Faulty horn

[Vanalan]

Has anyone ever had a hooter that only works intermittently, we have had it checked out 4 times from Toyota it then works for a short time and then stops working again 

[flash22]

it's a simple circuit with only 3 failure points - Spiral cable, Relay, and the horn, if the horn sounds ok when it does work, the horn should be fine

[FreddoChoc]

Had the same issue on a 2014 Verso where the car horn would be intermittent and then after a few months it stopped. 

The Toyota dealer charged £50+VAT for 30 mins diagnosis and diagnosed the horn speaker itself, which for me is awkward to change, its behind the front of the car, though once the front is removed, one screw bolt holds the small horn assembly in place, they have then on eBay.

Changing the horn did not fix the issue.

It was fixed in a follow up visit to the dealer in a maximum of ten minutes by removing the steering wheel horn press cover and straightening the contacts. Believe the contacts had bent away in time. 

 

[Mooly]

Most horns have a small 'adjuster' screw on the horn itself which acts on the vibrating contacts within. I've had this give issues (Audi) and a little tweak of the screw was a permanent fix. They do go intermittent and or cause the horn to sound weakly/distorted etc.

Do a web search for 'horn adjustment screw'.

 

 

[Devon Aygo]

Common issue on Verso and Mk1 Auris the spring loaded contacts on the horn push tarnish over time eventually stopping the horn from working, sometime really mashing the horn pad on each corner will clean the contacts for a short while, more long term the horn puch ( includes airbag so due caution required ) needs to come off and the contacts need cleaning correctly.

[zelda89]

I've been having the same issue but not got round to researching this to fix. Has anyone here done cleaning the contacts themselves? Sounds like a simple fix but I'm a bit concerned with it involving the airbag as I don't want to damage it or it going off

[Mahito]

On 4/4/2021 at 1:01 AM, zelda89 said:

I've been having the same issue but not got round to researching this to fix. Has anyone here done cleaning the contacts themselves? Sounds like a simple fix but I'm a bit concerned with it involving the airbag as I don't want to damage it or it going off

Did you end up fixing it? 

[zelda89]

@Mahito Sorry no, I never got round to doing it. I just occasionally whack the 3 corners of the air bag which seems to help

[Mahito]

24 minutes ago, zelda89 said:

@Mahito Sorry no, I never got round to doing it. I just occasionally whack the 3 corners of the air bag which seems to help

I changed the fuse and it seems to be better but I'll probably take off the middle part of steering wheel to clean the contacts. Looks quite doable.

5:06 mark of the video

And this

https://youtu.be/5E56HAuOK50?si=VkZwzYvOZu57iSw_

[zelda89]

Thanks @Mahito there's seems to be more videos since I last looked into this. I'll probably give this a try at some point 👍

[zelda89]

@Mahito Hi, I did the fix this morning. I didn't have a screwdriver thing and long enough so I used the long end of an Allen key which worked a treat. I then used a steel scourer to clean the metal on the wheel. Seemed to have worked.

I had put this off for a while as I was concerned about the airbag. Although the videos I watched said you didn't have to, I disconnected anyway. Thanks and good luck

[Perfection]

A very interesting thread. I have the same problem and thanks for sharing. I think I would spray some contact cleaning and clean it then maybe apply some light film of vaseline to protect it from happening again on this contact points. 

[Mahito]

On 2/4/2024 at 11:05 AM, zelda89 said:

@Mahito Hi, I did the fix this morning. I didn't have a screwdriver thing and long enough so I used the long end of an Allen key which worked a treat. I then used a steel scourer to clean the metal on the wheel. Seemed to have worked.

I had put this off for a while as I was concerned about the airbag. Although the videos I watched said you didn't have to, I disconnected anyway. Thanks and good luck

Just reporting back that scraping the contacts did the job. Did it 2 weeks ago.