Horn Woes HELP!

[Pat Carr]

A few months back the horn on my '73 stopped working. (At the same time, possibly related, the heater fan also stopped working, but I fixed that.) The first thing I did was replace the relay. No help. I searched the forums and checked everything suggested. There is power at the relay and connecting the H and B terminals sounds the horn. Good ground from horn button to relay. I gave up until this morning. I opened the case to my old relay, reinstalled it, and pressed on the contact (arrow in photo). The horn sounded. I repeated this with the horn button pressed, and the horn sounded as long as the horn button was pressed. I then repeated the process with the new relay with the same results. Am I correct in assuming the new relay is bad? If so, could a short or other electrical issue have fried the new relay? I hesitate to install another new relay only to have it fried as well. Thanks in advance.

Pat

[Travel'n Man]

Is your battery fully charged? I had the same thing happen to me last year while the car was in winter storage - put a full charge on the battery and see if that works - just a thought.

[SteveJ]

A few months back the horn on my '73 stopped working. (At the same time, possibly related, the heater fan also stopped working, but I fixed that.) The first thing I did was replace the relay. No help. I searched the forums and checked everything suggested. There is power at the relay and connecting the H and B terminals sounds the horn. Good ground from horn button to relay. I gave up until this morning. I opened the case to my old relay, reinstalled it, and pressed on the contact (arrow in photo). The horn sounded. I repeated this with the horn button pressed, and the horn sounded as long as the horn button was pressed. I then repeated the process with the new relay with the same results. Am I correct in assuming the new relay is bad? If so, could a short or other electrical issue have fried the new relay? I hesitate to install another new relay only to have it fried as well. Thanks in advance.

Pat

Pat, did you try to test the relay out of the car? You would do this by putting 12 volts across the coil to see if the contact closes.

Also, what is the voltage at the terminals for the coil. If it is too low, the coil won't have enough pull to close the contact. However, it might be enough to sustain closure of the contact if you push the contact closed.

A short would not likely harm the relay, unless the short is inside the coil. If you need more help, send me a PM with your phone number.

Steve

[Pat Carr]

Steve and Mitchell:

Problem solved. The battery and horn wires were switched. That doesn't explain why it didn't work to start with. Both old and new relays work. Perhaps as Mitchell surmised, my battery was low when it first stopped working. Thanks.

Pat