Horn Issue with 100 Series (1 Viewer)

[Poboy]

Guys -

The horn on my 2001 Landcruiser crapped out on me. I can't figure something out. When I press the horn on the steering wheel I can hear the relay activating (but no horn), so I assumed the horn was bad. But the puzzling thing is that when I hit the alarm fob, the horn still sounds (but it may not be quite as loud as it should).

Any ideas on how I can fix this? I gotta have a horn driving around DC

 

[Poboy]

No takers?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Are you sure it's the horn when you do the alarm and not a piezo? Pretty easy to get a $5 horn at Autozone and temp. wire it in to see if it is the horn. And then replace it with Hella Supertones if it is bad.

 

[mcgaskins]

Everyone's busy answering about whether people should buy an LC or a Highlander

IMO the horn is already far too quiet to be effective. I had an Audi TT and a BMX X5 which both had horns much, much louder made by Hella. I plan to install a kit similar to this when I can find time:

http://www.amazon.com/Hella-SuperTone-Horn-Kit-118/dp/B000CRZXPI

 

[fireball]

Well, I don't even know where the horn is located since I've never had reason to look for it, but since I don't want Mcgaskins to yell at me too I'll tell you what I would do...

Find the horn and check out the wires going to it. First look for the ground and see where it goes. A lot of horns will have a local ground under a nearby bolt which isn't the best. Assuming ground is good, get out the mutlimeter and check for 12V to the power wire when the horn button is pressed. If you've got 12V then the horn itself crapped out somehow. If you don't, you'll probably have to start tracing wires.

In the meantime, hopefully someone smarter than me will chime in!

 

[EdsCruisin]

Horn is in the grill area. Alarm is on the passenger fender, behind the air cleaner box (at least on my 2000). But mine does not chirp when I hit the alarm fob either, thank goodness.

My stock horn works fine, but I found that a set of large fire truck style air horns connected to the on-board air is far more effective. They also fit behind the grill, pointed down. Dangerous to your hearing if too close, but I am certain that the bozo with the headphones on and cranked who cut me off in his sport coupe can hear me.

 

[pavieSD]

Check your horn fuse, might be a simple fix. Always check the simple options first. If your fuse is blowing, you have a short somewhere upstream of the fuse.

 

[CappyKD]

Same dang thing just happened to me. It's not my fuse, although I haven't verified the relay yet. Interested to see what you find out. There are two horns on my LX, I'd be surprised if both went together but you never know.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I'm dealing with an intermittent horn myself. I've not spent much time testing anything, but given I have zero horns I'm assuming a faulty relay or contacts in the steering wheel.

 

[CappyKD]

I'm dealing with an intermittent horn myself. I've not spent much time testing anything, but given I have zero horns I'm assuming a faulty relay or contacts in the steering wheel.

I am praying for a bad relay and dreading the possibility of horn contacts in the wheel. I have to sort it out before CM as it is on the pre-inspection check list.

 

[Poboy]

so are you guys telling me there is two horns on a 100? that would make sense why only the alarm works. can anyone point me in the direction of a schematic?

 

[PADDO]

so are you guys telling me there is two horns on a 100? that would make sense why only the alarm works. can anyone point me in the direction of a schematic?

Not 2 but 3 actually. Alarm + hi and low tone horns, at least that's how it is on an 03 LX, your MY could be different. There is an 04 FSM in the stickies which may help you trace things out.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[AimCOtaco]

Yeah 2 systems, 3 horns. The alarm test is not related.

On mine the Hi works and the Low is out so should be an easy fix but I hate the wimpy sound of the Hi only, sounds like a moped.

Just because the relay closes does not mean the fuse is good, also possible that you had hi or low only before and now the second one has failed so you have none. Knowing that the alarm unit works (on the fender) you could try installing that on one of the grill locations as a test... after you check the fuse of course.

 

[CappyKD]

Check your relay in the under hood fuse box. I ordered one from C-Dan, it arrived today. I swapped it out and my horn is working perfect now. $10 part vs buying new horns and them still not working.

HTH.

 

[pavieSD]

CappyKD, what was the relay part number?

I keep blowing my 10 amp horn fuse, and replacing the fuse works for a while, until it gets high humidity at which point the fuse blows again. I'm wondering if maybe the relay is getting stuck open, causing the horn fuse to overload and melt down. 10 dollars to fix without having to pull wires out of the loom seems like a good thing to try.

 

[CappyKD]

CappyKD, what was the relay part number?

I keep blowing my 10 amp horn fuse, and replacing the fuse works for a while, until it gets high humidity at which point the fuse blows again. I'm wondering if maybe the relay is getting stuck open, causing the horn fuse to overload and melt down. 10 dollars to fix without having to pull wires out of the loom seems like a good thing to try.

Call C-Dan or Beno (Onur) they will take care of you. I just called I don't have the part number handy. Sorry. Good luck, hope it fixes it for you.

 

[pavieSD]

So I got off my butt and figured I'd document the horn relay part number. This is for a year 2000 land cruiser.



Unfortunately for me, I took my relay apart, and it looks super clean. No corrosion and no obvious issues with the soldering. So I'm back to square one, and need to following the lines up the column and figure out what is causing my short that blows the fuse.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Sorry to bring back this old thread. But I am have the exact same issue. I can hear my relay clicking when I push the steering wheel. So i am sure its not the contacts on the steering wheel. I replaced the horn relay with a new one and still no change. Also checked the horn fuse in the DS kick panel and its fine. Also my fog lights dont work either so I am sure its something tied to one another. Any ideas on where else to look I am new to the 100 series so any ideas would help. This is on a 2000 LX470.

 

[pavieSD]

Sorry to bring back this old thread. But I am have the exact same issue. I can hear my relay clicking when I push the steering wheel. So i am sure its not the contacts on the steering wheel. I replaced the horn relay with a new one and still no change. Also checked the horn fuse in the DS kick panel and its fine. Also my fog lights dont work either so I am sure its something tied to one another. Any ideas on where else to look I am new to the 100 series so any ideas would help. This is on a 2000 LX470.

So, what I ended up doing was adjusting my steering column via the up/down adjustment behind the steering wheel. Since then, no issues with the horn blowing fuses. I'm 99% positive that I have a frayed horn wire under the steering column, that's making contact with metal and causing the short when the horn is used, but moving the column up slightly from the original position fixed the problem and appears to have avoided the short for now. At some point I will dig into the column and see if I can isolate the horn wire, but for now I'm living with this temporary solution. Well that and laying off the horn at idiot drivers.

It's worth trying on your end, otherwise I think digging into the column seems to be the permanent fix.

Mark

 

[AimCOtaco]

If your fuse is good and relay is clicking I would check the horns themselves. Just hit them with 12 volts and see what happens.
Some horns have an adjustment screw and just moving that back and forth brought one of mine back. (I think they can get full of crap or corrosion, may be related to level of use).

Check also that your horns have a good ground, they do draw some current.