18 replies to this topic

[drpau]

I recently had my car in to get the horn fixed - it was in-operative (went from working to intermitant to not working at all). I took it to an autoelectricians and they were unable to find the horn (well he said he would have to take the clam off to get to it) and I needed the car so I took it back. He said he tested all the wiring switches relays etc and these are all ok and was 99% sure it was the horn. CHarged me £50 (but said he had spent a load more time than that but as he couldnt sort it in the day couldnt charge me any more)
So Ive decided to tackle this myself now - Ive read that you can access the horn from below (see pic), rik also wrote that it was on drivers side... and Ive got this pic'



Now, Ive bought a Stebel horn from Halfrauds, should I replace the horn in the existing location (if i can get to it) or should I chop the wire via the headlight and fit it there?

ANy ideas/tips on this would be greatly appreciated.

[oblomov]

Now, Ive bought a Stebel horn from Halfrauds, should I replace the horn in the existing location (if i can get to it) or should I chop the wire via the headlight and fit it there?

ANy ideas/tips on this would be greatly appreciated.

If you read what Oija Board says in this thread he confims the horn can be reached form below without removing the clam. Althought people have fitted the Stebel without re wiring, by simply increasing the fuse value, I would suggest you re-wire and use an up rated fuse. The Stebel uses a lot more power than the standard horn.

[Ouija Board]

Indeed I did! You can get to it by removing the front undertray, and I beleive I removed the front drivers inner wing panel, but can't remember if this helped??? Anyway, it is a right fiddle to do, and you have to stretch your arm to do it, but not impossible. When replacing the horn, I re-drilled the locating /mounting bolt hole a little nearer to the front/rear (as appropriate) of the car if I re-call to make any subsequent repairs easier. When you go to re-fit just drill as you see fit. Agree better with a re-wire, but until the clam comes off uprate the fuse slightly. As long as you don't sit with the horn on for five mins should be no probns at all. HTH Rob

[drpau]

Thanks for the replies fellas , the Stebel horn I opted for wasnt one of the more powerful airhorns, according to this one current drain is <6A (its the Magnum 80 if that means anything to you budding horn enthusiasts!) whereas I think the airhorn (the stebel nautilus compact one) is 9Amp. The fuse for the horn is 7.5 I think.
It is louder than a standard horn though apparently >136db at 4inches soooo, I think it pretty much says GETOUTOFTHEFUCKINGWAY!

Looking at the photo If I remove the wheel arch I will be able to get access to the screws which hold the existing horn in place and access to the horn itself via the gap at the bottom (once Ive got the tray off). So I will try to refit in the existing position, if this turns out to be a complete nightmare I will opt for relocating and accessing the wires via the drivers headlight.

Shame I had to spend £58 odd (with the VAT) and book a day off work to end up DIY , then again, at least the wiring/relays etc have been established as being sound.

I will let you know how I get on and hopefully it may be of help to someone else in the future.

[drpau]

Job done!!!! Turned out that that one of the spade connector had come off the horn itslef (explains why it went intermittant - it must have gradually been waggling itself off!). I took off the drivers side wheel and front undertray, got my arm stuck several time as there is little space to get your hand in. So the problem was not with the horn so Im gonna take the Stebel one back to halfrauds ( Its connected up now and working so may as well leave as is). So thanks to the site and above posters for helping me out . Shame Im 58£ worse off but I suppose that ruled out any wiring issues.... I will post a couple of pic's when Ive got my usb cable so its clearer for people to see how to access it.... Now to the EGR blanking plate..... a mans work is never done.....

[drpau]

View of horn sounder from underneath after removing front tray,

This image shows the wire which runs to the horn . Notice the gap on the right, I managed to get my arm in there and couldnt bloody get it back out quite stressful that bit lol

If you look at the above pic I took this third pic through the small hole on the left (just big enough to fit your hand in through if you move the bottom of the clam a touch)- thats how I accessed the connectors


SO as you can see in my case the spade connector had waggled itself free of its own accord, I crimped up the connector slightly to make it a tighter fit- Horn now works a treat
I hope the images are of use to someone else....

[screamindemonuk]

Well they are just about to be a big help to me as the horn as not worked on mine since I replaced the radiator and had the front clam off. Gulp, hope I can fix it.

[SWISH]

lol me too - i was just about to search for this thread My plan is to cut that wire [in the secone pic] and re-place the horn elsewhere

[siztenboots]

horn has packed up , if only the chargecooler pipes were not in the way

[FLD]

horn has packed up , if only the chargecooler pipes were not in the way

 

Bad times!  I have a spare OE one if you want it.

[siztenboots]

its bound to be the spade connectors , must have knocked it putting the lights back in. will check FB10 7.5Amp and relay K12

[drpau]

Im surprised those photos I posted up there are still working!

[siztenboots]

why does everyone try to cut you up when the horn is broken

[drpau]

What pushed me to fix my intermittant problem was a guy from work rolling back into me at traffic lights, with me frantically pressing the horn and nothing happening!! Luckily there was no damage...

[siztenboots]

well i went to fit some sooped up led sidelights and had a good look for the horn but no joy

[drpau]

Yeah you have to go in via the wheel arch.... you might be able to see the comnector when you remove the headlight (driversside) but its on the otherside of a piece of fibreglass/crashbox where the actual horn is positioned..

[GreenArrow]

Shame the pictures have gone. I've just encountered this problem myself.

[FLD]

It's not hard to find.  Take the front tray off and look up under the crash structure on the drivers side.  You can see the securing nut and wires if you take the arch liner out and peer around the rad surround.  Fiddly as hell but you can get at it.

[Bootdog]

I did this recently, I was able to reuse the old horn connectors, no wire chopping required, just a new horn installed behind the headlight.