Horn Connection Question

[VitaminC914]

I am trying to replace one of the 2 horns on my 83. The L tone stopped working so I got a replacement. However, the connections are different. The plug in the pic is what is on my truck and both connections on it are hot/+, the horn only has one connection and it grounds itself when mounted.
I tried various combinations and I can't get the horn to work in conjunction with the other one.
Any ideas on what to connect where?

Thanks,
Ray

 

[OSS]

Verify that it works at all with a jumper wire If you purchased another used horn, it may not work either. Smack it hard with a plastic screwdriver handle while applying voltage to it with the jumpers. It might knock the rusty bits loose inside.

I bought a pair of used "good condition" horns several years ago on eBay. They were DOA. No refund.

 

[VitaminC914]

Verify that it works at all with a jumper wire If you purchased another used horn, it may not work either. Smack it hard with a plastic screwdriver handle while applying voltage to it with the jumpers. It might knock the rusty bits loose inside.

I bought a pair of used "good condition" horns several years ago on eBay. They were DOA. No refund.

Horn works fine. Trying to figure out how to wire it. Any idea if there are any wiring diagrams on this site anywhere? Can't seem to find them in the search

 

[3_puppies]

I'll take a stab at this. my guess is your 2 wire connector has ground and positive in it. the new horn only has positive and is grounded thru the mount.
take the positive and connect to the new horn.
or get a correct one.

 

[OSS]

Yes-
One of those terminals in your plug is 12V+. Jump one of them to the horn plug terminal & ground the horn body. If it doesn't work, 12V+ is the other terminal in your wire. You can't hurt anything by hooking it up backwards.
If neither of those tests work, there's something going on with the car's horn wiring.
The Body & Chassis FSM has the wiring diagram for your cruiser at the end of the manual.

 

[g-man]

Just to clarify some info here for those struggling with this issue in the future, The horns in your 60 series are on a negatively switched circuit. That means that current flows from the battery to the fuse then to the horns. The second wire in the 2 plugs that goes to the horn returns a ground signal to the horn switch on the steering column. Once the switch is pushed negative current is sent through the wire and to ground under the dash. If one horn is removed from the circuit the second horn still in the circuit will pass positive current through that horn and the wires to the 2 pin plug/connection at the other horn. That's the reason why both terminal ends in the plug are testing hot. It wouldn't change to negative unless the horn switch is pushed and you may have to have both horns connected for this to work.

On a positively switched circuit (one pin horn) positive current runs from battery to fuse then to the switch. When the horn is activated/switch makes contact...positive flow continues on to the horn and connects at the one pin. The metal horn body is grounded on it's mounting location and that carries the negative back to ground completing the circuit.

 

[g-man]

image of 60 series horn circuit.

 

[884runner]

@g-man I’ve read several of your posts about horns. I’m a little confused. I’ve found that with one horn unplugged both of its wires become hot like you mention above which evidently is normal. With both horns plugged up, I have 12V at the brass plunger behind the steering wheel. I’m not sure if that is normal. If I apply a ground to that brass plunger I can hear the horns click but they do not blow. However yesterday I could get them to honk that way. So I’m not sure if I have damaged the horns or if somehow by coincidence this plunger has 12V from another source, possibly the hazard switch? Just wondering if I am supposed to have 12V at the brass plunger until the horn is pressed? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[884runner]

For any future horn problem searchers @g-man provided some really good insight. I don’t know much about wiring. But the horns are always hot and it’s hot all the way to the brass plunger behind the steering wheel. When you press the horn button the current flows to ground and completes the circuit and the horn honks. One of the other things he said in either this thread or another is that if you have one horn unplugged and press the button or some other way apply ground, you can ruin your horns. Well I did this to both horns… but with new horns I’m back in business.