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Defender Horn - the simpliest thing....I thought


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All,

I seek your advice and assistance please.

The horn on my Defender has stopped working. Completely. Nothing. Not a squeak.

I have looked through the forum, downloaded some wiring colour codes and can trace the Purple/Black through the vehicle. Its seems to have a couple of joins but these are all secure. There appears to be no voltage coming from the horn switch (which is new and replaced).

When I take a voltage reading I get a very small (< 0.5v). If I measure between this cable and earth I can see the voltage "bounce" each time the horn is pushed.

Everything else controlled from the steering column, which the exception of the flash for the lights, all works - are they connected ?

It's as if I am missing a feed to the switch ?

Very confused now and I can't find a drawing that shows the feed to the steering column switchs.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Nick

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pop the horn push end off the stalk, there should be a spring,a brass ring on the inside of the horn push button & 2 prongs, if you touch the prongs together the horn should sound, if not the horn itself is dead or the wiring at the horn is broken/disconnected, there should be a earth wire to the body & the puple/blue to the horn terminals.

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My vw campers horn push, connects the earth circuit thus completeing the circuit. The horn is supplied constantly with 12v. I dont know if Landrovers are the same but it would explain why there is no 12v at the switch.

Defender horns are supply switched, not ground switched.

Western has covered the supply side switching above, the unit is grounded by its mounting bolt, so make sure there's good contact there.

What are you using as a ground reference for the multimeter?

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The "bounce" in voltage could also be capacitative coupling in the (broken) circuit, but I'd guess the switch is possibly OK and you have a broken / corroded wire in the engine compartment. Pull the Horn fuse, strap the horn connection to earth (chassis) at the horn end and work back to the switch joint by joint with a resistance meter (or leave the fuse and use a 12v bulb to verify the circuit joint by joint working away from the switch). When you say "no voltage coming from the horn switch" how have you tested this?

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Gents,

All good input as always, thank you. To answer;

- I measured the voltage bounce between the purple/black and earth. An earth connection used by circuits that are working already. I attributed this to the the switch making and breaking

- I expected to see a 12v supply come from the switch when the horn was depressed. I do not see this.

- I will check out the fuses later (although I thought I had covered this), however, I am intrigued that my internal light and flash do not work (all though main beam does, turn signal do, etc). I actually can't see a purple/black wire going into the fuse box (hence my questions around supply to the switch). Is it shared in another colour ? Does this cause anyone to think differently ?

- It could be the horn itself is dead, but until I get volatge to it, I won't know.

BishBosh - keep thinking, and let be know if you have a "eureka" moemnt :-)

Thanks

Nick

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