Hi all,

I currently am having mechanical problems with
the horn on my 95' Ranger. It started a year ago when I tried using my horn in traffic and discovered that no sound came out. I took the truck to a garage and they replaced the horn with an after market one(but it worked). Then mysteriously almost 9 months later it happened again. This time I took the truck to a second garage and he too replaced the horn(again with an after market horn - but it worked). I was all set and happy until almost 9 months later exactly when his horn failed me. It was sort of a short in the wire, because I would hit the horn and sometimes a weak sound would come out and some times it wouldn't. This time, I went back to mechanic number 2 and had him look into things a little deeper and replace the horn for free! He said all the electricals looked good and that it must be in the horn itself or it wouldn't have worked at all.

But I don't believe what they are saying. I think two horns in two years is unusual and I would like to know what I can do to start troubleshooting the problem. I have a Ford manual , but the docs on the horn are very sparse. How can I find out if the problem is in the wires, column, fuses, etc rather than the horn?

thanks,
Brian

 

You'll need to get your hands on the electrical schematics to do a good job checking all of the possibilities. It will show you all of the connectors, grounds and where they are located. It would be hard to tell where to check without having the schematics. Try your local library. The book you need is the "Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual" (Ford factory manual). There's probably a Haynes or Chiltons equivalent. If you can't get the schematics, try checking the grounds for the horns, the horn relay, power to the horns and resistance of the horns. These are pretty easy to do without schematics to show you where they are located.

 

I also have tried aftermarket horns and found that they do not last very long. I think that the materials that they are contructed from are not corrosion resistant. Purchase a Ford horn. Then aside from basic electrical continuity checks, I would suspect a faulty relay. Sometimes relays don't fail cleanly. They fail by becoming intermittent. Obviously, it's easy to verify that the horn, by itself, is working. Simply connect it directly to the battery. It should blow your ears off.