Horn problem on an '82 fj40

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Rudi,

Thanks so much for your help! At the horns, the voltage drops to around 7v at one side of the horn and around 4v on the other side for both horns. At the horn buttons, it drops to around 2v. Thanks again, Taro

...via IH8MUD app

So you loose 5 Volt between the fuse and the horn.
You loose 2 Volt between the horn and the switch.
And another 2 Volt from the switch to ground.

Time for new wires and crimp on connectors or a relay set up.

Rudi
 
Rudi,

Thanks for the continued assistance. I really appreciate it. I have already replaced all of the connectors. So getting 12+v with the circuit open and then losing it when it is closed is a result of the wiring going bad? Is this the result of age or other bad connections/repairs in the wiring? I'm just trying to educate myself. Looks like I'll be picking up a relay. I'm glad I at least looked into it a little farther. Thanks again!

...via IH8MUD app
 
It's a combination of both.
When you replaced the (spade) connectors.... and you stripped the wire....
did you see nice shiny copper or a blackish color?

Did you look at the 2 connectors under the dash where the wires from the turn switch and horn switch go into the harness?

In time moisture creeps in the wires and the corrosion process starts and that will never stop again. That's why a lot of people use shrink tube and Di-Electric grease to seal it.

Rudi
 
Rudi,

Thanks again for taking the time to explain things to me. I ended up purchasing a relay and wiring kit so I wouldn't be trying to stick individual wires to the relay :P I've got everything hooked up except for the steering wheel. One connector from the steering wheel is connecting two wires (green and red for the horn and a white and black wire). I thought since you mentioned the horn and the turn signals together the black and white wire might be for the turn signals, but the turn signals are still working despite the connector being disconnected. Could the white and black wire from the steering wheel be the ground wire for the 1982 model year? If so, I was hoping to find a matching connector and connect the relay and ground wire at that location. If not, do you have a recommendation as to where is the best location to ground the steering wheel/column?

Thanks again, Taro

...via IH8MUD app
 
Green/Red stripe is the wire to the horn switch and White/Black stripe is the ground side of the horn switch.

You have to leave the White/Black wire in place. You need this to close the circuit.
1. You can cut the Green/Red wire before the connector and splice the new wire in or....
2. You can remove the Green/Red wire from the connector (take the spade out) and work the new wire in it's place. It's a bit of work but doable. Your choice.

My option would be the first one. Cut, splice it in, test the horn and have a :beer: to celebrate it.

Rudi
 
Okay, after doing things the hard way, which is typical for me, I finally got the horns working. I got everything wired and all I got was clicking at the relay. I ended up swapping for another and still the same thing was happening. I was getting 12+v at the positive end of the horns and realized that the horn mounting bolts were not sufficient grounding points. I grounded the horns to the ignition coil ground and viola! MY HORNS ARE WORKING! They are loud, as Rudi said they would be. I ended up running a separate ground for the steering wheel when the relay clicked the first time. I probably didn't have to do this, but oh well.

Rudi, thanks so much for your help! And thanks to everyone else for their input. To those with clicking horns, good luck to you and two thoughts: 1) the original wiring for the horns was not in very good shape and 2) a good ground makes all of the difference :P

Next project--desmog!

Thanks again! Taro
 
Glad you found the problem.
Good job taro :bounce::bounce2:

Rudi
 
Rudi,

I thought you might get a kick out of this... I got caught out in the rain without my top today and the water draining out of the steering wheel kept completing the circuit and I looked like a total a55 honking in the middle of traffic with nowhere to go. The horns are really loud now :P

...via IH8MUD app
 
S_like awesome.jpg

Rudi
S_like awesome.jpg
 
Found this thread while searching. I just imported a 1980 HJ47 troopy from Oz and am trying to get it registered in Texas. The only thing holding me up on the inspection is the horn. I've got the steering wheel with a horn button on each of the 3 spokes. If I push and of the buttons, nothing happens.

