My My How Things Have Changed!

[Andyp25]

Hi i ve been away for a while from this form, i didn t recogise it! The reason i ve been gone is i bought a house and been doing it up for the last year, so my BELOVED {MY YARIS} has taken a back seat so to speak. While i ve been away from the club my car was hit on a roundabout , spun round and had the whole rear quarter taken off and a new axle put at the cost of £3000. i was told they were go to write it off, but its only go 32,000 on the clock so it got repaired. anyway for some reason my horn gaven up, its got some abuse over the years with the amount of HALFWITS on the road! i ve changed the horn and check the wiring, fuse and relay, just wondering if its the micro switch in the steering wheel, is this a common problem? does anyone have any ides? PLEASE HELP!

Cheers Andypr25

[Rayburn]

Andy.

Using a volt meter.

Connect + to the horn wire and - to earth.

Turn on ignition and press horn.

Voltage should read.

If no volts replace fuse, just in case.

Try that and come back.

R

[Rumbly]

Its been a while since I was at the tools .... but basically there is two ways the horn can work.

1. The horn is always live when ignition etc is on, and when you press the horn button it completes the circuit to earth.

2. The horn is always earthed and when you press the horn button it gives it a live feed.

From memory .. but my memory is getting a bit flakey i'd go for number one.

Of course best test the horn first though eh? Connect it to the Battery with bits of wire / jump leads, its easy to tell if its workin

Ok so the horn is a workin (at my age thats something to be pleased about let me tell ya ) so its gotta be the circuit. You really don't need any fancy stuff to check it, a 12v bulb with two wires attached is just fine. Remove connectors from horn (u did that already to test it though). With ignition switched on attach one wire from bulb to live feed connector, and other wire from bulb to earth .. does the bulb light up? if yes the prob is likely in the earth circuit, if no the prob is likely with the live feed.

Now you know for sure the horn actually works and you have a good idea which circuit is faulty you can get back here for the next bit.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

On the subject of horns... I would like to change mine as the manufacturer fitted one is quite embarrassing. Any hints and tips?

[Raeman]

On the subject of horns... I would like to change mine as the manufacturer fitted one is quite embarrassing. Any hints and tips?

Fit a Stebel Nautilus. Even the dead would hear that!

Seriously, do an e-bog search, my mate has one on his bike, sooooo loud!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stebel-Nautilus-Twin-Tone-Air-Horn-Black-12V_W0QQitemZ180373518055QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item29ff1976e7

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Thats brilliant, thank you for the tip. However, how and where can I fit it to my car?

[Raeman]

Thats brilliant, thank you for the tip. However, how and where can I fit it to my car?

They aren't that big, anywhere under the bonnet, maybe even where the standard one is now.

You might have to extend the wiring to it, not a difficult job to do.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

How do I extend the wiring to it?

[Raeman]

How do I extend the wiring to it?

There might be extra wiring with the new horn enabling you to put it anywhere you want within reason.

I've never removed the original horn on my car but i would imagine the original horn to have 2 connectors going to it, you would have to cut them off, attach the (new) extra wiring to the original wiring using bullet connectors or heat shrink, making sure the colours go with each other, IE red to red, black to black for example, and then re-attach the original connectors to the new horn where you have placed it.

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, it's one of them jobs thats easier to do practically than it is for me to remember it!

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Bullet connectors? Heat shrink? Original connectors?

Eh?!

I'm going to have to mount my new horn somewhere else in the car as the space where my existing horn is far too small. Could you provide me with a step by step walkthrough of how to do this?

[Raeman]

Well i've never changed the horn in a Yaris and without actually working on your car i can't help sorry.

If you don't know what different types of connectors are or heatshrink then you would be best taking it to an auto electrician to have it fitted.

Should only take a few mins at little cost. :)

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

I think I'll go for this one:

http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?a=i&c=STEBELHORNS&p=STEBHF80112W∂=Stebel-HF80-Series-Disc-Horn-12v-Low-Note-Stebel-HF80-Series-Disc-Horn-12v-Low-Note

The difference is marginal and it should fit in place of my existing one.

[Raeman]

I think I'll go for this one:

http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?a=i&c=STEBELHORNS&p=STEBHF80112W∂=Stebel-HF80-Series-Disc-Horn-12v-Low-Note-Stebel-HF80-Series-Disc-Horn-12v-Low-Note

The difference is marginal and it should fit in place of my existing one.

Yeah, they seem brilliant for that price. Direct replacement as you say too, so no messing with extending wires. ;)

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Will it be easy to replace? For example, just reconnecting some wires like when changing headlight bulbs or will it be more complicated?

[Red Yaris 54]

Will it be easy to replace? For example, just reconnecting some wires like when changing headlight bulbs or will it be more complicated?

You really need to consider fitting both a low note and a high note horn to get the full sound range for driving on all roads.

Like most things electrical and mechanical the ease of carrying out the task depends on your personal ability and confidence.

If you do not feel able or confident to carry out the task yourself, seek help from a qualified Auto Electrician who should not charge you too much to connect up a horn that you have previously mounted.

If you are also not confident or able to mount the replacement horn yourself, I would not expect the Auto Electrician to charge much for doing that either.

[Raeman]

Will it be easy to replace? For example, just reconnecting some wires like when changing headlight bulbs or will it be more complicated?

I would imagine it to be simple enough. Unclip the old wires from the old horn, undoo the old horn then bolt the new horn in place where the old horn used to sit and reconnect the wires to the new one.

Should take no longer then 10mins and that's going slow.

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Fantastic, just ordered one and will let you know how I get on!

[Red Yaris 54]

Fantastic, just ordered one and will let you know how I get on!

Only one!!...................What about a high tone to go with the low tone............so that it can be heard!

[Cherry Red Pocket Rocket]

Why do I need a high tone to go with the low one? Whats wrong with just having a loud low tone one? My current one is rather meak and embarrassingly high pitched (seems Oriental horns typically have a higher note than Western ones).