Got car Knowledge?

[Rochester2013]

Hi all,

I have a car problem. One I thought would be very simple to fix, but I'm having a bit of a problem. The car horn in my mom's 2004 Dodge stratus is taking a turn for the worse. It started decreasing in volume over time, and now is making unnatural sounds.

So, I went to try and replace the horn. Took the headlight assembly out, unbolted the horn. But the new replacement horn has a much different connection than the one installed (pictures below they may be a bit small to get them to fit on TN). Everyone I've found in the store and online seem to have the same connections as this replacement. The one that was inside the car was a Bosch, but I can't find any where that sells Bosch car horns for this car.

Does anyone know where to find a horn with the proper connector, or help otherwise?

Thanks!

[Dan Schultz]

Until 1998... I managed manufacturing engineering for the factory that made horns for Chrysler. The plant closed and I'm not sure where the Chrysler business went. The connector in the first picture appears to be an original Chrysler connector. The second picture looks like some sort of 'generic' connector.

That's not an electronic horn but an electro-mechanical one that has a simple vibrator coil in it. One of the pins is most likely a ground. You can figure out which wire goes to what with a continuity checker. Find out which pin is connected to the case and that's your ground. Hook the 'hot' wire from your horn relay to the other pin. If the horn doesn't work... you'll need to ground the other pin.

Actually... I would think that the store that sold you the horn would have an adapter plug they could sell you.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

The new aftermarket horn has simple 1/4" male blade connectors. Buy a small box (probably 10) of the red-colored 1/4" female connectors (18-20 gauge), cut/strip the wires off the old harness, and splice the female connectors onto the wires. Connection is a 50/50 shot, but you won't hurt anything connecting it backwards and then reversing the connection (actually, it will probably work either way you hook it up - a horn is a simple continuity device like a light). Get a helper to engage the horn while you test fit the new connectors onto the new horn. Once you have it right, push the connectors on firmly and bolt the new horn in place.

[Dan Schultz]

..... Connection is a 50/50 shot, but you won't hurt anything connecting it backwards and then reversing the connection (actually, it will probably work either way you hook it up - a horn is a simple continuity device like a light).....

That's true. It will work either way. IF one of those pins isn't grounded to the case/mounting bracket!

[jon112780]

On a somewhat-related 'note', the mother of an ex-girlfriend of mine always wore out the horn on her car before she wore out the brakes (almost as if she substitited the brakes for the horn). Strangely enough, she never had any accidents (that I knew of).

She commented that it was the 3rd horn she'd gone through on that car...

[Rochester2013]

Thanks for the help, you guys! I was getting a bit worried that this horn was somewhat out of the ordinary, because I couldn't find much information about it on the internet.

I'm not terribly handy at electric repairs (that was my father's arena). I think I am going to try the local junk yard first. It looks like it is an original female connection in the car, so as long as the junk yard cars have original horns, I should be set. If not, I'll try getting an adapter from the store (though I'm not having luck finding anything like that online). Hopefully it won't come to splicing anything. My mom worked with my dad for many years in the home-improvement electrician business, so she knows how to do it, but isn't actually in the physical position to do any of it.

Hopefully something works before our appointment for the car inspection Tuesday!

On a somewhat-related 'note', the mother of an ex-girlfriend of mine always wore out the horn on her car before she wore out the brakes (almost as if she substitited the brakes for the horn). Strangely enough, she never had any accidents (that I knew of).

She commented that it was the 3rd horn she'd gone through on that car...

When we had our Oil change a few weeks ago we mentioned to the technician that our horn was dying. He insisted that "Horns don't usually die, it is usually an electric problem." A few years ago my mom had a brain surgery that altered her personality quite a bit (she now owns 13 birds where she would run if she saw one within the vicinity of her before, and some other things). I don't know whether it is from a physical change within the brain, or whether it is simply psychological; but one of the things that has changed is her sense of humor. When driving she often (especially around holidays) will beep songs or to random people and wave. My dad always yelled at her for it telling her that she was going to wear it out one of these days. Well, I guess that day's come, haha.

Thanks everyone!

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I'm not terribly handy at electric repairs (that was my father's arena). I think I am going to try the local junk yard first. It looks like it is an original female connection in the car, so as long as the junk yard cars have original horns, I should be set. If not, I'll try getting an adapter from the store (though I'm not having luck finding anything like that online). Hopefully it won't come to splicing anything. My mom worked with my dad for many years in the home-improvement electrician business, so she knows how to do it, but isn't actually in the physical position to do any of it.

You don't need to be handy at it. It's extremely simple. You need one tool:



that cuts the old harness off, strips the wires, and crimps on the new terminal:



You don't need an adapter for your original equipment, and you won't find one at any parts store. Save yourself some time there and don't bother looking. Someone at the parts store can show you how to use the tool with a scrap piece of wire and one of the 8 terminals you don't need. Trust me, it's very simple and you can easily do it. Don't get a salvage part that won't last.

In fact, the terminals on your new horn might even have holes in them. If they do, you can simply cut off the harness, strip the wires, stick the wires in the holes, and wrap them with electrical tape.

To Dan on the adapter: I'm pretty sure the first two pictures in the OP show two different angles of the original equipment horn. The third picture is the aftermarket horn with the two male blades sticking straight up (hard to tell from the angle of the picture). There's not going to be any adapter that plugs in to the original Chrysler harness and terminates in two female 1/4" blades. Not a chance.

[Dan Schultz]

On a somewhat-related 'note', the mother of an ex-girlfriend of mine always wore out the horn on her car before she wore out the brakes (almost as if she substitited the brakes for the horn). Strangely enough, she never had any accidents (that I knew of).

She commented that it was the 3rd horn she'd gone through on that car...

One of the informal tests we performed at Sparton Engineered Products... manufacturer of horns until closing the plants in Grayville and Flora, IL in 1998.... was the 'Mexican wedding test'. This amounted to throwing the switch on a horn for a long length of time... a full ten minutes, I think. Those horns contained a coil and a set of vibrating contacts. One or the other would usually burn up in ten minutes... or simply shake loose some of the fasteners. The mechanical aspects of a car horn are actually rather harsh!

[Rochester2013]

You don't need to be handy at it. It's extremely simple. You need one tool:

I'm sure you're right; that's my best bet. Serious question, though: Do I need to disconnect the Battery?

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I'm sure you're right; that's my best bet. Serious question, though: Do I need to disconnect the Battery?

It's always a good idea when working on electrical parts. That way your stripped wires can't accidentally arc to ground. Just disconnect the negative cable on the battery and isolate it away from anything metal. I have a little piece of foam rubber I put on the terminal when I disconnect it that works well, but you don't have to be that anal about it.

[Rochester2013]

Success! Thanks, all!

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Success! Thanks, all!

Excellent...good work!

BTW, Dan...if one of the pins were grounded to the mounting bracket...then why would you need two wires? It's pretty clearly an "in-and-out" connection since there's only one thing that happens when the circuit is closed.

[Dan Schultz]

Success! Thanks, all!

Excellent...good work!

BTW, Dan...if one of the pins were grounded to the mounting bracket...then why would you need two wires? It's pretty clearly an "in-and-out" connection since there's only one thing that happens when the circuit is closed.

For manufacturing purposes... it's a matter of making the product universal. With so much plastic on cars these days... one cannot rely on the frame/body for a ground. That extra pin would just be redundant in cases where the case is grounded to the coil.

In the millions of horns we manufactured at Sparton... I don't recall any of them having a single pin connector. Even some of the very old ones with the 1/4" blade connectors had two terminals.

I really have no idea of what the industry has done since 1998.