If I disconnect the wires from the air horn compressor under the hood, I measure 7.75V when the loop is open and 8.5 V when the horn button is pressed. I get 12.2 across my battery, and the same when I check from battery to ground.

Here's my problem: I can't find the horn switch. I can trace the wiring back from the steering wheel to the connector for the turn signal/horn, but in the mess of wires in the footwell, i can't find the horn switch. Is that where I should be looking?

If I can't get to the horn switch, I'm just going to have to add my own horn, or re-wire what's currently in place. Based on Rudi's post above (message number 25), it appears that I can try to:

1) figure out which wire coming out of the connector is for the horn
2) splice this wire to a relay
3) run new wire from a) relay to battery, b) relay to horn, c) relay to ground

Is that right?
 
By the way, I THINK my connector style is like 12-21 below. Again, it's really hard to tell with the mess of wiring in the footwell, so if it's actually like 12-22 I definitely don't want to be splicing into the wrong wire!

IMG_1138.jpg
 
Hi RedTail,

You're talking about horn buttons and horn switch. Are you talking about the same or.....
The horn buttons on the steering wheel are actually 3 horn switches.

Between the 3 horn buttons (switches) on the 3 spokes and the connector is a sliding contact to ground. If the ground is missing or the contact is defective it doesn't work either.
DSC02003.JPG


The steering wheel has a metal ring on the bottom which touches this contact.
All the 3 horn buttons do is make a connection to ground.
If you use a test wire and connect the "to horn switch" terminal to ground the horns should work.
That "to horn switch" wire should be 12V and 0V when the horns work.

Maybe there is a relay involved because I can't imagine that an air horn works without a relay.

Rudi
 
Thanks for the reply, Rudi. I'll check for the sliding contact to ground in the morning. Earlier today, I did remove the pad thats in the center of the steering wheel as well as the covers in the spokes to check out the horn buttons. All three appeared to work fine.

What's really confusing me is that under the hood, at the horn, I'm seeing 7.75V without pushing the horn buttons, and 8.5 volts when a horn button is depressed, yet no noise from the horns. There is a relay near the horn, but the way the wiring is bundled/taped, it's difficult to tell what this relay is for. See attached picture.

As for testing the "to horn switch" pin on the connector, does this sound right? 1) Disconnect connector, 2) run test wire from "to horn switch" pin to ground, 3) did horns work yes/no?

Does that connector not also run the + to the horn buttons?
 
Whoaaaa, you have a horn relay over there. The current for those air horns is WAY to big for the horn switches.
First, this is how it works when the Cruiser left the factory.
Horn circuit.JPG

Hit one of the buttons and the horns will work.

To get that stuff working you'll have to open up a piece of that loom to see what wire goes where to see where it goes wrong.
Can be as easy as a bad contact or bad fuse or........ (can you blame the PO?)
It's hooked up as shown in my post #6 on page 1.

As for testing the "to horn switch" pin on the connector, does this sound right? 1) Disconnect connector, 2) run test wire from "to horn switch" pin to ground, 3) did horns work yes/no?

Does that connector not also run the + to the horn buttons?

The wire from the harness that goes in there is 12V. So if you want to test it, disconnect the connector and test the female terminal to ground.
At least the relay should click.
Or lift the steering wheel and touch the sliding contact to ground.
Your steering column should be ground but often, after a paint job, people forget to scrape some paint off to make good contact between the steering column bracket and the bottom side of the dash.

Rudi
 
And this should be your set up
Horn circuit air horns.JPG

Hit one of the horn buttons, relay is activated (CLICK) and sends 12V to compressor and.....

Rudi
 
Don't forget, you can have 12 volts but still have inadequate amperage. A weak wire or connection will allow 12 volts to pass it on a meter, but when put under full load, the wire/connection will not allow enough amperage to pass and the voltage will drop just like you are seeing.
 
That's a lot of current going through the steering wheel. I'd put a relay in and your problem would be solved. And it's very easy to put back to original anytime.
Just my opinion.
 

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