Horn issues

Sandwedge

Sandwedge

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Nov 3, 2018
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Atlanta
The other day I noticed my horn quit working. I’ll start by saying I suck when it comes to electrical issues and have no idea what I am doing. I can tell you the 20amp fuse for the horn is blown. So I grabbed a good 20amp fuse and as soon as it made contact in the fuse box the horn started working, except this time I didn’t know how to stop it so I just pulled the fuse. So obviously the horn still works and I know I have a bad fuse, but I know have the problem of the horn constantly blowing when I put a good fuse in place of the bad. I also used a couple different relays and got the same result, constant horn blowing.

I’ve read some threads saying it could possible be the clock spring but my airbag light isn’t on and everything else is normal. I’ll also add that I haven’t gotten the interior wet in months so I doubt any moisture got into the steering column.

Any idea what could resolve the issue?
 
Certainly sounds like some kind of short. You can try unplugging the clock spring and repeating the test, if the horn comes on you've got an issue elsewhere.
 
ElectricWizard said:
Certainly sounds like some kind of short. You can try unplugging the clock spring and repeating the test, if the horn comes on you've got an issue elsewhere.
Click to expand...

How easy is it to unplug the clock spring? Does that require taking the steering wheel off and disconnecting the battery?
 
Sandwedge said:
How easy is it to unplug the clock spring? Does that require taking the steering wheel off and disconnecting the battery?
Click to expand...

It is pretty easy, just some bolts on the back of the steering wheel. The whole wheel itself doesn't need to come off. I'd recommend disconnecting the battery to be safe.
 
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Update: I unplugged the battery and removed the two bolts from the back of the steering wheel and unplugged the wires for both the air bag and the horn. I then reconnected both wires and reconnected the battery and plugged in my one good 20 amp fuse. Everything seemed okay up to this point. I went to press the horn to test it, I barely even touched the steering wheel and the horn started continually honking once again. I am not even convinced that my touching the wheel even set the horn off. I had just barely put my fingers on the wheel and hadn’t even pressed the horn and it sounded off. This leads me to believe two points somewhere in the circuit must be very close to contact if not touching each other. So I went back and unplugged the fuse and I am now back where I started. Again, the airbag light is NOT on like other people may see with this issue. I did a visual inspection when I had the steering wheel cover off and did not see anything odd or obvious. Any what may be the issue?
 
I'm still thinking you've got a short. It can either be the clock-spring/horn switch is bad and shorted to ground, or you've got a wire that's shorting to ground.


short.PNG


The picture shows the TJ horn circuit, the one I highlighted is the circuit that will toggle the horn relay on/off. A short to ground anywhere in that circuit will trigger the horn.

I'd try reinstalling the fuse without the clock spring attached. If the horn doesn't go off at all in that case then your issue is in the clock spring/switch; otherwise your issue is most likely going to be a short in the wire.
 
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ElectricWizard said:
I'm still thinking you've got a short. It can either be the clock-spring/horn switch is bad and shorted to ground, or you've got a wire that's shorting to ground.


View attachment 62838

The picture shows the TJ horn circuit, the one I highlighted is the circuit that controls the horn. A short to ground anywhere in that circuit will trigger the horn.

I'd try reinstalling the fuse without the clock spring attached. If it doesn't go off at all in that case then your issue is in the clock spring/switch; otherwise your issue is going to be a short in the wire most likely.
Click to expand...
Thank you sir. I will try unplugging the clock spring again and plug in the fuse. I’ll let you know if it works!
 
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I have a similar issue... When I bought my TJ the horn did not work at all. So I got poking around and found the fuse had been removed. I out in a new fuse and at first it seemed fine. Then while driving down the road, every time I hit a bump it let out a little toot. Lol... So soince I don't really care if I have a horn, I went ahead and removed the fuse just as the previous owner did.. I suspect a bad clock spring but I'm ok with it as is.
 
ElectricWizard said:
I'm still thinking you've got a short. It can either be the clock-spring/horn switch is bad and shorted to ground, or you've got a wire that's shorting to ground.


View attachment 62838

The picture shows the TJ horn circuit, the one I highlighted is the circuit that will toggle the horn relay on/off. A short to ground anywhere in that circuit will trigger the horn.

