Dumbest question ever.. where is my horn?

[Mattel]

Hello knowledgeable ones.
My horn has been petering out slowly over the last six months and getting less and less reliable. lately I have been holding it down for 5 seconds before a feeble honk came out and now doesn't work at all (I was trying to honk someone going 60kms/h with a flat front tyre in their brand new peugeot that perhaps they should pull over!!).

I have had an exploratory search for loose/bad connections but can't find where the horn is located is it between the grill and AC radiator? or near the headlights. I'm looking for a circular thing the size of a flat tennis ball right? couldn't find it in the FSM. If the the connections are all OK. What is a common fault with this unit? there is a guy down the coast from me parting out a '85 and I wouldn't mind getting a horn from him while he may still have it. Or has anyone had problems at the button end(need multimeter I guess?)

Thanks in advance my technically adept friends

[ARCHINSTL]

It's about the size of an anorexic hockey puck (is the game in Oz?).
It is located under the left headlight (mebbe the right one in RHD cars, though), behind the bumper, and is only accessible from under the car - short of removing the grille and headlight, that is.
I just replaced the horn in Goldie yesterday - it helps if you have the size, dexterity, and strength of baby ET fingers.
It is removed with an adjustable on the big nut and holding the horn body (the nut is maybe 18-20mm).
Goldie's did not die, but I was just tired of the "Meh" of the OE unit; it sounded like a sick kitten mewing.
It is totally absent from the FSM, save for inclusion in the wiring diagram in the back; the horn "button" is covered, though.
You might check it by direct wiring it to the battery for a second - surprisingly loud when held in your fingers...
Incidentally, I did try to increase the sound by turning the little adjusting screw, to no dramatic discernible difference
Tom M.
P.S. It ain't a dumb question - I asked it three years ago and Typrus set me straight - what, you didn't do a Search?
......Gotcha!

[takza]

You could just pull the wire off of it and put in a Harbor Freight AOOOGAH horn or an eyetalian air horn?

[xirdneh]

if your horn works
it may be the brass pin in worn down under the steering wheel center plate

[Mattel]

thanks guys, i'm going to work it on the weekend. Have to get my bike fixed for work first.

Hey Tom, I LOL's the idea of the ET fingers, the glow of the phone home index finger would also help locating the horn

Our steering wheels are dif and have 2 buttons, will check both contacts, cheers all. Hope to not disturb my neighbors to much by trying to fix this at home!

appreciate your time

Matt

[keith]

I believe I did a repair guide on this but I can't find it. Your problem most likely lies in your steering wheel. Here is how I fixed mine.

Remove the cover over the horn
Remove the horn contacts
Remove the steering wheel and turn it over.
On the steering column, you can see the brush that carries the current from the steering wheel down to the wiring harness and to the horn.



On the bottom of the steering wheel is the brass ring that contacts the brush. By now the brush has worn down so that it doesn't make contact with this ring any more. Remove this ring.



Cut a piece of adhesive backed gasket material to fit under this ring, between the steering wheel and the ring and reinstall.



You test this first before starting by unlocking the tilt wheel and move the wheel to its upmost position, the horn will work, but not in the down most position, or visa versa. Its been awhile.

[Mattel]

Cheers Keith. Our steering wheels are different but the concept should be similar. I will try this out first, thanks.

[Mattel]

Thanks guys for all your replys. Still working on this one, the horn is now working every time I go to work on it. My neighbours patience might be wearing thin soon. I'll need to find a day when they are all out.