Horn just stopped working.

[MY64RIVIERA]

My horn just stopped working on my 64'. No sound or anything.  Recommendations on where to check first?

 

Thanks,

Robert

[RivNut]

Start my hot wiring your each horn, if the horn works,  then work your way back to the horn bar.

[Jim Cannon]

There is also a horn relay.  See what it is doing.  A voltmeter or test light can help.

 

The horn bar provides a ground to the horn relay.  That closes the contacts in the relay to blow the horns.

 

 

[Seafoam65]

Open your hood and go to the horn relay which is sitting on top of the driver's side inner fender (the other end of the positive battery cable bolts to the stud on this relay The horn relay has a connector with two wires coming out of it. The green wire on the connector  is the power feed to the horns which makes them honk . the black wire on the connector is the wire that goes to the steering column and up to the horn bar contacts. Whenever the black wire is grounded, the horn relay should kick in

and send 12 volt power out to the green wire on the connector. Take a jumper wire, hook it to a ground and take the other end and touch it to the prong the black

wire on the two wire connector plugs into. The relay should make an audible click, and the horns should get 12 volts through the green wire and honk. If they do, then

the problem is in your steering column horn contact area, or you  could have a broken ground strap on the rag joint where the column steering shaft connects to the

power steering gearbox. This strap grounds the steering shaft and if the shaft isn't grounded, the horn contact will have no ground source and the horns will not honk.

If you ground the prong at the black wire connection on the horn relay and nothing happens, you have a bad horn relay. If the relay clicks in and you have power at the green wire when you jump ground to the black wire prong but the horns don't honk, you have two bad horns or a break in the green wire from the relay to the horns.

[crowvet]

Sometimes tapping on he relay while someone depresses the horn button works.

 

[Turbinator]

Could be all the honks are blown out. 🤣 I just could not resist. All in fun.

Turbinator

[60FlatTop]

That's not true. Buicks don't use Lucas horns!

[OldGerman]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:42 PM, Seafoam65 said:

Open your hood and go to the horn relay which is sitting on top of the driver's side inner fender (the other end of the positive battery cable bolts to the stud on this relay The horn relay has a connector with two wires coming out of it. The green wire on the connector  is the power feed to the horns which makes them honk . the black wire on the connector is the wire that goes to the steering column and up to the horn bar contacts. Whenever the black wire is grounded, the horn relay should kick in

and send 12 volt power out to the green wire on the connector. Take a jumper wire, hook it to a ground and take the other end and touch it to the prong the black

wire on the two wire connector plugs into. The relay should make an audible click, and the horns should get 12 volts through the green wire and honk. If they do, then

the problem is in your steering column horn contact area, or you  could have a broken ground strap on the rag joint where the column steering shaft connects to the

power steering gearbox. This strap grounds the steering shaft and if the shaft isn't grounded, the horn contact will have no ground source and the horns will not honk.

If you ground the prong at the black wire connection on the horn relay and nothing happens, you have a bad horn relay. If the relay clicks in and you have power at the green wire when you jump ground to the black wire prong but the horns don't honk, you have two bad horns or a break in the green wire from the relay to the horns.

 

Thats why my horn stopped honk as well.

ground wire broken 

[MY64RIVIERA]

I hear a clicking noise at the relay when depressing the horn bar.  Based on what was described above my green ground wire might have a break or bad horns?

[Jim Cannon]

2 hours ago, MY64RIVIERA said:

I hear a clicking noise at the relay when depressing the horn bar.  Based on what was described above my green ground wire might have a break or bad horns?

 

The relay is energizing inside. That's the click you are hearing.

 

Now put a test light on the power output tab of the horn relay and see if voltage is coming out of the relay.  If you do, go to next test.  If not, relay is bad.

 

Go find the horn wires where they connect to the horns and put a test light on them one at a time.  Have an assistant press the horn button and see if you have voltage out there on each wire.  If not, there is a break in the wire.  Otherwise the horns are bad.  It is unusual to have both horns fail at the same time.  How long ago did they work?

 

[telriv]

Remove the relay. Dis-connect the Neg. battery cable 1st.  Carefully remove the cover on the relay. Look at the contact points inside the relay. IF they are kinda blackish looking file them clean for a good contact.  Next look at the two very thin wires on the coil winding's. One may have a break in it. IF it does take a strand of copper wire & solder it in place to make up for the broken wire. Now the horn should work IF everything else you've tested is OK.

 

Tom T.

[1965rivgs]

3 hours ago, MY64RIVIERA said:

I hear a clicking noise at the relay when depressing the horn bar.  Based on what was described above my green ground wire might have a break or bad horns?

  If you have voltage being directed to the horns themselves and they dont sound make sure they are properly grounded. Probably a good idea to loosen and re-tighten the attaching bolts. If the horns still dont sound have someone hold down the horn bar inside the car and strike each of the horns with a rubber mallet...yes, hit them with a rubber mallet. This will very often jar loose a stubborn horn diaghram. It`s worth a try, you have nothing to lose at that point.

Tom Mooney

[OldGerman]

On 4/7/2019 at 4:55 PM, OldGerman said:

 

Thats why my horn stopped honk as well.

ground wire broken 

 

Made the rebuild today with the fix kit supplied by CARS. 

Made my own ground wire.

 

 

 

 

[RivNut]

If I'm right, it's not a ground wire.  It's wire that provides continuity for the horn circuit.  Power cannot be conducted through the rubber rag joint so the wire is used to connect the two sections of the steering column.  The horn is grounded through the mounting bracket on the horn itself where it's bolted to the radiator support.

[telriv]

Another thing that has happened. The green wires at the horns, IF you have power, they could be dirty or corroded. Remove the wire & clean the spade on the horn & ALSO clean the green wire connector. Apply silicone DI-electric grease on the horn spade & the green wire.

 

Tom T.

[1965rivgs]

1 hour ago, RivNut said:

If I'm right, it's not a ground wire.  It's wire that provides continuity for the horn circuit.  Power cannot be conducted through the rubber rag joint so the wire is used to connect the two sections of the steering column.  The horn is grounded through the mounting bracket on the horn itself where it's bolted to the radiator support.

The wire or strap at the rag joint grounds the steering shaft which enables the horn contact under the steering wheel to connect the horn relay coil circuit to ground when the harn bar is depressed. It is a ground wire.

Tom

[RivNut]

15 minutes ago, 1965rivgs said:

The wire or strap at the rag joint grounds the steering shaft which enables the horn contact under the steering wheel to connect the horn relay coil circuit to ground when the harn bar is depressed. It is a ground wire.

Tom

Where does it connect to the body/chassis which runs to the negative post on the battery?

[psychostang]

Thru contact with the steering box/chassis/chassis ground wire to negative post.

 

[Chasander]

Besides being used to seal rubber covers on electrical connections, dielectric grease also prevents corrosion when applied directly to metal connectors. Though it works well for this purpose, it can sometimes cause a connection to stop working if not all of the grease is pushed out of the way between the points of contact inside the connector. 

from geek web site.