Horn Not Working in '73 2.0

[73ess]

The horn isn't working in my blue '73 2.0. I see the brown wire coming up through the steering column, but when I ground it to the steering wheel hub there's no honk. I don't hear any relay clicking either. So maybe a bad relay? Where is the horn relay located? Anything else it could be? Guess I should try hooking 12V directly to the horn, eh?

Thanks,
Steve

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The relay is on top of the fuse panel. It is one of the round ones; check the wire colors to see which is which. (Horn relay should have red, red/white, brown/white, yellow/black wires attached to it.)

--DD

[Conrad W Peden]

Related topic....Is it more common for one to fail than the other?

I have 3 sets and all the highs don't work!? I'm guessing high its the one with the 400 on it.

Is there a way to test? Or do I need both horns?

[Tobra]

I would imagine the high would go out first, moving faster so it stands to reason, no proof of that of course.

It sounds a lot better with two horns, is louder(like twice as loud, go figure) and loud is good when you are in the smallest car on the road.

I used a test light to see if I was getting power before I bought the horns, fortunately had juice to both sides. Got one from here, one from Bugformance. Interestingly, the one from Pelican was in a Porsche box, made in Poland, the other was HellaMex

[73ess]

Thanks for the help. Just curious which more commonly fails on 914's. The horn relays or the horns themselves. Didn't know there was a low and high tone horn. Thought there was only one. Maybe dual tone was an option?

[Tobra]

Dual tone an option, all wired for it, sort of like they are wired for the console and fog lights, really need to install that console. The high tone is 400 hz, low is 335 hz.

One on either side, I suspect you could use whatever, not just hella. I know a few people who have air horns, but that is a bit more complicated.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The round relays in the car are all interchangeable. Which means you have two very good "relay testing stations" up near the front of your car: The headlights! Swap any suspect relays with the headlight motor relays (check in the front trunk just aft of the headlight pods) and see if the headlights still go up and down. If so, you know the relays are OK.

--DD

[73ess]

I removed the fuse panel today and saw three round relays on the panel, along with a square metal box (turn signal relay?). Just curious which of the three round relays is the horn relay?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Check the colors of the wires going to the relays against the colors listed in the wiring diagram. Since the exact position of the relays seems to have been swapped around from 914 to 914, that's the best way to tell.

--DD

[73ess]

Found the horn relay today. After removing my horn pad, I removed the brown horn wire from the pad and grounded it to the steering wheel nut and verified that the horn relay is clicking. But when measuring voltage at the horn wires on the driver's side horn, there's no voltage across the BLK/YLW and BRN wires, when the horn relay is triggered.

So I'm thinking there must be a disconnect in the wiring between terminal 87 at the horn relay socket and the BLK/YLW wire at the horn, correct? I haven't run a continuity check between those two points yet, but if it's indeed broken, where is the most likely disconnect point?

Anyone ever experience this problem? I verified that the horns do work by connecting them briefly to a separate 12V battery. Yep, they honk.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Wires usually break where the terminals are crimped onto the ends. The next most likely places are any tight bends.

--DD

[73ess]

Makes sense Dave. I'll confirm this week and let y'all know what I find.
Just quit my job so will be spending the next 6 months or so just playing with the toys. ;^)

[73ess]

So I discovered the problem (well, sorta) today. There is a loose connection somewhere in the steering column. The horn works when the steering wheel is in the 12 o'clock position, but if I turn it and tap the brown horn/ground wire to ground, there's no click at the horn relay. Place it back to 12o'clock and I get a beep.

I'm having trouble getting the steering wheel nut off to investigate further. For some reason my steering wheel doesn't lock. So I have to turn it fully to the left. Then tried to loosen the nut, but no go. Trying with my big honk'in torque wrench and it still won't budge.

This definitely makes sense. With the years of motion at the steering wheel, I can understand why a wire may be loose in there. Anyone have some insight on what it looks like in there when I finally get the nut off?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

No insight, but if you have a "club" theft prevention device you can use it to hold the steering wheel while you loosen the nut. Either that, or get a friend to hold the wheel for you.

--DD