Horn does sometimes works, sometimes not

[rasmeidirt]

The horns sometimes work sometimes not! What I did I removed the two horns to test with 12v battery, They all work. Probably the the switches at the steering wheel. Any help?? 96' Sidekick Sport 1.8l.

[fixkick]

The horns sometimes work sometimes not! What I did I removed the two horns to test with 12v battery, They all work. Probably the the switches at the steering wheel. Any help?? 96' Sidekick Sport 1.8l.

for any horn to work sure the actual horn must be good , the ground bracket on actual horn love to fail. for rust. (turns out it was THIS)!
wires and connectors
a possible relay marked HORN bad. (look?)
the clock spring in the steering head
and the horn button.switch.

the G16 relay is here. ID36 but  your car is wide frame body j18 sport
https://www.fixkick.com/power-elect/Relays/relays.html


i will try to find the page on that relay.
id 36 relay farthest right side of dash.

unplug horn wire at horns.
then key on and push horn button hear relay click at 36 ID location.

[fixkick]

forgot to say did you check all fuses first? never skip this ,and loose fuse or rusty or damaged seen like crack on it anywhere.
horn wires tabs pulled at horn. test.
now some words on clicky relay.
1: if does click that means button and clock spring are good (wow) and relay bad?, (contacts inside burned) but a voltmeter proves this in minutes work.
2: if not CLICK that relay both relay or clock spring /button can be bad. (bad relay coils are very rare here) but again a voltmeter proves this.

as you can see the click is really good to know first saving labor.
pulling the steering wheel is no fun to reach clock spring but the horn button is easy. to inspect

[fixkick]

i do not have fuse box photos both, cab nor fender top
id have to look.

[rasmeidirt]

i do not have fuse box photos both, cab nor fender top
id have to look.

Thanks. What I did was to remove the two horns to test with 12v battery, all work!!
Then, going look for fuse.

The horns sometimes work sometimes not! I want to say sometimes I hear the horn and sometimes I hear only the CLICK when press any switch at the steering.

[fixkick]

i do not have fuse box photos both, cab nor fender top
id have to look.

Thanks. What I did was to remove the two horns to test with 12v battery, all work!!
Then, going look for fuse.

The horns sometimes work sometimes not!  I want to say sometimes I hear the horn and sometimes I hear only the CLICK when press any switch at the steering.

there you go you heard the click good. !!!!
that tells you the button works and the clock spring too good, in the steering head work (a real pain to replace ) see/?

did you make sure the horn bracket is not rusty, every kick i ever saw the horn bracket was rusty,  and is the ground for the horns.  no ground no horn.

the sidekick ground are horrible, for sure this old.

next is new relay, it just plugs in that relay, easy as pie to replace ,unlike steering head problems.

with the horn dead (testing 1,2,3)
run a jumper wire from battery ground lug (minus) even use std, jumper cables (as in road side jumps)
and then put the other end to the horn bracket, metal , horn works now means bingo bad ground.

The horn base love to rust, here,  its in the  rain and all that. it loves to rust  ,
one more fix is this.
make 16AWG jumper wire, with 2 , RING LUG , crimped or soldered to the ends say 1 foot long
then using sheet metal screw and drill mount one lug to horn bracket,  other in  end to frame. of car body horn mounts to. fixed.

also the horns can RUST  at horn bolt to bracket but both bad same time?. no very likely.

horn bracket body to car frame loves to rust.   cleaning that up ,with wire brush is easy fix;.until next time.

[rasmeidirt]

Found the problem, but not yet solved!!

[rasmeidirt]

Found the problem, but not yet solved!!

Wait to check all components! The fuse is good, the horns, one behind the grill and the other one behind the right headlight (passenger side), are all good and no rust, surprised when test with the batter still louder with all these years. The relay is good with the click. The horn button and the clock spring are all good and the ground is also good.

The positive wire from the relay behind the glove box to the horn behind the right headlight was broken somewhere!!!

Mocking a separate wire to that space makes the two work.

Options to decide do I need to dig up the factory harness to find the broken wire or running a separate wire, which one is better???

[fixkick]

they (suzuki) does not sell harnesses (this old)

yes run  fresh new wire from relay output pin to horn,

ripping  harness all apart end to end is not fun nor easy.

i suspected this was it all alone but voltmeter showing 12vdc on the relay output pin at 0v, honking is the acid test.  fails.

good luck to you.

[rasmeidirt]

i do not have fuse box photos both, cab nor fender top
id have to look.

Thanks. What I did was to remove the two horns to test with 12v battery, all work!!
Then, going look for fuse.

The horns sometimes work sometimes not!  I want to say sometimes I hear the horn and sometimes I hear only the CLICK when press any switch at the steering.

there you go you heard the click good. !!!!
that tells you the button works and the clock spring too good, in the steering head work (a real pain to replace ) see/?

did you make sure the horn bracket is not rusty, every kick i ever saw the horn bracket was rusty,  and is the ground for the horns.  no ground no horn.

the sidekick ground are horrible, for sure this old.

next is new relay, it just plugs in that relay, easy as pie to replace ,unlike steering head problems.

with the horn dead (testing 1,2,3)
run a jumper wire from battery ground lug (minus) even use std, jumper cables (as in road side jumps)
and then put the other end to the horn bracket, metal , horn works now means bingo bad ground.

The horn base love to rust, here,  its in the  rain and all that. it loves to rust  ,
one more fix is this.
make 16AWG jumper wire, with 2 , RING LUG , crimped or soldered to the ends say 1 foot long
then using sheet metal screw and drill mount one lug to horn bracket,  other in  end to frame. of car body horn mounts to. fixed.

also the horns can RUST  at horn bolt to bracket but both bad same time?. no very likely.

horn bracket body to car frame loves to rust.   cleaning that up ,with wire brush is easy fix;.until next time.

The two horns just stops working again! When I press the two buttons at the steering wheel, they just give me the click and click!!

Probably the steering wheel clock spring is the culprit! Anybody has the partnumbers of that wires?? Or where can I order a new one??