Horns and Theft System

[Hammer]

OK, guess it's not my week. My horns aren't working, so I got under the dash and pulled the fuse. Yep, it's blown. Replaced it, hit the horn, it blew once (and didn't sound right) and the fuse popped again. Tried once more and the same thing happened. Done for the night.

Anybody had this problem? What was the outcome.

Thanks

[rhipsher]

Damn John! Your car must be mad at or something.

[VetteMed]

John, the internals of the horns can become partially seized due to corrosion. I'd suggest the following:

Unbolt the horns, spray a lot of PB blaster or equivalent penetrating oil down into the horn, let it sit. Tap on the center of the horn assembly with a hammer, after a few hours of soaking, to attempt to free up the mechanism. Might need to repeat a few times.

I suppose a faulty relay, or shorted wiring, could cause a problem too -- relay is under the RH side of the dash.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by rhipsher

Damn John! Your car must be mad at or something.

That's what Im thinking.

When I was in Kennewick, parked at a hotel, the horns started going off. I was standing right there too. Noone around. I was thinking this happened when I wasn't around and maybe they just honked until the fuse blew.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by VetteMed

John, the internals of the horns can become partially seized due to corrosion. I'd suggest the following:

Unbolt the horns, spray a lot of PB blaster or equivalent penetrating oil down into the horn, let it sit. Tap on the center of the horn assembly with a hammer, after a few hours of soaking, to attempt to free up the mechanism. Might need to repeat a few times.

I suppose a faulty relay, or shorted wiring, could cause a problem too -- relay is under the RH side of the dash.

I'll be looking at the horns and relay this morning. I wouldn't suspect faulty wiring until after those are ruled out.

AC is still blowing nice and cold Andrew. Thanks for your help on that again.

[VetteMed]

Originally Posted by Hammer

That's what Im thinking.

When I was in Kennewick, parked at a hotel, the horns started going off. I was standing right there too. Noone around. I was thinking this happened when I wasn't around and maybe they just honked until the fuse blew.

This suggests that the signal wire is shorting to ground. The wire runs from the horn buttons, down the column, to the long connector for the turn signal switch, at the base of the steering column. The wire is black. From the connector it runs to the CCM, I think. When this black wire is grounded, the horn output from the CCM will latch the relay closed, to provide 12V to the horns.

[VetteMed]

Originally Posted by Hammer

I'll be looking at the horns and relay this morning. I wouldn't suspect faulty wiring until after those are ruled out.

AC is still blowing nice and cold Andrew. Thanks for your help on that again.

Agreed, re: wiring.

Glad to hear you're staying frosty

[Hammer]

Checked horns with a Power Probe 3 this AM. The left one did not work and popped the breaker on the PP3. The right one worked fine. I pulled the left horn, replaced the fuse and the right horn worked fine, didn't pop the fuse after three times blowing the horn.

So, looks like I need a left side horn and this problem is fixed.

[VetteMed]

Cool, glad to hear. You could still try soaking in PB Blaster to see if it frees up, before buying a new unit.

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Checked horns with a Power Probe 3 this AM. The left one did not work and popped the breaker on the PP3. The right one worked fine. I pulled the left horn, replaced the fuse and the right horn worked fine, didn't pop the fuse after three times blowing the horn.

So, looks like I need a left side horn and this problem is fixed.

Sure glad these horns did not decide to do this crap in Kennewick. It's hard to have a nice BBQ with the noise

With such low mileage I'm surprised about this failure. Did it's earlier life happen to be in a state that uses salt one the road? Weird. Or did some under the hood spray maybe get in there? You know that stuff that shines up plastic.