Horn not working

Hey All,

I had my 2006 Tacoma X-Runner at the dealership a week ago because my instrument panel airbag light was intermittently coming on. After paying for them to diagnose the problem (my truck is still under warranty) they said they couldn't find anything wrong.

7 days later I find my horn is not working, so I called Toyota and they said they didn't take anything apart and nothing they did would affect the horn. Seems like kind of an odd coincidence that the horn and airbag are in the same place, but w/e. So they say I have to pay again to get it diagnosed and the parts will be covered if something is wrong.

So i checked the fuse and the relay and both seem to be fine. The fuse has 0.0 ohms resistance, and I replaced the relay with the FR FOG relay (all part numbers exact same) and the horn still didn't work. I hooked a voltage meter up to the lead connected to the horn itself, and grounded to frame and I don't get any voltage when pressing horn in the cab. I also don't hear any clicking or anything from the relay when pressing the horn, and I think I should. ??

So I guess my question is, is there anything else I can check before letting Toyota gouge me again with diagnostic charges? I guess I have kind of narrowed it down (in my mind) to the switch in the steering wheel.

Gage

 

I have a similar issue with the airbag light, but my horn and cruise still work.

after some research, I found that the clock spring or "spiral cable" will need to be replace. do a search for it...

Also check your cruise control...I almost willing to bet it doesnt work too...

 

yeh i have the same air bag light on too, clock spring but my horn and cruise still work i would bet its the clock spring as well ..... have them check it while under warrenty cuz its expensive to replace part is like 200 plus labor... still havent replaced mine due to the cost

 

Here is the schematic of the horn circuit for a 2005:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/at...4d1307310779-2nd-gen-service-manuals-horn.pdf

The schematic treats everything on the steering column as one piece, but that's not correct. S8 on the schematic is a connector on the right side bottom of the steering column.

There are small pop-out panels on each side of the steering wheel. Pop them out. Each panel covered the head of a Torx screw (size T-30, IIRC). Unscrew each Torx screw until it hangs by its plastic keeper. Don't remove the Torx screws.

Pull the steering wheel pad/airbag assembly straight out.

There should be one wire by itself connected to the back of the airbag assembly. The other end of the wire goes to the spiral cable assembly. On mine, the wire is black. That's the horn wire. The connector should be a plain quick-disconnect slide-on flag type on the airbag assembly end of the wire. Ignore the yellow airbag connector(s) and cables.

If the horn wire is disconnected, connect it. The dealer tech forgot to put it back while looking for the airbag issue. That should solve the problem.

If the horn wire is connected, disconnect it and ground it. If the horn blows, you have a bad horn switch. If the horn does not blow, the problem is elsewhere.

 

most likely a clockspring

 

Great info. Thanks a lot to all.

My cruise definitely works, I used it the same day i noticed the horn not working.

Jerry, I'll give that a try, thanks a lot.


Gage

 

Old thread I know but my horn hasn't been working either. Fuse is fine and I tried grounding the horn wire and it still didn't work.

Any suggestions?

 

clockspring brings air bags, cruise, stereo, and horn to the front of wheel

must be a bad clockspring (official term: spiral cable)

---
disco battery

yank airbags off wheel, unplug

disco horn cables, cruise....

connect battery

tape clockspring top edge together so when you
pull it, it won't rotate and unwind on you (a real bitch to rewind correctly)

pull clockspring off

jumper horn control to horn pad, test. if it works, absolutely the clockspring is the problem

 

127.0.0.1,

So, just doing the same thing as listed below wouldn't be the same as what you are describing with the clockspring as far as grounding the horn wire?

 

Disregard. Horns themselves were not getting a good ground for some reason...

 

I have a 2011 Tacoma, everything woke a normaly except the horn off the steering wheel, meaning if I turn my alarm on my horn works. So I would say it's grounded for sure but it lacks the communication from the steering wheel. Any recommendations? I have warranty up 100k but I'm scared they might see the wires for my offroad lights and they might blame me for it lol it was working fine up until a week ago

 

If you have a multimeter check the wire going from the relay to the Horn(s). When the steering wheel horn pressed you should read 12 VDC from that wire to ground if not it is either the relay, 10 amp Horn Fuse, Wiring ( spiral Cable ) or the horn switch in the steering wheel. With a meter you should be able to eliminate these one at a time using the schematic posted above. I would almost bet on the spiral cable.

 

Hey all, I'm having a similar issue, I just got a used 2012 I4 4x4, The horn works intermittently, It worked this morning when i bumped it while pulling out of a parking spot, but not 15 minutes later while i was driving.

Can anyone explain to me like I'm 5 how to fix the problem?

 

Get your mommy to take the truck to the dealer.

Seriously. Read through the thread and there are some very good pointers on how to troubleshoot this issue. Your horn circuit should be the same as the above 2005.

 

Help!! Several years ago I added a factory cruise to my 2006 Tacoma (base model). I have driven over 10.000 miles with no problem. I had my truck inspected and the horn does not work. I checked my fuse and relay ( no power when horn is depressed). I removed the air bag to check connections. I can not see the black wire that goes from the back of the horn. I see the tab but can't find the wire. I removed the column covers thinking it fell back in the column. The only wires are the yellow ones going to the air bag. Does any one know were the black wire goes? Maybe I can just make a new one.

 

You have two wires associated with the horn in the column the power wire is Green with a Red Strip and the ground is black.

It should be pretty simple to make a new black wire and attach it to ground ( any metal part of the body ).

Note: To test the horn circuit you can just ground the Green with Red Strip wire ( touch it to a metal part of the chassis ) and the horn should blow. Just remove the air bag first with the battery disconnected. Those suckers will kill you.

 

Use finger!

 

^^

 

Dudes, So my horn does not work by pressing on the steering wheel but one of the two horns will sound if I press the panic button on the key fob. I do not have any indicator lights coming on on my dash and my cruse control works. The relay does not click when I press the horn. Fuses seem to all be good.

Where should I start in tracing this down?

 

Spiral Cable. This cable has many wires in it and maybe only the horn wire is broken...