Hi, my name is Tirod (ahem,) and I own an XJ that hasn't honked in two years. I've changed everything out, the horn button, slip ring, turn signal and harness, and the ignition switch on the bottom of the column. I jumpered the horn relay contacts with a push button to get some action, but still, no consistent honking. And holding down the button would fry the fusible link at the starter solenoid - plus all the 30 amp fuses I installed in the alternate.
Today, I cleaned the actual connectors on the horn, and now they work. It's dirt simple. Clean the dirt, or actually corrosion, off the terminals. Apparently, too much corrosion causes high resistance. Duh.
To get to them, turn the wheel out on the side you're working on, reach in next to the sway bar, grab the rubber mat riveted to the plastic inner fender, and work it up and out. It's a big flap that keeps most of the larger crud off the horns. Put on your safety glasses, lie down, look up with a good light, and there is the horn right behind the bumper. On the passenger side the vac ball is in front.
Pull the connector off the terminal - it's firm fit. Scrub the terminal with a brass brush, 3M grit pad, something, and coat with battery terminal grease to keep it conductive. Reconnect and test. Your problem is probably solved.
If not, get those jumper leads out and supply the horn with 12VDC off the battery. Does it work now? If not, check the ground, too. The one bolt holding it on is the ground path. It is a typical pain to loosen as the turn signal housing is just enough in the way to block a socket. It has to be electrically conductive to the frame to complete the path, you can clip another jumper lead to the frame and horn to help for testing - bare metal must show, not to the body paint.
If it doesn't work now, the horn is probably bad, a rare thing indeed, especially if all the mad dauber wasps have signaled an interest in you poking around their new home.
In any event, the first thing to do is clean the actual terminals on the horns when they don't work. If you aren't getting power to the horns, then check that the gray relay under the dash next to the fusebox has power and sends it to the horns. Probably last is to tear into the steering wheel to replace the slip ring, which is a grounding path for the relay leg that energizes the switch coil. Horn power does not go through the column, at least on the GM one used in a '90.
Happy Honking, and don't forget to wave.
Today, I cleaned the actual connectors on the horn, and now they work. It's dirt simple. Clean the dirt, or actually corrosion, off the terminals. Apparently, too much corrosion causes high resistance. Duh.
To get to them, turn the wheel out on the side you're working on, reach in next to the sway bar, grab the rubber mat riveted to the plastic inner fender, and work it up and out. It's a big flap that keeps most of the larger crud off the horns. Put on your safety glasses, lie down, look up with a good light, and there is the horn right behind the bumper. On the passenger side the vac ball is in front.
Pull the connector off the terminal - it's firm fit. Scrub the terminal with a brass brush, 3M grit pad, something, and coat with battery terminal grease to keep it conductive. Reconnect and test. Your problem is probably solved.
If not, get those jumper leads out and supply the horn with 12VDC off the battery. Does it work now? If not, check the ground, too. The one bolt holding it on is the ground path. It is a typical pain to loosen as the turn signal housing is just enough in the way to block a socket. It has to be electrically conductive to the frame to complete the path, you can clip another jumper lead to the frame and horn to help for testing - bare metal must show, not to the body paint.
If it doesn't work now, the horn is probably bad, a rare thing indeed, especially if all the mad dauber wasps have signaled an interest in you poking around their new home.
In any event, the first thing to do is clean the actual terminals on the horns when they don't work. If you aren't getting power to the horns, then check that the gray relay under the dash next to the fusebox has power and sends it to the horns. Probably last is to tear into the steering wheel to replace the slip ring, which is a grounding path for the relay leg that energizes the switch coil. Horn power does not go through the column, at least on the GM one used in a '90.
Happy Honking, and don't forget to wave.
