Horn Stopped Working

rb25

Hi.

The horn on my van stopped working. It's going in for the DOE next week and unlikely I'll get it fixed beforehand. In the UK the horn not working is an MOT failure. Is it a failure for the DOE?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

MaryAntoinette

Did your horn give up all of a sudden?

James Bond Junior

Was it blown too hard or something?

rb25

It's a VW T4 van. Typical it was working fine last week. Booked the DOE and noticed it stopped working. :rolleyes:

rb25

First DOE I've been to. So if it fails do I need to pay in full again?

galwaydude18

rb25 wrote: »

First DOE I've been to. So if it fails do I need to pay in full again?

No just a retest fee for a fail

BohsCeltic

Have you checked the fuse ?

Spanish Eyes

I'm so sorry, but I read something I shouldn't have into the OP.....LOL

rb25

BohsCeltic wrote: »

Have you checked the fuse ?

Yup. Fuse is working order. I replaced it too. No joy. I think it might be the plates under the steering wheel centre cover.

rb25

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I'm so sorry, but I read something I shouldn't have into the OP.....LOL

Yeh. "Hard" to describe without using the obvious words. Guess the old cliche jokes will start now.

Spanish Eyes

rb25 wrote: »

Yeh. "Hard" to describe without using the obvious words. Guess the old cliche jokes will start now.

Glad you have a sense of humour, and I hope your horn will be ok for the MOT sorry NCT. Really.

rb25

galwaydude18 wrote: »

No just a retest fee for a fail

How much is the retest fee? I don't want to pay any extra "tax" than I have to to these robbers.

galwaydude18

rb25 wrote: »

How much is the retest fee? I don't want to pay any extra "tax" than I have to to these robbers.

I think €53 for the retest?

Pedro K

You could always try drop a couple of viagra into the petrol tank...

I'll get my coat...

Malcolm600f

rb25 wrote: »

It's a VW T4 van. Typical it was working fine last week. Booked the DOE and noticed it stopped working. :rolleyes:

Had same issue on my 96 T4 did ya hit the steering wheel a slap by any chance,
I hit the wheel a slap and horn stopped cant remember exactly what the issue was spring or broke the connector but know it was a 5 minute fix..

shietpilot

I know on the mk2 Caddys the horn design is like a snail's shell and they have problems with water ingress causing them to break because they're right beside the fog lights.

I've replaced a few with a universal horn that's on most other cars.

Try open the bonnet, disconnect the horn wire and run a wire to the pin from the positive battery terminal on the battery. If it doesn't work then the horn is butchered. Also remove the horn assembly and clean up the surface area that touches the body as the grounding could be oxidised.

Bio Mech

Have you tried pulling out the horn or asking someone to have a close look at it?

MaryAntoinette

Bio Mech wrote: »

Have you tried pulling out the horn or asking someone to have a close look at it?

What do you propose when you pull out the horn?

seachto7

Same thing happened my car but it passed the nct . Need to get it sorted though. I hear it can be an expensive job?

rb25

Malcolm600f wrote: »

Had same issue on my 96 T4 did ya hit the steering wheel a slap by any chance,
I hit the wheel a slap and horn stopped cant remember exactly what the issue was spring or broke the connector but know it was a 5 minute fix..

I'd say it has hand many a slap before I owned it. Looking at the part down near the foglight area it does look corroded. But the centre piece of the steering wheel is also loose so I'd say it has been off the van before. I'll have to find a way to test it to see where the fault is. Process of elimination at this stage.

rb25

shietpilot wrote: »

I've replaced a few with a universal horn that's on most other cars.

Try open the bonnet, disconnect the horn wire and run a wire to the pin from the positive battery terminal on the battery. If it doesn't work then the horn is butchered. Also remove the horn assembly and clean up the surface area that touches the body as the grounding could be oxidised.

@shietpilot - Where'd you purchase the universal horn?

cajonlardo

shietpilot wrote: »

I know on the mk2 Caddys the horn design is like a snail's shell and they have problems with water ingress causing them to break because they're right beside the fog lights.

I've replaced a few with a universal horn that's on most other cars.

Try open the bonnet, disconnect the horn wire and run a wire to the pin from the positive battery terminal on the battery. If it doesn't work then the horn is butchered. Also remove the horn assembly and clean up the surface area that touches the body as the grounding could be oxidised.

That is good advise, if you follow the instructions there, at least you'll get an idea where the fault actually is.
BTW, a couple of times I replaced horns with ones from different make/model cars.