WHY WON'T MY HORN ALWAYS WORK?

[Daddiojoe]

This has been an ongoing problem since I've had the truck. The horn will work, and then it won't, and then it will again after a while. No rhyme or reason.

Here's the skinny:

Everything has been rewired. Horn has a relay and an extra ground on it. Wires are 12-10 gauge. Thick ones
Horn is new-ish. Relay is fairly new.
I've bypassed the roller connection inside the steering wheel and have an external horn button mounted on the steering column. It has a good ground.

Is the horn sucking so much electricity that it has to recharge somehow before it will work?

Hopefully there is something simple that I'm overlooking.

Thanks eeeeelectricity gurus,
Joe

[rd200]

My 65 d200 has been doing the same thing for the 31 years that I have owned it. It will only work if I am driving fast enough to generate enough electric to power the horns. I have been thru about 10 alternators and 10 volt regulators during that time. If the lights are on and / or I am in traffic they will not work. I do believe about 20 years ago they were working all the time. It might have been that I had a more powerfull battery. However I have never actually needed to use the horn in that past time. Mainly because my truck is red and everyone knows I am at the top of the food chain. If I touch the wires directly to the battery they seem to work fine. This also has been my great mystery.

Good Luck Let me know if you find a fix...

[MoParaised]

Check your engine to chassis ground. Make sure it is grounding the body as well as frame. Hope it helps.

[Jims68]

Mine does this too sometimes. I found it was the little contact inside the steering wheel that rides against the plate on the bottom of the steering wheel, and sometimes it doesn't quite touch it. Next time you find that your horn isn't 'beeping' try pushing in on the steering wheel. Sort of like pushing it towards the floor. I think you can loosen the column bolts and pull the column up. This will help tighten that up against the plate. (helped mine). The shaft that the steering wheel is on does not move, just the outer part of the column.

Jim

[dwightlightnin]

mine does the same damn thing it only works if im driving over 15 mph and ive had to use it twice because of the idiots that dont know how to drive in the roundabouts!