Need some assistance with getting my dual horns to work. I’ve checked the
fuses, everything on my car electrical works. Today I took the horn relay off
and checked all wires and tried to make sense out of the horn relay testing
section in the Haynes manual. With the horns off the car, I hot wired them to
the battery and they worked, looking for other ideas or something I’ve missed.
Hate to get into the steering coloumn to check contacts, the horns have worked
in times passed, any thoughts, thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKat (By the way, just replaced the voltage regulator, Lucas brand, with a
Borg Warner model R-611, perfect fit and charging system is where it should be)
Horn circuit & relay, 4.2 Jaguar E-Type
Horn relay terminal W2 = Horn relay to horn button
Horn relay terminal C1 = Horn relay to horns
Horn relay terminal W1 = Horn relay to fuse #6
Horn relay terminal C2 = Horn relay to fuse #3
Terminal C2 should have battery voltage present at all times, if not, check
fuse 3 and wiring continuity
Terminal W1 should have battery voltage only when ignition is on, if no,
check fuse 6 and wiring.
Terminal W2 is the ground for the coil side of the relay. Connecting a
jumper wire from terminal W2 to ground should cause the horns to sound.
If the horns sound when terminal W2 is grounded, but not when you push the
horn button, the problem is in the wiring between the horn relay and the
horn button. A common problem area is the slip ring on the column that
connects the wire from terminal W2 to the horn push button. This is a real
cheesy set up, prone to dirt, grease & corrosion.
If you have power to terminals W1 & C2, and the horn does not sound when you
ground terminal W2, you have a bad relay.(you have already verified that the
horns are good) Verify this by placing a jumper between terminal C1 & C2
Horns should sound. If they don’t, check all the connections between the
battery and fuse #3, Fuse #3 and the horn relay, and the horn relay and
horns. All connections must be good, clean & tight. Horns draw an amazing
amount of power, and poor connections can cause enough of a voltage drop to
keep them from working. All you need to troubleshoot this circuit is a test
light, a jumper wire, and patience. Seeing as how your horns worked before,
you will not face the same problem I did on my 61, that is trying to figure
out why when I pushed the horn button, the wipers wiped…
Hope this helps,
Dave Waldman 61 OTS-----Original Message-----
From: owner-e-type@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-e-type@jag-lovers.org]On
Behalf Of Michael
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 10:14 PM
To: e-type@jag-lovers.org
Subject: [E-Type] Electrical help / horns
Need some assistance with getting my dual horns to work. I’ve checked the
fuses, everything on my car electrical works. Today I took the horn relay
off
and checked all wires and tried to make sense out of the horn relay testing
section in the Haynes manual. With the horns off the car, I hot wired them
to
the battery and they worked, looking for other ideas or something I’ve
missed.
Hate to get into the steering coloumn to check contacts, the horns have
worked
in times passed, any thoughts, thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKat (By the way, just replaced the voltage regulator, Lucas brand, with
a
Borg Warner model R-611, perfect fit and charging system is where it should
be)
Thanks, I’ll go over the relay again and try and sort out whats wrong. Only things
not working are clock (no battery) and speedometer, need to look at right angle drive,
other than that, a real daily driver.
Thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKat
Nadoboys wrote:> Horn circuit & relay, 4.2 Jaguar E-Type
Horn relay terminal W2 = Horn relay to horn button
Horn relay terminal C1 = Horn relay to horns
Horn relay terminal W1 = Horn relay to fuse #6
Horn relay terminal C2 = Horn relay to fuse #3Terminal C2 should have battery voltage present at all times, if not, check
fuse 3 and wiring continuity
Terminal W1 should have battery voltage only when ignition is on, if no,
check fuse 6 and wiring.
Terminal W2 is the ground for the coil side of the relay. Connecting a
jumper wire from terminal W2 to ground should cause the horns to sound.
If the horns sound when terminal W2 is grounded, but not when you push the
horn button, the problem is in the wiring between the horn relay and the
horn button. A common problem area is the slip ring on the column that
connects the wire from terminal W2 to the horn push button. This is a real
cheesy set up, prone to dirt, grease & corrosion.
