horn doesn't work....why?

[emmtee83]

hey guys.

while i wasn't home last week, my car horn started going off. it startled the neighbors so much that my next door neighbor (who coincidentally works at holdens) came out and disconnected my horn from underneath and reconnected it. the noise stopped, thanks to something that shorted the fuse out.....ever since, as soon as i replace the fuse, it blows almost immediately. when the fuse is in and i test it, only the horn on the right side works.....but then the fuse goes.

this is driving me nuts, not to mention driving without a horn is unsafe! any help here would be great!

cheers

[WAGON MAN]

Does your car have two horns?

Maybe your next door neighbor has incorrectly reconnected your horn.

[emmtee83]

there's one on either side behind the front bumper isn't there?

more help please!!

[VYMAD]

There's one on the driver's side behind bumper and if it's a higher luxury model then there's another one on the passenger side too. What about asking your neighbour who works at Holden to fix it or at least give advice. Other than that check fuses/relays.

[WAGON MAN]

there's one on either side behind the front bumper isn't there?

This is dependant on the model of car you have?

Eg. VT Series II acclaim....

What car do you have?

[emmtee83]

Sorry guys, have a Calais.

Relay seems to be fine, but fuse blows every time i put a new one in....

any ideas?

[WAGON MAN]

Calais will have two horns, left and right of bumper.

Try replacing the horn relay with another one to see if its faulty.

[ACEMonkey]

One or both your horns are shorted. Replacing the horns itself will fix the problem of your fuse blowing.

It happens when the horn has been going off for too long because the coils in the horn gets too hot and burns, shorting out the coil itself. If you stick a multimeter across the coil terminals, you'd see close to a 0Ohm reading, which is a short.

[emmtee83]

Calais will have two horns, left and right of bumper.

Try replacing the horn relay with another one to see if its faulty.

Done that, no difference in situation.

One or both your horns are shorted. Replacing the horns itself will fix the problem of your fuse blowing.

It happens when the horn has been going off for too long because the coils in the horn gets too hot and burns, shorting out the coil itself. If you stick a multimeter across the coil terminals, you'd see close to a 0Ohm reading, which is a short.

Now there's a possible solution....thanks heaps. I'll pop down to UPI's and grab a couple....

I'll post if and when I find a solution....Cheers!

[emmtee83]

Hey guys....

I bought a couple replacement horns from UPI's (off a VS, but it doesn't matter, they all work!), plugged them in and horn was fixed!!......

UNTIL......

I went to my mate's house for a card night and whilst I was inside enjoying a barbie, the horn started going off uncontrollably. I pulled the fuse (before either the fuse or the horns blew) and the noise stopped. However when I go to insert the fuse back in, the horn starts right up again.

Anyone else experience this problem? Anyone have any ideas how to fix?

Any help would be great. Cheers!!!

[normie666]

does ur calias have an alarm installed? one that uses horns to alert you?

[DanVN]

check your bonnet switch or boot switch, my money is one of them is snapped and is setting the alarm off as the car thinks the boot/bonnet is open

[emmtee83]

thanks for that, i'll check that out this morning.....

any other ideas?

[ACEMonkey]

Check your door switches too. Make sure they've got the rubber boots sealed properly otherwise the switches won't sit properly when your doors are closed. Theres also a chance that the electrical door switch contacts could be dirty and need cleaning.

[ACEMonkey]

For the time being, you could deadlock your doors and not use your remote alarm. that way you can still use your horns while you're driving and not have the alarms going off.

[1LoudVt]

my exec did the same thing i found out that the wiring in the horn pad itself it buggered but you cant replace just the horn pad you have to replace the airbag,they r both in one.i bought a second hand one of ebay no more problems.Holden only replaced the horn too.

[emmtee83]

wouldn't the fact that all lights turn off indicate that door is closed properly?

[TI3VOM]

The above does happen too but if you sit the car in the sun through out the day and when your horn goes off is it at night when its cooling down if so your horn pad has most likely warped in the heat then as the day/night is cooling down your horn pad contracts and the terminals touch hence the horn going off I have been told this a common problem with alot of cars holdens/ fords that sit in the sun all day.
This has happend to my car at the moment it's a vt commodore it will cost from holden to get a replacement horn pad alone $800 which is ****en expensive so that means going to a wreckers and getting one from there or trying to get the horn pad off your self and heating it back up and trying to bend it back to normal if this is the problem and when you fix it INVEST IN A STEERING WHEEL HEAT COVER.
Cheers Glenn.

[emmtee83]

sounds like my first port of call is going to be the steering wheel. thanks for all your suggestions guys!