Horn help

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mistaake

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Hey everybody :) My horn has never worked since getting the truck. So we tested the stock horn - it was bad. I work part time at an e-waste recycling company and found a two-horn assembly scrapped from the Tesla dealership next door. Wired it up and it works when we put the wires together, but the actual horn button/switch in the steering wheel doesn't work. I can't find this part at O'Reilly or Amazon - does anybody know where I can order this part, and what part I need?

Oh and by the way, the two Tesla horns sound awesome!

Thanks!
 

CSFJ

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Have any pics of which part you need?
 

mistaake

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The part in the steering wheel that goes under the thing you press on? The actual switch/button that makes the horn make the noise... Sorry don't have a pic.
 

CSFJ

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this piece?

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CSFJ

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Have you made sure the fuse is still good in the circuit? If already have, then my first stop would be a salvage yard. If not there, then a dealership.
 

chengny

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The power to the horn(s) is not directly fed from the horn button in the steering wheel. It is fed via a relay.

When you push on the horn button, you complete the ground leg of the relay coil. That energizes the coil. The coil then pulls in and closes the main contacts - the contacts that supply the actual power to the horns.

First step is to locate the horn relay. It is somewhere under the dash - probably near the fuse block on the firewall.

It will be in a relay base and the base will have 4 wires connected to it. One black, one dark green and two orange (the orange leads will be together).


This might help:

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If you find the base - but there is no horn relay - get one. Once you have located the relay (or have one to plug in), come back and someone will help you troubleshoot the circuit.

Or just plug it in and see if the horn works.
 

mistaake

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Thanks for the info guys. I'll check it out this weekend and see what I can figure out. For now I simply used a random button for something else and taped it to the steering column - at least now I have a horn for safety. I'll check the fuse and relay and see what I can figure out. I try to avoid goign to the junk yard because the closest one is quite a drive and I don't get good gas mileage nor do I trust the truck to make it there and back.
 

chengny

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For now I simply used a random button for something else and taped it to the steering column - at least now I have a horn for safety.

What are the leads from the button connected to?

Did you splice one lead from the button into the only black wire used in the steering column harness (that is the horn relay ground wire) - and connect the other button lead to ground?

If this is the case, you can disregard everything about the relay - your relay is in place and working as it should.

If, on the other hand, you just connected one of the button's leads to a power supply and ran the other lead to the horn power feed (dark green) - that will work, but you might still want to investigate the relay situation.
 

HotRodPC

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Do pay close attention to your wiring. IIRC, the horn actually already has power by default and through the relay circuit. All the horn button does is provide the GROUND to complete the circuit unlike most switches that provide positive or hot wire power. The horn button grounds to the steering shaft.

So if you're going to use an aftermarket switch after finding the original horn wire, you'd run one side of the new button to ground instead of power at the fuse block.
 

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