[mike1212]

I have a basic horn I got at Autozone. Highway Blaster.

If I touch the two terminals on the horn direct to cables from a battery, shouldn't it honk?

I am hesitant to pull out the old horn, put in a relay, relay socket, inline fuse, do the new switch, etc, for a horn that doesn't work.

How does one test that a horn works?

[kleen56]

There should one or two leads on the horn. One hot wire from a 12V source goes to the connection on the horn. Horns with only one contact usually ground themselves when touched to a ground (body metal). If it has two contacts, one should be + and the other -, if you get them backwards, the horn won't work either. Even without the relays, etc, the horn should make some sound. There is also an adjustment on the horns which usually looks like a phillips screw head. I'd try it again and make sure you have a good ground. If not, take it back, get another and try it again. If the other one doesn't work, your doing something wrong.

[mike1212]

That confirms what I thought, so maybe I am less of a complete idiot that I suspected.

I have touched the two leads out of the horn and the screw off to the side to pos, ground, and neg in all possible combinations on two different batteries without generating so much as a peep.

I think I will take it back and try another.

My fear was that the horn wanted more amperage than the battery could deliver and so it wouldn't honk just "cold" like that. But that didn't really make sense because a horn should honk when a vehicle is not running and 100 percent on battery.

Thanks for your input. I'll let you know if a second works or not.

[mike1212]

Okay.

I took the horn back to Autozone. No problems they were very nice. The guy whipped a battery off the shelf and tested the horn the same way I did. Got nothing. Made me feel better. He futzed with it awhile and did eventually get it to make a feeble noise. He decided it was in fact defective.

We popped open another one from the rack and he tested that one as well. It immediately jumped into life.

So the answer is yes. Just touching the terminals of a standard two terminal horn across the posts of a battery should make a good horn honk.

[eloc431962]

Originally Posted by mike1212

So the answer is yes. Just touching the terminals of a standard two terminal horn across the posts of a battery should make a good horn honk.

Yep that's how i have always tested them.


Cole

[Notlad1]

I bet it's made in china.

Don

[eloc431962]

Originally Posted by Notlad1

I bet it's made in china.

Don

I bet you are right.


Cole