Horn doesn't work

Ever since we've had our Tacoma (year or so) the horn has never worked... i've been meaning to get this fixed but just never got around to it.

Where do I start to troubleshoot it? Is there a fuse that could be blown, a relay, wire not connected properly...

Any help would be great as we're trying to get the truck ready for sale ( got a baby on the way so gotta upgrade to something more family friendly) sad to see the truck go =/ it's been good to us.

 

the horns must be grounded properly for them to work, I would start there. the actual tab they are mounted to the truck with is where the ground takes place.

 

Get this bumper sticker and you'll be all set

 

lol

 

I'll check the ground... if it's not the ground, then where?

 

Most vehicles have a fuse for the horn I'm sure are Tacoma's are no different check the owners manual or even on the back of the fuse box cover to see if there is a fuse. that's the first place I would look.

 

checked the fuse, it's good, put a new one in just to check.

Getting the grill off is a pita...still in the process. Sucks you gotta take it off to get to the horn =/

 

Maybe you have a bad ground or the horns are just shot but I find it hard to believe that both would be out.

 

After checking the fuse, I think I would make sure the horn actually works. Hook up a wire directly to the horn power connector (not the body of the horn) and see if it makes noise. Failure to make noise would either indicate a poor ground (you could run a ground wire from the battery to the horn body if you wanted to test ground), or the horn is dead.

After that, the next step would be to check the connector in the steering wheel. If you have airbags, make sure to unplug the negative battery cable a while before messing with it.

If your horn works, connectors are good, fuses are good, the next step would be to try to trace wiring.I'm not sure if you have a relay or not for your year.

 

econohorn mod:

but seriously try what he said:

 

So by running a ground wire from negative terminal and touching it to the horn body would give me some indication whether or not it's grounded? Any special sized wire for doing this?

That would be great if that could tell me the issue as i'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to get the dang grille off and access to the horn!

 

http://www.hornblasters.com/

heheheh....

 

Got my neighbor helping with the horn now... took apart the steering wheel cover and found these wires...



Could this be the culprit?

The red and green wires aren't attached to anything, and there's a wire coming from the white connector that has been taped off.

 

That very well could be the problem. The best I could find as far as wiring diagrams for your year is for a 4runner. It uses a green wire with a red stripe for the horn. That same color combo is used up until at least 2004, so I'm going to make a guess that will be the case for you as well.

The only way to know for certain is to see if it has power before and after you pull the horn fuse. (use either a test light or voltmeter)

If it is horn related, you can test the horn by touching that wire to a ground and it should beep. (make sure it is horn related before you just go grounding random wires)

(The wires you're testing are on the connector side, with it plugged in, not necessarily the long ones. The black connector will be the item that has power, so when the white connector is plugged in, it'll have power. Thats where you do the testing. If those longer unconnected wires are supposed to plug into the white connector, they'll be completely dead and would be useless to test.)

And most important, dont mess with any wires that have yellow shielding around them. They are air bag related. I'd even say to leave your airbag completely disconnected during this whole thing. (assuming you have one)


As far as what those other wires that are disconnected could be, I really dont know.


If I were to make a guess at this point, I'd say you aren't the first owner and that the horn has never worked. Maybe at one time the horn got stuck on and this was the only method the previous owner could turn it off.

 

It's answers like these why I like this site...Not looking forward to any future issues with my Taco, but at least I know I will be in good hands with everyone on here...lol

 

My horn got stuck on and I pulled the fuse. Lately my parking lights and dash lights stay on when the truck is off and key is out (usually when raining or very humid), and when I took it to the dealer, they said there is a switch that the horn and parking lights both go through that may be the problem.

Not sure if that helps the OP, but any info could be useful when you have total unknowns. I'll be watching this thread to see if any resolution comes to this--I need to fix my horn!

 

Anyone know if there's a place online that sells the cruise control switch with the wiring harness that connects behind the steering wheel cover beneath the airbag unit?

Seems it would be easier to just buy a replacement unit than try to fix the wires. Three were cut, cruise wasn't working or the horn... my neighbor was helping but the wires are so brittle he was replacing them.

The horn worked twice, the first time the horn just stayed on, the second time by switching wires around the horn worked when you pushed the cruise control button.

Not sure what product name to look for.

It would be the cruise control lever + the wiring that comes from it. The green and red wire + another one come from the cruise lever and into the white connector that plugs into the black female end you can see in the background.

 

Anyone know what the part name is so I could just buy the whole unit as opposed to messin around with wiring?

 

best I can tell you is to go to www.toyotapartszone.com and enter your vin. Look under the electrical/switches and relays section, as thats where those switches are for my year.

That stuff is not cheap at all though. Its not one complete assembly for me. Every piece in there is in the range of $70-$250 for me, most in the $100 range.