New Stereo, No More Horn!

Your horn doesn't work. Look for a loose conection. Or an unplugged connector.

What does the shop that took your money say? Have you talked to them? Taken it back?

Right, the horn is dead! I noticed this last evening and had no time to go to / call the shop. We are just ahead a long weekend and was just wondering if there is something I can do in the meantime (besides NOT using the horn !). I was just wanted to know if any of you experienced such a problem ...

Get one of those portable air horns and keep your window down....

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/product.do?part=66600&BASE

Are you playing your new radio too loud? Honda horns are pretty wimpy.

Most people just substitute a good bumper sticker for a broken horn:

If the new stereo is any good you no longer need a horn. Just crank up the volume!

Given the useful replies I´ve got till now , I´m seriously considering learning the Morse code to issue warnings with the headlights... or sitting my wife atop the roof with a pair of signal-flags! A shotgun may do as well!

Horn relay. This is how to disable it, but you can use the same info.

Your stereo guy may have shorted it out while installing your stereo.

actually not, cause I remember It worked when I left the shop! When and why it stopped working: no clue.

It still could be the horn relay and be unrelated to the stereo. If the fuse is good, that would be the next place I would look.

right! tomorrow I´l crawl under the car to see if I can find out where the heck they´ve hidden the horn/s.

Why don't you take the car back to the shop and have the stereo guy fix the problem for you???????

Cutting or not, any work that involves access behind the dashboard of a car or truck is potentially disruptive. You are lucky that it's only your horn and not the right rear indicator that doesn't work when the wipers are running....

It is difficult not to disturb anything, a good technician would have checked all the connectors he could see, whether or not they were part of the installation, as a matter of routine during dashboard reassembly. How good was he?

I would be looking for a connector that has been inadvertently disassociated from its mate. I would also be checking the ground connections as it may have been necessary to disturb one for the stereo installation. If it was not re-tightened adequately it may have shaken loose.

Check the relays if you can, go ahead and check the annunciators themselves, you may as well have some noisy fun while your losing the bark off your knuckles.

I didn't really understand your plan of action re the fuses. You are checking more than 1? Checking fuses is good. Check them all, including your spares, while you are at it. Long weekend trip, be prepared.

You deserve a medal for actually consulting the vehicle's documentation. Excellent first step.

Doc,

it'll most likely be a partially disconnected multipoint connector, which was inadvertently strained when under the dashboard fitting the radio. A little road vibe and it's just open far enough to disable the audible signalling device.

Or, the earthing cable to the frame has pulled free of it's spade. Not sure whether it's on the steering column outer or the pedal mount frame.

Either way, it's only a bit of a mission to access it, removing all the plastic panels.

Be interested to know the fault when you find it.

Stu.

Sounds like a good one for Car Talk.

Dear all!

Thank all of you for your good ideas! After driving around with no horn for some weeks, I finally managed to take the car to the shop that installed the stereo (Very nice guys indeed!) They checked a bit around and did the following: they pressed the horn´s "button" at the center of the driving wheel, and one could hear the horn´s relay tipical clicking sound at the internal fuse-box. This meant that the cables and connections from the steering wheel / behind the dashboard were OK. As the fuse (# 12) belonging to the horn was also OK, the problem had to be the horn itself of that it was disconnected. The plug was hanging next to the horn(*), and re-connecting it took a while... but that is another story!

(*) Quite weird cause the car is only 8 weeks old, and besides the first oil change and the new radio, it´s mechanics is still virgin...

Good to hear.

I'd say "duh", but I can't count the number of times I've skipped over the simple stuff and delved into the complicated.

Thanks for letting us know. I wish more OP's would come back and give us a report.

you are welcome!

Thanks Doc,

I too appreciate it.

Stu.