Okay, like the title says, the horn in my '86 SE isn't working... At least right now it's not.

When I bought the car roughly a year ago, it did work... And it started going out a little bit before I put her up for the winter. After I finally brought her out again, I got the same results as I did before winter.

Here are the current symptoms... When I press either of the horn buttons, I get this clicking sound from under the passenger-side dash. I showed this to my dad and he thought it was the Horn Relay... We pulled it out and tried the horn again, nothing... As was kind of expected I think. So the next day he buys a new one from the local NAPA store, and the day after that, I plug it in and try it... Still got that clicking noise.

So obviously the problem isn't the relay, but my dad and I are pretty well stumped as for what to do next... Any advice you all might have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Check to see if you re getting 12v to the horn when the button is pressed. If you have power check to see that the horn is grounded. I don't recall if the horn has one or two wires to it. If it has only one wire then the ground is to the frame. If it has two then ground it through the second wire. If you have power and good ground then the horn is probably shot. Replace it.

Hope this helps

The horns only have one wire to them Dk Green. The horns run off the same fuse that runs the radio so if the radio works the fuse is good.

If you replaced the relay then it's either the horn vibrator contact (in the horn) is stuck (do you have one or two horns, they are on each side in the nose in front of the wheels. Some models only had one) or the wire is broke somewhere. Find the horn and put a meter or test light on the wire (has a spade plug) to ground and hit the horn button and see if there is voltage. If there is then give the horn a wack and see if it starts again.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 04-23-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner: do you have one or two horns, they are on each side in the nose in front of the wheels. Some models only had one

IIRC, the 84-87 Fieros had two horns, and the 88 had only one.

The horns also tend to rust up and quit working. Try tapping the horn(s) with a screwdriver to help "free" it(them) up. If that doesn't work and you are getting voltage to the horn(s) then you need a new horn(s). This is your chance to get rid of the wimpy beep-beep horn and go to air horns.

quote Originally posted by avengador1: This is your chance to get rid of the wimpy beep-beep horn and go to air horns.

Compared to most imports the Fiero horn sounds like a big rig.

Small update.

My dad and I went around the car earlier and checked the voltage at the relay, the harness and the grounds. So power is obviously getting out through the wires and the relays... Therefore it sounds more and more like the horns themselves are bad/dead/stuck.

Now then... How easy is it to access the horns without getting the car up on a lift? Can you just jack the car up enough to take off the wheels/tires, and remove the inner fender liner? Or do you have to remove the nose completely?

If you get the nose up a ways you should be able to look up in front of the inner fender and see the horn.

There is a small bolt like thing that sticke out of the side of the horn. It's a screw that adjust the breaker points inside the horn.

What happens is the contact inside rust and they can't close to make the horn work. Sometimes if hitting the horn does not free the contacts turning the screw might move them enough to get it started. Then put it back where it was, or where the horm works ok.

Another little update.

Since my father and I don't really have any way to lift just the nose, we had to do the next best thing and lift it from the side. Anyway, we started on the passenger side, since that was the most readily accessible... Due to the configuration of the main garage.

So we get the wheel and tire off, and then begin working on getting the fender liner out... Takes us a few minutes, but we do get it out. My dad checks to see if power is getting all the way out there... And it is... Thank god for that, I'd hate to try and re-wire the damn thing.

So my next question is this, if the horns are 100%, absolutely, kick-the-bucket, D-E-D, dead... Is there any specific part-number I need to get? Or will any old GM horn work?

Reason I ask is in case I do decide to upgrade to different horns... Although I'll probably just stick with the original equipment... Since I'd rather spend money on upgrading other things on the car.

You could use any horns you wanted. If you stay with a standard horn, usually if there are two, one is a high note and the other is a low note. They usually are marked to indicate what they are.

Parts stores sell standard horns carry both notes.

I'm haveing the same problem with my 85gt and have replaced the passenger side horn and the relay and still just get the clicking. If there is a second horn on the drivers side and it is stuck would that be the cause of the problem? If one horn is stuck will both not work? Any help is appreciated.

quote Originally posted by My Blue 1986 SE: So my next question is this, if the horns are 100%, absolutely, kick-the-bucket, D-E-D, dead... Is there any specific part-number I need to get? Or will any old GM horn work? Reason I ask is in case I do decide to upgrade to different horns.

This sounds like an excellent opportunity to upgrade to some brand new DeLorean horns (yes, DeLorean), which are what I now have in my own `86 Fiero.

Their installation in a Fiero is very easy, and you can even use the Fiero's original horn brackets with no problems. The DeLorean horns have a more aggressive sound, eliminate that wuss "meep-meep" sound of the stock Fiero horns, and do so without sounding like air horns.

This is explained more in the May-June 2007 "Technical Discussion & Questions" thread titled,"Horn Upgrade," which is accessible via this link: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/083122.html

As noted in that link, you can order those horns from http://www.delorean.com

Order one low note horn (part number 100465) and one high note horn (part number 100466), as the `86 Fiero had both.

LMAO nice pic. Unfortunetly that won't help me pass inspection Um I was thinking today since the relay is clicking obviously the steering column switch and the relay work so there must be a short in the line coming back to the fuse box or from the fuse box out to the horn. is this right? steering column ->relay->fuse box->horn? if so is there any reason why I can't just run a wire with an inline fuse straight from the relay to the horn and avoid the main fuse box all together?

This also sounds like an excellent opportunity to upgrade to some air horns. I was interested in a set of air horns like those used in Ferraris. I was quite surprised to find out that they were available at Advance Auto for >$25. FIAMM brand 2 trumpet system. The biggest pain is fabricating a bracket. But I really like the sound. And they've already paid for themselves in one encounter I had with an F250 who didn't see me. Heck, I wouldn't be able to see a Fiero from the driver's seat of an F250. But he sure heard me.