Horn doesn't work

[snrusnak]

Hey guys, I can't figure out why my horn won't work. If I jump the horn straight to the battery it will sound. I opened up the switch and visually it appears fine(makes metal to metal contact, and the soldered wire is intact). The fuse is good as well.

Any ideas?

 

[oh9bolt]

Is your brake light working?

 

[snrusnak]

Well I don't have my bike assembled currently so can't check, but yes it is. My horn hasn't worked since last winter when I tore the bike down and put it back together. I had replaced it without testing it so thought the horn itself was bad. But I have it torn apart again and it works with direct power. The brake light has worked all year.

 

[jstav]

The contacts on the switch could be carbonized so that enough current can't flow to the horn. Try cleaning them and it might fix it. Possibly a bad wire, as well. If you have a multimeter, you can ohm out the various parts of the circuit.

 

[snrusnak]

I have a multimeter, but I'm not good with electronics. If anyone would be willing to give me step by step instructions on how to set up the meter and how to test, that'd be appreciated.

 

[snrusnak]

Ok so first of all thanks to all for the help, especially jstav giving me help via email.

I figured out that when I wiggle this connector:

The horn will work. I don't know if it's the connector or the wiring near the connector. Any tips? I'm not much of an electrical person...

 

[thrstrmech]

try contact cleaner, may want to check each pin on both sides of the connectors, you may have one not making full contact, yeap remove 'em or push into the socket one by one or write down the location of each before removing all at once, good luck

 

[snrusnak]

ok can you explain how to remove the pins? I'm not familiar...

 

[user_deleted]

sean: take the plug apart. you do that by pushing in on the black plastic tab which is located at about 11 o'clock from your thumb in the pic. once apart just gently tug on each wire to make sure it is located securely in each plug end. in other words you'll have like 6 wires in each plug end....give each a tug to make sure they're securely in place. then go to radio shack or any electronics place or even NAPA. get yourself a can of aerosal spray electrical contact cleaner and preservative. i do NOT like wd-40 for this. spray it in each end, let it soak a bit, wipe off excess, reassemble and you should have good horn. which is not to be confused with good head.

 

[snrusnak]

hehe

I do know how to unplug the connector . I will pull each pin to test that they are secured. I also have electronics part cleaner from when I cleaned my IAT sensor. So I will try this and if this doesn't work post back. Hopefully I will get to this later tonight or tomorrow night, although I'm spending 3 hours at the dentist tomorrow afternoon so I don't know how up for working I'll be lol.

 

[snrusnak]

I don't know if this matters, but I put some of that dialectric grease or whatever it's called on all electrical connections last year(that's when horn stopped working) thinking I was doing a good thing. Could this grease possibly be bad for the connection?

 

[snrusnak]

I just checked every pin and they all seem "tight". Also sprayed/soaked the connection with cleaner and wiped it off and it is the same way. Only works when wiggled in a certain direction.

 

[1badtitan90]

use the throttle to honk.. people seem to understand that better

 

[snrusnak]

haha yeah I hear you but for some reason just having something on the bike that is not working is eating me alive...

 

[netty2424]

Maybe this is a perfect time to upgrade to the air horn

 

[snrusnak]

lol that would involve me wiring something(bad idea)

 

[thrstrmech]

did you also clean the contacts on the horn too, sounds like a short somewhere, maybe a ground issue

 

[xtreme]

Middle finger still works, correct?

 

[snrusnak]

haha yes the finger is all good.

It's not the horn I even checked voltage at where the harness plugs in to the horn and it's not getting anything. So it's either the pin in that harness I posted a pic of above or the wire somewhere along the way. Should be fairy easy to figure out, but how do I take the pin out of the connector?

 

[thrstrmech]

finishing nail or jewelers slotted srcewdriver works well, insert into connector slightly to release tab that holds pin, pull wire/terminal out of connector...towards the back of your service manual there's a great illustration on how to do this, also look at the dual headlight mod thread for more pics on how to do it, good luck finding the source of the problem