Where is the Horn?

[mobilehippo]

Hi!

I found out my horn is not working but I opened the hood and I can't find where it is. It's usually pretty visible in other cars because it actually has a horn but in 1979 Odyssey, have no idea?

Not sure why it's working... might be electrical? Or I dunno if these even uses fuses? That might have gone.

Any one who can point me in the right direction would be really helpful!

Thanks!

[Derek up North]

If it fell off, that would explain why you can't find it!

[mobilehippo]

Hahaha, yes that might have been but I doubt it.....

[fred heath]

My toy is on a 1978 chassis. Different body style but my horn is found behind the left headlight slightly above the bumper. It should be visible from under the front left.

With horns it's usually a bad ground. You could remove it and bench test with a 12 volt battery. If the horn works, it's the fuse, relay, or buttons on the steering wheel.

Personally, I would buy new and relocate to a more accessible spot.

[mobilehippo]

My toy is on a 1978 chassis. Different body style but my horn is found behind the left headlight slightly above the bumper. It should be visible from under the front left.

With horns it's usually a bad ground. You could remove it and bench test with a 12 volt battery. If the horn works, it's the fuse, relay, or buttons on the steering wheel.

Personally, I would buy new and relocate to a more accessible spot.

Hi fred heath,

I was able to locate the horn and used a voltmeter to see if there is any electricity going through it. Looks like there isn't.

There is a fuse box under the dashboard of the driver seat that has a box of fuses but none for Horn. Do you know where that might be? Is it in the steering wheel?

Thanks for all the help!

[Derek up North]

I doubt there's a separate fuse in the vehicle fuse board just for the horn. I'd expect it to share with other items. Is there anything else that isn't working? There might be an inline fuse, but I doubt it would be in the steering wheel. Hopefully someone with a same/similar year Toyota will have an Owners Manual or Repair Manual will be able to answer your fuse question.

[linda s]

The fuse for the stop light is the same as the horn on a 78. 79 changed but why don't you just replace all the fuses and see if that helps.

Linda S

found a picture. right hand side at bottom. this is for 79 through 83 or something

[fred heath]

I had a problem with one of my two horn buttons not working. If your steering wheel is the same, remove the two screws on the backside of the steering wheel and check the connections for continuity or broken wires.

Linda is correct on the fuse. It shares the brake fuse. If your brake lights work, the fuse is good.

My vote is a bad wire or ground.

If you have 4 headlights it's a 1978 chassis even if the model year is 1979.

Checked the 1979 wire codes. The pigtail that attaches to the horn should have two wires. One grey (ground) and one green with white stripe (hot). The g/w should be hot all the time. When you push the horn button(s) it completes the ground circuit activating the horn.

My book shows the haz-horn sharing the same 15A fuse.

You may want to check the pigtail itself to make sure its not defective.

[mobilehippo]

Hmm this is very helpful. I have a 1978 chassis even though it says 79 on the title.

I've checked the brake light fuse, looks good and the brake light works. So that's out of the question. Not sure if there is a relay but maybe I will have to open up the steering wheel and see if there is any lose connections there.

I'll keep working on it.

Thanks for the help!

[Derek up North]

Do your HAZARDS work?

[fred heath]

Chances are it's the button wires under the horn ring. You have two recessed screws on the back side of the steering wheel (Phillips). Remove them and the front cover will detach. Check the wires for breakage and button for continuity.

As a last resort, ground the feed wire to the metal steering column. The horn should work. If not it's in the power supply wire or the horn itself.

[mobilehippo]

Hi Fred,

Thanks so much for the help. Just checked the horn on a 12v battery, it works. Look under the steering wheel and the connections look good. Tried to put the feed wire on the metal steering column but the horn won't blow.

It is definitely something to do with the wiring. I am not looking forward to opening her up to get to wires.....

[fred heath]

Check the pos feed to the horn. Run a jumper wire from the battery to the horn (+). Then try the horn button. Or place your voltmeter on the pos feed wire for voltage. Its fairly easy to run a new supply. Just be sure to install an inline fuse if you run from the battery pos.

[hickish]

If i was a betting man, i would say the horn contact, that makes contact with the ring on the steering wheel is worn down. That was the problem with mine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-HORN-CONTACT-PLATE-OEM-84312-20011-NEW-/181209738158

[mobilehippo]

Check the pos feed to the horn. Run a jumper wire from the battery to the horn (+). Then try the horn button. Or place your voltmeter on the pos feed wire for voltage. Its fairly easy to run a new supply. Just be sure to install an inline fuse if you run from the battery pos.

Hi fred,

So I tried a bunch of things and now have ran into something very strange. So I jumpwired the horn to the positive of the battery and the horn. The horn works this way.

Then I tested the car positive wire to the horn for electricity. The voltmeter reads 12v. So the car wire going to the horn is actually working cause power is running through it. But for some reason when I hook it to the horn, the horn doesn't work. It doesn't make any sense why electricity is reading from the wire but when connected to the horn wont blow.

I took a picture of the positive wire. It has this brown cap on it. When I touch the voltmeter onto the metal it reads 12v.

Can't tell whats wrong with this thing. My next guess is to change the caps but there is also this tiny blue box on the wire and don't know what that is for.

Thanks for all the help!

[Derek up North]

If I understand your post, your horn is getting 12v. If that's the case, then the electricity needs somewhere to 'go' after making the horn blow. That would be your Ground.

[mobilehippo]

Well that's the thing. When I jumpwire the horn, use alt wire, from horn + to battery +. The horn works when the button is pressed. This is with keeping the original ground wire from the horn.

However, when I use the original + wire to the horn, the horn doesn't work, even though the voltmeter says there is 12v of electricity running through it.

[fred heath]

The blue cap is a line splice. It's used to piggyback power from one wire to another. Chances are that's what causing your problem. Remove it completely. You do this by folding back the blue band that secures the two halves together. Then slide a small screwdriver inside and pry open. Pull the coppertab off the wire with a pair of pliers. At this point you may have to splice the wire together.

Basically, I think the wire is broken inSide the tab.

Or, make a new wire with a 1/4" spade terminal (insulated) to attach to the horn itself, snip the old wire at the connecter and splice together.

The problem with using a meter in a case like this is you only need 1 or 2 strands of wire to get your 12V reading. I always recommend using a test light.

Remember to pull your fuse first. That way if you accidentally ground the hot wire making the splice it won't blow the fuse.

[waiter]

This is a diagram for an 88. I'm surprised the horn doesn't go thru a relay, but according to this, its doesn't.

Horns are usually wired hot on one side, and then you supply a ground to honk it.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[fred heath]

You're correct John. The relay comment earlier was a "hipshot". I suspect the blue line splice is the culprit.

[Vanman]

Bet if you check the 12 to the horn with the horm button depressed you won't see the voltage. A bad connection will pass voltege under no load (the meter) but will not pass the amount of current to operate the horn. Low voltage devices are high current devices and less than stellar connections will not work or worse will start arcing, which leads to fires.