horn?

[87gtVIC]

I know on my car the horns (yes i have two sets of two horns) are located in the fenders up near the radiator core support on both the drivers side and passengers side. Probably have to remove a couple things remove old horns and replace with new ones.

[86VickyLX]

1990 got em on the fender well. One bolt, two plugs, that's it.

[1987cp]

Oh, so that horn bracket I once stole from a ~'90 was in fact stock. I'd wondered about that from time to time. Handy little thing, lots easier to service than the earlier horn-in-fenderwell routine.

[1990LTD]

thread resurrection!

I just bought one.



Someone mentioned wiring it through a relay - how and why? I am unclear on the concept of a relay to begin with.

[87gtVIC]

you wire through a relay so you can get more power safely to the electrical load.

You will use the original horn signal to trigger the relay to power the horn through a direct wire supplied through from the battery.

i am busy now...later today i will explain it thoroughly

[1990LTD]

thanks...I vaguely get it. Look forward to more info.


Thanks a lot, again. You lot on this site are almost entirely responsible for my car working and running properly.

[87gtVIC]

Here is a diagram i drew up it should work:




ask away if anything does not make sense.

[1990LTD]

you rule! THANK YOU!

[Dereck]

Hi 87gtVIC

Hey mang you realise you have pins 86 & 85 wired backwards, pin 86 should be the switched feed and pin 85 the ground.

I know this makes no difference on an unprotected relay but you should always use diode protected relays to save the 400 volt spikes caused by the relay switching reeking havoc with your on board computers.

Why not fit some Hadleys?



Regards

Dereck

[87gtVIC]

Hi 87gtVIC

Hey mang you realise you have pins 86 & 85 wired backwards, pin 86 should be the switched feed and pin 85 the ground.

I know this makes no difference on an unprotected relay but you should always use diode protected relays to save the 400 volt spikes caused by the relay switching reeking havoc with your on board computers.

Regards

Dereck

Hey Dereck

I did not know I had them reversed, I have read about them not mattering in certain applications but am sure glad you pointed that out. I will be sure to wire everything from now on that way.

[86VickyLX]

Horns draw high current. You don't have to use a relay, but be sure to have a fat gauge wire to compensate for the heat that's going to be produced when the horn is on. Relays allow low current power to control high current power.

If you wanted all of the horns to work at the same time, parallel would be your best bet, since all of the horns will get what it needs from the battery. In that case, you would need to upgrade the circuit to handle the extra current flow. Series would hinder the performance of the horns, making them quieter, because they're not getting the proper voltage.

[1990LTD]

Will a pre-'85 multifunction switch bolt up to your column? If so, that could be one convenient way to actuate a second horn.

BTW, factory horns used relays at least by '87. I discovered this while investigating why some juryrigged horn wiring left my horns all quiet and tinny-sounding.

so I have a relay in there already? Don't need another?

[1990LTD]

horn is in and works great.. two spade connectors on the existing double horn thing and one common ground (ring terminal) so i snipped one of the spade connectors spliced it onto the ground instead of the ring. i gotta go out and tidy up the wiring a tiny bit but it's fine, and loud as fuck.

[1987cp]

so I have a relay in there already? Don't need another?

Probably; and probably not unless it's gone bad.


Loud = good (at least where horns are concerned!)

[1990LTD]

Yeah, from what I've been reading, if it wasn't getting enough juice it would be performing at like 50% of normal. It's supposed to be 110 or 112 db, something like that...anyway, I don't have my decibel meter here, but I am pretty familiar with acoustics/sound/whatever you want to call it, and if this is less than 100db I'm gonna eat my hat.