hot. It was the contact in the wheel drying out/expanding that caused the problem. My guess is you have a contact in the wheel that makes connection with a temperature change or you have a piece of "metallic trash" on the contact ring or the ring is some how making contact when the temperature changes. By the way, I tried to sell the Mustang for $500 and everybody wanted to beat me down on the price. I told Linda the next person that I meet that needs a car I'd give it to them before I sold it for less than $500. I picked up an old freind to help me about three weeks later to do some fencing and didn't feel like driving him back home, he drove the Mustang home.
All I know is you better get it resolved or your going to have a Frankenstein mob at your house soon!:laugh:
One other possibility is that the return spring in the relay is weak, causing the contacts to close, and sounding the horn. This is reaching, and my first suggestion is the harness in the column. You can check the harness in the column by connecting a test light to battery voltage, and after disconnecting the connnnnector from the relay, put the other end of the light in the lead going to operat the relay. By hitting the column, the harness will likely ground in the column, making the light flicker. Question: Does the horn intermittently honk when you turn the wheel? From your description of the timing, it appears that the temperature is causing the problem, and that makes me suspect the relay...You can also try disconnecting the horn, and, using the same light connected to ground, put the point of the light into the horn connector. If the relay is the issue, the test light will come on. You can then check the relay connector for the ground we tested for earlier. Regardless of where the wire gets its ground, the signal will energize the relay. Good luck. Ray
Bring it to my house...My neighbors are asses and nothing would be better than to hear the horn blow all night to piss them off..They have been the reason I haven't been able to finish the garage since August...That will all change next Monday...
it is definatly NOT the horn itself. when this happened to me on my white 74 vert and it was the little washer/clips that held the steering wheel pads trim on. the plastic post that the washer/clip slipped onto broke letting the washer bounce around inside the steering wheel and occasionally shorting the horn contact rails. i took the steering wheel cap off and found the little sucker and took it out. reassembled and it has worked ever since. other causes are a relay problem as mentioned before. or the black wire that goes up the column is shorting to ground. or the green wire that runs to the horn(s) is getting shorted to a strong 12v source. with the horns unhooked beware that the relay might still be ingaging and could kill the batt over a couple days.
Yes, I had a bad relay on my 66 Special that caused the horn to go off at will.....like 3am in the morning, or even driving down the road. Replacing the relay cured my problem. Horn contacts are a good possibility as well.
While it's now Wed, and I still have the horns disconnected (Daily driver she is lately w/ fall in the air here) Perfect time to drive her. (71 Buick GS)...... I'm backing out of a parking lot today, and someone else was doing the same. Man I sure could have used those horns TO ALERT. No accident or damage...Jeeze Just my luck, Just when I need them! OK, I am thinking The horn Relay, and/ or the (two switches in the Steering pad) Possibly the spring? Anyway, I do believe the temp swing to colder possibly does have something to do w/ it, as mentioned....above and those Frikin' Neighbors and a female car in heat? So, I'm taking bets on the Relay or the switches. I use and take Paypal.... There are no spreads, All bets are Simply 50-50 Lol, I'll fix this problem, SOB. Pisses me off, always something.... Thanks :beers2: Make it a Yuengling Lager (Oldest family Brewery in America) Since 1829!