If you have power to terminals W1 & C2, and the horn does not sound when you
ground terminal W2, you have a bad relay.(you have already verified that the
horns are good) Verify this by placing a jumper between terminal C1 & C2
Horns should sound. If they don’t, check all the connections between the
battery and fuse #3, Fuse #3 and the horn relay, and the horn relay and
horns. All connections must be good, clean & tight. Horns draw an amazing
amount of power, and poor connections can cause enough of a voltage drop to
keep them from working. All you need to troubleshoot this circuit is a test
light, a jumper wire, and patience. Seeing as how your horns worked before,
you will not face the same problem I did on my 61, that is trying to figure
out why when I pushed the horn button, the wipers wiped…
Hope this helps,
Dave Waldman 61 OTS-----Original Message-----
From: owner-e-type@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-e-type@jag-lovers.org]On
Behalf Of Michael
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 10:14 PM
To: e-type@jag-lovers.org
Subject: [E-Type] Electrical help / hornsNeed some assistance with getting my dual horns to work. I’ve checked the
fuses, everything on my car electrical works. Today I took the horn relay
off
and checked all wires and tried to make sense out of the horn relay testing
section in the Haynes manual. With the horns off the car, I hot wired them
to
the battery and they worked, looking for other ideas or something I’ve
missed.
Hate to get into the steering coloumn to check contacts, the horns have
worked
in times passed, any thoughts, thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKat (By the way, just replaced the voltage regulator, Lucas brand, with
a
Borg Warner model R-611, perfect fit and charging system is where it should
be)
Need some assistance with getting my dual horns to
work.
Mike, you probably had response to this already, but I
went though this exact same problem a few months ago.
Here’s what I did…
Having checked all voltages being in the right place
at the right time, I had someone press the horn button
with the ignition on, while I put my hand on the horn
relay. If you can feel the relay click, then
everything in the relay “pick” circuit is in order
(mine was but still no blast form the horns).
With the assistance of my helper, I checked the
voltage to the horns and to ground with the button
pressed (evrything was ok but still no blast).
I removed the horn relay, took it apart, and found
that although the relay was activating correctly, the
contacts that supply power to the horns themselves
were so badly pitted that contact resistance didn’t
allow enough current to pass through to the horns.
About 1 minute of emory paper usage on the contacts
did the trick, and I reassembled evreything. The sound
of twin windtones in the enclosed garage space was
quite stirring.
Hope this helps…Les.— Michael koolkataz@uswest.net wrote:
Thanks Les, will keep working on this “simple” problem and will work it
out, to take the relay apart did you hack saw through the sides fo the
unit?
Thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKat
Les Halls wrote:> — Michael <@Michael1> wrote:
Need some assistance with getting my dual horns to
work.Mike, you probably had response to this already, but I
went though this exact same problem a few months ago.
Here’s what I did…Having checked all voltages being in the right place
at the right time, I had someone press the horn button
with the ignition on, while I put my hand on the horn
relay. If you can feel the relay click, then
everything in the relay “pick” circuit is in order
(mine was but still no blast form the horns).With the assistance of my helper, I checked the
voltage to the horns and to ground with the button
pressed (evrything was ok but still no blast).I removed the horn relay, took it apart, and found
that although the relay was activating correctly, the
contacts that supply power to the horns themselves
were so badly pitted that contact resistance didn’t
allow enough current to pass through to the horns.About 1 minute of emory paper usage on the contacts
did the trick, and I reassembled evreything. The sound
of twin windtones in the enclosed garage space was
quite stirring.Hope this helps…Les.
No Mike, no sawing needed…all you need to do is turn
the relay upside down and with a pair of pliers
carefully prise the can away from the base. Do this
carefully all the way round and you’ll find the can
will simply fall off in your hands. It’s a very
simple process really.
Les.— Michael koolkataz@uswest.net wrote:
Thanks Les, will keep working on this “simple”
problem and will work it
out, to take the relay apart did you hack saw
through the sides fo the
unit?
Thanks,
Mike Goodwin
KoolKatLes Halls wrote:
— Michael koolkataz@uswest.net wrote:
Need some assistance with getting my dual horns
towork.
Mike, you probably had response to this already,
but I
went though this exact same problem a few months
ago.
Here’s what I did…Having checked all voltages being in the right
place
at the right time, I had someone press the horn
button
with the ignition on, while I put my hand on the
horn
relay. If you can feel the relay click, then
everything in the relay “pick” circuit is in order
(mine was but still no blast form the horns).With the assistance of my helper, I checked the
voltage to the horns and to ground with the button
pressed (evrything was ok but still no blast).I removed the horn relay, took it apart, and found
that although the relay was activating correctly,
the
contacts that supply power to the horns themselves
were so badly pitted that contact resistance
didn’t
allow enough current to pass through to the horns.About 1 minute of emory paper usage on the
contacts
did the trick, and I reassembled evreything. The
sound
of twin windtones in the enclosed garage space was
quite stirring.Hope this helps…Les.
1 Like
Your discussion has been helpful. Some of the same test, grounded from purple stud on relay and the horns honked. I discovered two purple wires disconnected under the steering wheel. One female and the other bare wire. Connecting them without the horn button pressed caused the horn to sound. Purple must be grounded somewhere down the line. The problem a bit different from the one above but I’m looking at the inside of the relay. I just signed up. Is there an alert when replies come in?
James