I'd try reinstalling the fuse without the clock spring attached. If the horn doesn't go off at all in that case then your issue is in the clock spring/switch; otherwise your issue is most likely going to be a short in the wire.
Click to expand...
Just repeated the same process as above except this time I left the air bag/steering wheel cover completely disconnected as I connected the battery and plugged in the fuse (my clock spring was still attached but not connected to the steering wheel cover, I think this is the step electricwizard was suggesting I do) and the result was silence. I put everything back together and tried the good fuse and got the constant horn blowing as before. So does this suggest it may be the clockspring?
 
I’m pretty much in the same boat when it comes to not having a functioning horn (as long as the air bag still works). Part of me is OCD enough to want everything working properly though. Maybe if I determine for a fact it is the clockspring then I will replace it one day. Until then, I can live with a horn.
 
Sandwedge said:
Just repeated the same process as above except this time I left the air bag/steering wheel cover completely disconnected as I connected the battery and plugged in the fuse (my clock spring was still attached but not connected to the steering wheel cover, I think this is the step electricwizard was suggesting I do) and the result was silence. I put everything back together and tried the good fuse and got the constant horn blowing as before. So does this suggest it may be the clockspring?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you did it right!

When you say your clock spring was still attached, were the electrical connectors still plugged into the vehicle side? If so it sounds like you might have a bad switch inside the airbag/cover portion and the clock spring is fine.

The clock spring would be bad if you hear the horn without the airbag/cover part plugged into the clock spring, but with the rest of the clock spring plugged into the vehicle harness.
 
ElectricWizard said:
Sounds like you did it right!

When you say your clock spring was still attached, were the electrical connectors still plugged into the vehicle side? If so it sounds like you might have a bad switch inside the airbag/cover portion and the clock spring is fine.

The clock spring would be bad if you hear the horn without the airbag/cover part plugged into the clock spring, but with the rest of the clock spring plugged into the vehicle harness.
Click to expand...
I only removed the cover, which contains the air bag, and disconnected the two wires that connect to that cover. There is a yellow wire that attaches to the center of the back of the air bag and another smaller wire which I’m guessing is used for the horn. I did not remove the clock spring itself or disconnect any other wires around the steering wheel.
 
Sandwedge said:
I only removed the cover, which contains the air bag, and disconnected the two wires that connect to that cover. There is a yellow wire that attaches to the center of the back of the air bag and another smaller wire which I’m guessing is used for the horn. I did not remove the clock spring itself or disconnect any other wires around the steering wheel.
Click to expand...

Gotcha! Sounds like you did the test perfectly then. I'm gonna say your switch is bad. Unfortuantely, the only way I know of fixing that is to buy another airbag/switch assembly.
Another option would be to add a horn switch elsewhere (like on the dash), but that's a bit more of a hack imo ;)
 
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ElectricWizard said:
Gotcha! Sounds like you did the test perfectly then. I'm gonna say your switch is bad. Unfortuantely, the only way I know of fixing that is to buy another airbag/switch assembly.
Another option would be to add a horn switch elsewhere (like on the dash), but that's a bit more of a hack imo ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help, I can live without the horn. Guess I can always buy a CO2 air horn to blast at people who can’t drive. Lol
 
Sandwedge said:
The other day I noticed my horn quit working. I’ll start by saying I suck when it comes to electrical issues and have no idea what I am doing. I can tell you the 20amp fuse for the horn is blown. So I grabbed a good 20amp fuse and as soon as it made contact in the fuse box the horn started working, except this time I didn’t know how to stop it so I just pulled the fuse. So obviously the horn still works and I know I have a bad fuse, but I know have the problem of the horn constantly blowing when I put a good fuse in place of the bad. I also used a couple different relays and got the same result, constant horn blowing.

I’ve read some threads saying it could possible be the clock spring but my airbag light isn’t on and everything else is normal. I’ll also add that I haven’t gotten the interior wet in months so I doubt any moisture got into the steering column.

Any idea what could resolve the issue?
Click to expand...
DW-40 (Dry Water) where is the switch.
 
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