• Welcome to For E Bodies Only !

    We are a community of Plymouth Cuda and Dodge Challenger owners. Join now! Its Free!

Horn Issues

NMexChallenger

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2022
Messages
33
Reaction score
20
Location
Santa Fe NM
Looking to get some advice on my horn. I bought the car with an aftermarket steering wheel which did not have a horn button...anyways I replaced with a standard woodgrain wheel, connected the horn and no dice. I get some sparks and buzzing under the steering wheel but no sound.

When I go to the horn both the are wired in a series with Horn A before Horn B. Both wires have 12v going to them when I push the steering wheel button in and have 0v when its not depressed. I tested both horns and the surfaces of each have ground. These were painted solid black and the engine bay was repainted with the resto I am wondering if it has a true ground or not.

1970 Challenger with dual horns, two of the small black ones, adjustment knobs are very different on both on Horn A the screw is almost fully out while Horn B has the adjustment screw all the way in. When I apply 12v directly to the horns from an external source I also get no sound from them, is it possible these are bad? Can these short out or rot? To my knowledge these are original and 52 years old.

Thank you for the help!
 

Challenger RTA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
2,598
Reaction score
1,271
Location
PA Flood city
The correct horn bolts have teeth for a ground. Do yo have them? Wired in a series is not correct. they are in parallel to ground. It's ok it's your prospective. connect directly to battery to test. they do go bad.

horn bolts.jpg


20200611_181104.jpg
 
Last edited:

NMexChallenger

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2022
Messages
33
Reaction score
20
Location
Santa Fe NM
Mine look like basic screws I will have to remove them completely and check if they have the teeth or not. Mine are 100% wired in a series which I guess is not correct I see yours are in parallel, furthermore when I tested each horn on an external power source they made no noise so I guess they have gone bad..52 years I guess they had a good run. Seems like I might have a few issues going on.
 

NMexChallenger

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2022
Messages
33
Reaction score
20
Location
Santa Fe NM
I cant totally see the way yours are wired, looks like multiple wires going and possibly a third? What is going there if you don't mind, might want to copy yours
 

Challenger RTA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
2,598
Reaction score
1,271
Location
PA Flood city
The horns seizes up inside from rust or corrosion.from not being used.Remove horn connect directly to battery.Touch body of horn to - and jumper wire to +.High current may break corrosion loose inside. I say this so you can eliminate the simple things first. you may have other issues.As far as the wires It's one wire to one horn and then it jumps to the other. A third wire you might see could be the washer pump wire.The picture was from when I did engine break in. Just happen to have it saved. Is you battery fully charged?
So other things to consider under the hood.Grounds at horn and battery.wires that connect to horn tend to Frey or break bad connection.Bulkhead connection.
engine wiring hemi.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top