A car’s voice and primary means of communicating with other drivers is the horn. The need to clearly and swiftly warn of a move or danger is especially crucial in emergency situations. As a result, maintaining it properly is essential for driving safely. Find out more about this gadget and receive some crucial vehicle horn maintenance advice.
The car horn has to be used in a variety of situations. Some vehicles may attempt to drive on the track from the side of the road or from a side road suddenly in front of you when your car is moving swiftly. There could be another one in the lane ahead of you that is too close to you. A person could abruptly cross the street in the wrong direction. The cyclist in front of your car might be travelling erratically or riding dangerously near to the edge of the road. If you drive through a playground full of children, there’s a strong chance that one of them may mistakenly block your way.
A damaged automobile horn is a major issue. However, it also has to be repaired if it operates imperfectly, erratically, weakly, or hoarsely. Poor sound quality can occasionally even be harmful, especially given the constant noise on the roads.
Therefore, it is best to fix the automobile horn if it stops working as well as if you find that it starts to sound worse. You can find some instructions below for fixing a damaged car horn below.
What equipment and tools are required to fix a car horn?
Naturally, taking your automobile to be repaired by experts at a car repair shop is the simplest option to fix the issue with your car’s horn. But many drivers would rather handle it themselves. If you choose to repair the item yourself, be sure you have the proper equipment on hand first. You will require:
- Rubber gloves,
- a machine repair manual,
- safety glasses,
- crimping tongs
- and pliers for stripping wires
- (pro tip: you may also use a standard knife), spare wires, and a multimeter—you can use either a digital or an analog one.
Basic components of an automobile horn’s operation
It is important to inspect the automobile horn before beginning any repairs. Its primary component is an electromagnet, whose coil is attached to the power source through the circuit breaker’s contacts. A sound-emitting membrane is coupled to an electromagnet anchor.
When current flows through the coil of an electromagnet, its anchor is attracted to the core, and the membrane bends. At the same time, an impact on the contacts of the circuit breaker occurs, they open, the coil of the electromagnet is de-energized, the anchor under influence of the force of the elastic membrane returns to its original position, closing the contacts of the breaker. Thus, the process of attaching and releasing the anchor becomes periodic, fluctuations of the armature along with the membrane occur. The pitch of the emitted sound depends on the vibrational frequency of the anchor.
The signals are split into high and low tone signals based on the sound frequency. High and low tones are alternated in parallel on automobiles, and the primary sound frequencies of these signals are harmoniously mixed.
Decibels are used to quantify sound pressure levels, and the spectral makeup of sound emitted by automobile horns varies. In all the different noise situations that cars make on the road, signals are made to have a frequency that is most heard in the cabin of an overtaking car.
In order to ensure that all of the horn’s sound energy is focused in this frequency range, the membrane, resonators, and other sound-emitting components all have precise dimensions, construction materials, and configurations. This needs to be considered while fixing an automobile horn. The audibility of the signal is altered by the whirling air movement that takes place when a car is driving. The signal may be heard from a closer distance the faster the automobile is moving.
Useful repair advice for common car horn issues
When you hit the button, the car’s horn either doesn’t sound at all or only sometimes.
It may be a fuse. It is advisable to test this component first when fixing a car horn since it is made to find wiring weak points and guard against significant repercussions. The fuse lies inside the circuit’s smallest wire segment, thus when there is an excessive load, this component burns out first.
However, you must first choose the proper fuse. Don’t worry; it’s simple to do if you follow the instructions in your vehicle’s handbook. The fuse section is often located on the left side of the steering wheel in vehicles with a left-hand drive, and on the right side in vehicles with a right-hand drive. The second block is located on the driver’s side under the hood.
It’s important to test the fuses and make sure they work properly before starting a vehicle horn repair. Possibly one of them is just out of order, thus it is worthwhile to perform a visual examination first. You will need to repair the fuse if the wire inside of it is broken. It’s recommended to test the fuse using a multimeter since even if the wiring is sound, this does not always imply that the fuse is in good shape.
The Relay is out of order
Another cause of the malfunction detected during a car horn repair is a damaged relay. This detail is situated in a block under the hood. Here is another tip for you. The easiest and at the same time most effective way to test the correct operation of the relay, is to replace it with a similar one. The fact is that in the different mechanisms of the vehicle the same type of relay can be used. For checking, you should install an identical relay instead of the one you are trying to test. If after replacing the relay, the horn starts working, it means that the cause of the malfunction lies in this detail.
You can also take out the relay and test the resistance in it. To do this, connect one multimeter probe to the switch socket of the relay you are checking. The other probe should be placed on the negative battery output. Ask someone to press the horn button to check the tester readings.
You will see the numerical values on the screen. If it shows “Out of Limits (OL)” on the tester it means that the relay is broken and you will have to replace it.
Open section of the circuit which connects the horn button to the machine network.
Inspect the wiring and repair the open circuit. It is worth remembering that since the horn button is usually placed in the steering wheel it is inextricably linked to the airbag. Take your time to disassemble the steering wheel carefully, as one incorrect movement can cause the airbag to trigger.
Bad contact in button or relay
Repair contacts by tightening the output screws and stripping the contact from oxidation, dust, oil etc …
The signal sounds weak and hoarse when the engine is not running, but when the engine is running, it sounds normal.
Here, the cause of the malfunction most likely lies in the battery, which is either dead or damaged. Accordingly, charge or replace the battery.
The signal sounds weak and hoarse in all engine operating modes
Most likely, the horn breaker contacts are clogged. Strip the contacts and adjust the signal. To strip the breaker contacts, the signal should be disassembled. When re-assembling it, it is important to maintain the initial clearance between the armature and the core of the electromagnet. Therefore, it is advisable not to replace the gasket between the horn housing and the membrane. It must be cleaned of dust and dirt and put back in place.
Burned relay contacts
Keeping an eye on the relay connections is important while fixing an automobile horn. Clean them if they are clogged. The signal could function correctly once again following this straightforward procedure.
There are two reasons why this may be. The coil of an electromagnet has an open circuit, which is the first. The second is incorrect signal breaker contact adjustment. You must either replace the signal in the first instance or restore the coil’s output. Turn the adjustment screw to change the signal in the second scenario.
One of the most crucial pieces of advice for fixing a car horn is to regularly check the signal strength of your vehicle. If that is the case you won’t be caught off guard if this important gadget breaks down or malfunctions, making driving safer.
Allow your automobile to constantly scream loudly and clearly!