Horn not working!!!

**0arbreaka** · 8th December 2006, 20:50

I went to play around with my bike the other day and the horn was working perfectly, then I went to play around with my bike today and the horn was not working for some reason, Ive checked the wiring for the horn and it all seems to be alright. I havent done anything to the bike in which may cause the horn to stop working, so what may have caused the horn to stop working?

**surfer** · 9th December 2006, 13:59

Yeah sometime this happens for no apparant reason. Frustrating as hell.

Before you go mad and pull all the wiring off and chuck away the horn and buy a new one, try giving the horn itself a little wiggle as it can get stuck. after this check the connections to the horn and if there is any rust remove it. You can also check to see if the horn itself is functioning ok by putting a small current across it. If you still have problems you might want to think about looking in the horn switch.

But generally speaking do all the cheap and easy stuff first.

Good luck.

**0arbreaka** · 9th December 2006, 14:24

cheers for that, i just tried what you recomended but all i can get out of the horn is a bloody tiny as little almost tapping sound which lasts about a split second when when i press the horn switch, so im currently assuming that its the fu*kn horn thats buggerd.

**marty** · 9th December 2006, 14:46

no - more than likely it's the switch. dirty contacts, high resistance. take the horn off, plug it into another bike/car and see what happens.

**surfer** · 9th December 2006, 15:21

Yep, agree with you definitely put a current across the horn. You can do this by plugging it into something else or by running a current across it (this does not involve using the existing electrical system).

**0arbreaka** · 9th December 2006, 16:17

so how can i fix it?

**NinjaNanna** · 9th December 2006, 17:06

Easy, get some speaker wire or something similar (does not have to be particularly thick) connect one end to the battery (motorbike or car), you could use clothes pegs to hold the ends onto the battery terminals.

Disconnect the horn from the bike's electrical system now connect the speaker wire to the horn (take care to get the + and - connections right)

If the horn works nice and loud then either your switch is dirty as suggested or you've got a blown fuse or broken wire (I'm sure you've checked the fuse)

If it doesn't sound then its a pretty good bet that the horn is stuffed.

PS take care not to short out your test wires when connected to the battery.

**surfer** · 9th December 2006, 21:52

Not sure what you mean when you say

so how can i fix it?

Exactly what have you done?

In the mean time consider this, before you chuck away your horn if this is the non working part of the system, take it to bits and then put it back together again. Then try it again. sometimes it gets all rusted up and doesn't vibrate properly so freeing it up and putting it back togther again might just do the trick.

If the horn is functioning and making a good sound, then it is somewhere else in this part of the system. Again start with the simple and easy stuff; check the fuse, check the battery power, put a volt meter across the bottom of the terminals where the horn is to check on the power output. Then check the output as it comes out of the horn switch. Make sure the connections in the horn switch are good and not rusted.

If you don't have a volt meter you could try a piece of wire connected to a small bulb or circuit tester if you have one. If using this method you can't find the fault then you will have to use a volt meter.

If it is none of these it could be a bad connection elsewhere in your circuit. Afraid this is a slow trial by error process. Start one end of the system and work back checking the output at every connection with your voltmeter.

One of these actions will highlight where the fault is. If it is a loose connection, it's obvious. If there is rust get some emery cloth on it. If it is a bad wire that has melted through it needs replacing so you will have some soldering to do.

Your electrikery is logical stuff to follow. Until you understand where it is going or not going it is unfortunately an annoying puzzle.

Good luck.

**0arbreaka** · 9th December 2006, 22:56

Ill test the horn tomorow and let you know.

**0arbreaka** · 9th December 2006, 23:23

YUSSS!!!!!
I got it working, all I did was take it off and completely disasemble it give it a good wipe down, then reasemble it and put it back on.
Strangely it actually sounds better now than before when it was working...
Thanks for the help people, you probably saved me some money

**surfer** · 10th December 2006, 01:17

YUSSS!!!!!
I got it working, all I did was take it off and completely disasemble it give it a good wipe down, then reasemble it and put it back on.
Strangely it actually sounds better now than before when it was working...
Thanks for the help people, you probably saved me some money

Well done patd0g

It's a great feeling when you can start tinkering with your bike and fixing it yourself. Good luck with future elictrikery stuff