Horn Problem on Daughter's car? PROBLEM SOLVED 10/2/05

[dolluper]

Re: Horn Problem on Daughter's car? PROBLEM SOLVED 10/2/05

Yes Boom the one at the bottom of your pic 2 together on the left and the LONE ONE ON THE RIGHT [horn relay] if you jump it and the fuse blows that's good .Replace fuse and relay<br />JUMP "D" pins <br />L-O-N-G way<br />Test light<br />A to ground<br />B to ground <br />no light short in C<br />.......<br />Light on for A + B test<br />Test light between A + D press horn<br />light comes on brack probe B to ground with relay installed,press horn,lights bad connection at B or short from B to horns,,no light replace horn relay<br />this A+D test no light Pressing horn bad connection at B or horn relay<br />check

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Horn Problem on Daughter's car? PROBLEM SOLVED 10/2/05

Well, speculation has come to an end. I got the opportunity to look at the fuse box of another 2003 Lancer. Much to my relief, my Daughter's fuse box is OEM.<br /><br />The best revelation is that the bottom row, where the lone 10 amp horizontal blown out fuse resides, is actually half of the horn RELAY socket.(as depicted in the lid diagram) For some reason someone stuck a fuse in the top half of the socket. Not having any other relays in that row, the sockets appeared to be for fuses. The relay might have gotten knocked out in the collision and the bodyshop just didn't know what went in that socket. When you install a fuse in that position, the minute you honk the horn, the power goes straight to ground, blowing the fuse. Had you installed a fuse in the lower part of the socket the horn would have just blown continuosly.<br /><br />So now with all of the diagnostic information that has been provided here, I have checked out all of the socket contacts to make sure that they are doing what they are supposed to. <br /><br />There are four positions in the socket. <br /><br />Two of them, the upper and lower right sockets, have constant power. <br /><br />The third, lower left, has continuity with both of the two horn leads. <br /><br />The forth socket, upper left, has continuity to ground only when the horn button is pushed. It seems to me that everything is as it should be and all I have to do is pop in a relay. <br /><br />The dealer did not have one in stock so we ordered it on Saturday. $20.00 for a postage stamp size relay is a bit steep for what I would consider to be a $3.00 relay but I'd hate to think what it would have cost if my daughter had just driven the car into the dealer and said "please fix it". Thanks for all your help.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Horn Problem on Daughter's car? PROBLEM SOLVED 10/2/05

Just as easy a popping a relay into 'the' socket and tapping on the horn button to verify. <br /><br />I feel kinda bad bringing all this horsepower to bear on this tiny little problem, when all that needed to be done was install a relay.<br /><br />Yes, some Bozo tried to throw me off by installing a fuse in half the relay socket and yes, the techinician at the dealer didn't have a clue either (he was just trying to help).<br /><br />But in the end it really was all of your helpfull pointers that helped me zero in on the solution.<br /><br />So here is a couple of extra HONKS for you guys.<br /><br />BTW Xcusme, I still don't understand why the relay has two constant 12v terminals, but it does and it works.

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Horn Problem on Daughter's car? PROBLEM SOLVED 10/2/05

Originally posted by Boomyal:<br /> <br />BTW Xcusme, I still don't understand why the relay has two constant 12v terminals, but it does and it works.

I assume you're refering to connections A and C. It's pretty simple, really. Contact C is the constant 12VDC needed to close the relay IF the horn button is pushed (shorted to ground). Contact A is the 12VDC needed to power the horns when the relay contacts close. Think of the C-D side of the relay as the 'control' circuit. Think of the A-B side of the relay as the switch circuit that can supply a larger amount of current to the horns when the relay closes.<br />Ha! I guess that explaination wasn't to simple, but I hope you get the idea. I'm glad you got her bucked out.