my horne wont honk!

[Shepherd]

Hey any body know where I should start figureing out whats wrong?

[delicanuck]

Hi Shepherd,
Sheesh! My horn honks all the time when I least expect it, and too often when the little old lady crossing the road in front of me least expects it. Lucky thing about those Depends I'll bet. The horn switch under my drivers side hair bag is really sensitive and really, in all my years of driving, I don't remember a situation that was served better by the horn than by the brakes + some patient amusement. If you find out that your actual horny honky thing under the hoody fronty thing is dead, let me know and you can have mine.

[biozach]

We call our Delica Little Miss Sunshine. One Sunday morning at 3:30, our hypersensitive noisebox decided to show its might and blaze fury through our slumbering 'hood. Ran out in my skivies and almost ripped the wheel right off. Upon later inspection, I realized that the light area of foam between my horn contacts had dissolved (apparently a gentle reminder by the Japanese govt. to replace your vehicle every 15yrs) :D The repair solution I had was to re-space the horn contacts with some wooden coffee stir sticks. Simple but very effective. Now I can sleep at night without having nightmares of little old ladies going into cardiac arrest while being barraged by a high-decibal Japanese wildebeast

[Adrock]

mine seems over sensitive, I can't wait until I get the wake up call.

[Shepherd]

I have to fix this cause I need it for the inspection. How do I get into it ?

[mitch]

there is a small screw on the underside of the steering wheel (if memory serves) that will take off the rubberized horn cover top and let you get at the guts. there is a foam liner between some spring loaded contacts. under that there will be a wire connected to the steering coloum (maybe dissconected if it was one of these sensitive types) and then there is a contact that spins with the wheel on the steering shaft ( check that too to see if the contact is still there)

I have not gone beyond that, but if it still dont work check the wiring and horn and see if its just burnt out.

Mitch

should be pretty simple job

[Mystery Machine]

Hi Trav,

I'm SO sorry for not following up my promise for the info - after losing that post I'd clean forgotten about the horn issue!

Mitch is right, there is a small screw under the centre of the wheel. Once this is out, lift the horn unit up from the bottom of the wheel to clear the screw hole then pull the unit down (it'll make sense when you try it!)

The wire from the horn push should be attached to the connector just under the horn push. Peel off the vinyl cover to see what the state of the contacts are like....

As the others have mentioned, the foam 'separator' in these units dissolves quicker than sugar in coffee! This leaves the horn to make permanent or semi-permanent contact. Symptoms are usually akin to a bloke who's just discovered viagra (permanent horn, or long and unexpected bouts of it in the early hours! :lol: )

Biozach's solution is a blinder....and there was me thinking of getting new horn pads laser-cut to match the originals (albeit in neoprene, not sponge pudding like the originals!!) I suppose matchsticks and other 'easy to lay your hands on' bits would do the job just as well!

If the horn push itself is working OK, then you may want to check the horn iteslf...

Located under the front of the motor, remove the upper bash plate (12mm spanner or socket on 4 x bolts) and the horn is just behind the front bumper panel.

There are two horns (hi & lo) and each should have 2 wires (Green with WHITE tracer and Green with BLACK tracer)

The Green/White wire should be the +12v feed to the horns from a 15A fuse under the dashboard. The Green/Black wire is the horn switch to earth wire.

At present it is hammering it down outside and I'm feeling all Mogwai and don't fancy getting too wet! When it is a little drier, I'll pop out and check which fuse is the correct one to look for.

Good luck sorting it out....

Bruce.

[biozach]

To elaborate on the stir-stick horn repair, I placed the sticks only around the perimeter between the two plates. The top plate can be bent upward slightly in the center to allow more room between contacts. The sticks will fit between without any adhesives. I did the repair over a month ago and have used the horn many times since. I've even given it a good punch or two. Seems to be a permanent solution.

[Shepherd]

thanks guys I will try to fix it tomorow. Today I put new tires on. The tire shop in Moosejaw I took the van to thought it was very cool. The guy who put the tires on thought I was crazy when I wanted 235 75s. because the tires that were on the thing were tiny. He was suprised they fit great and added 3 inches lift. I and my boys where exited to see the difference. I think I lucked out. There was already a block in the rear leafs and after cranking the torshion bars way up I got it level. The thing now has lots of lift. I was suprised whith the difference. I got to drive it all day on a 24 hour permit. I cant wait to finaly get the inspection done early next week. Tomorow it is back to driving my Toyota 4 runner. :(

Trav

[MardyDelica]

its normal to this delica to have this problem. cause of the heat weather in Japan & its 15 yrs old. did replace 5 of this horn button. did buy new not expensive.about less than C$ 100.its available . let me know if you need help the parts for this horn button. its better to change new one ,that if you dont mind to spend a little bit money. no problem with this delica we can get parts for this nice Van. hope this will help :)

[Shepherd]

Thanks I will let you know. I started to look in to my problem but had to quit and come in and re read all the info again. I can't remember it all when I get out side. I guess I should print it out and take it with me.

Trav

[Shepherd]

I fixed it. :lol:
It was an easy fix thanks to you guys!

Trav

[Thomas Porter]

Hey Shep,
I found some air horns for a semi - or they at least look like it - compressor and all.
Seems like the whole works is going to under my front bash plate.
No more wussy little eurotrash horn. I want people to crap their pants when they're deciding to get out of my way.
Yeah, I'll be checkin the contacts on my steering wheel before I get the 200 decibel wakeup call...
Hahah - the Saskatchewan Rive Pirate Strikes Again!
Thomas

[terrain]

good to know the lone soul at the end of the kilometre is going to hear you coming

[Shepherd]

I won't dare change the horn. I think it is the only thing my wife likes about our delica. :(

Trav