 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / February 2005Horn on my 1987 Toyota van goes off whenever I am turning
For quite a long time now the horn on our 1987 Toyota van hasn't worked. However, we don't normally use it so it really hasn't been a problem. Well, yesterday I was driving it north on 2nd when a guy was attempting to pull onto 2nd heading south and he was on my right (so he would have to cross in front of me to head south). For some stupid reason this guy thought that all he had to do was look at traffic coming from the north on 2nd street and ignore everything coming from the south on 2nd street. He pulls into 2nd immediately in front of me and so my reaction was to bound on the horn in an effort to make it work before this guy plowed into our side. The horn still didn't work at all, but thank God we avoided a collision. However, about 10 minutes later the horn started to work all by itself whenever we were making turns. So, the question is, what's going on with this horn and how do I make it at least not go on whenever we make a turn? > However, about 10 minutes later the horn started to work all by itself > whenever we were making turns. > > So, the question is, what's going on with this horn and how do I make it at > least not go on whenever we make a turn? Take off the horn pad and see if there's a wire/plug that has come loose. Your pounding may have dislodged it from its "safe" place, and now it flops around and grounds itself (blowing the horn) as the wheel turns. how do I remove the horn pad? >> However, about 10 minutes later the horn started to work all by itself >> whenever we were making turns. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Your pounding may have dislodged it from its "safe" place, and now it > flops around and grounds itself (blowing the horn) as the wheel turns. > how do I remove the horn pad? First things first: MasterBlaster's answer was right on. Now, for horn pad removal. Since the van is pre-airbag, I think that the removal is as follows: look on the "dash side" or back of the steering wheel for recessed hole(s) on each side of the wheel. You may need to turn the wheel 90 degrees each way to get to the holes, otherwise the steering column covers will get in the way. Use a phillips screwdriver to remove the screws inside these holes and pull off the pad. A wire from the column *should* be attached to a small male terminal on the horn pad, but it probably has disconnected. BTW, If you ground that wire with the key on, the horn should sound. Toyota MDT in MO Thank you, both. I've found the relevant Phillips screw and removed it. That got the horn pad off. I found a yellow wire, however it was connected. I made certain that it had a solid connection. However, that doesn't seem to have fixed the problem. And, I don't know what the rest of the stuff was under that horn thing - it was pretty meaningless to me. Rod >> how do I remove the horn pad? > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Toyota MDT in MO OK, if the problem happens when you turn the steering wheel, it is MOST likely to be caused by the above suggestion. But since that isn't the case, then a common problem area on older columns with TILT steering is broken wire(s) around the point where they flex due to the pivot point of the tilt mechanism. You can see this better if you disassemble the upper and lower column covers (phillips screws from below). There's a wire bundle that comes out of the column mounted switches and runs down the column. Look for any bare/broken wires there and insulate/repair as needed. And are you sure your horn pad contact (inside the pad assembly) isn't worn out and touching? I think you said the horn button doesn't work at all, but that's hard to believe given the other info you have provided. Maybe I'm missing something. Toyota MDT in MO "Rod" <Rod@NO.SPAM> writes in article <7emQd.967$IU.433@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net> dated Tue, 15 Feb 2005 12:50:11 GMT: >However, about 10 minutes later the horn started to work all by itself >whenever we were making turns. >So, the question is, what's going on with this horn and how do I make it at >least not go on whenever we make a turn? This probably won't help, but it's a relevant story... When I was in high school my dad had a 12-year-old Chevy Impala. It was the car I eventually learned to drive in. There was a plastic fake-veneer piece which over time had bent upwards, so there was a sharp corner sticking out. One day my dad cut himself (possibly not for the first time) on the corner, so he pulled over and tore the whole piece off. It didn't cut anybody after that, but there were a couple of metal clips rattling around inside the steering wheel whenever you turned it. Occasionally these clips would wedge themselves in the horn switches -- usually while turning because that's when they bounced around. The metal completed the circuit, and the horn would go off. I took apart the steering wheel and removed the clips, which fixed the horn problem and also stopped the rattling. This was the first time I ever repaired a car. -- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer. > For quite a long time now the horn on our 1987 Toyota van hasn't worked. > However, we don't normally use it so it really hasn't been a problem. Well, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > So, the question is, what's going on with this horn and how do I make it at > least not go on whenever we make a turn? Rod, this does not 'fix' your problem; but it will stop the unwanted horn-blowing & be cheap. Since you are already accustomed to the horn's not working, find a mech. who will help u find & disconnect the wire/relay/fuse controlling the horn. Won't blow at all, but won't blow at unwanted times either. HTH, s > For quite a long time now the horn on our 1987 Toyota van hasn't worked. > However, we don't normally use it so it really hasn't been a problem. Well, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > So, the question is, what's going on with this horn and how do I make it at > least not go on whenever we make a turn? Rod, re: my suggestion above about disconnecting horn : ensure your state does not require it to work to pass inspection--some states may require this!!!!! s |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.