FIamm horns died

[thankyouOB]

Anyone else lose their FIamms after 18 months or so?
wondering if they dont have longevity or if i have to check the wiring--squirrels maybe?

i didnt install it, so i am not going to be adept at cking. thanks.

 

[Stanton]

If either of the wires (+/-) become disconnected it won't "honk". That happened to me a few months ago; once I reconnected everything was fine (thought is was the fuse, but it was a disconnected wire).

 

[Nubo]

Definitely check the wiring and fuse. There's not a whole lot to a horn to go wrong, whereas the installation involved spade connectors and multiple crimped connections in the pigtail. Crimps are failure-prone especially when using the el-cheapo crimp connectors and crimping tools most commonly available.

 

[Randy]

How about a new program? ha ha....SYH....

I'll lease you a new horn for $2 per month in perpetuity, and that will get you some replacement privileges (as long as you don't honk the horn too much)

But if you sell the car, I want my horn back.....

 

[mwalsh]

Ah, I see the problem...you bought the Chinese knock-off "Flamm" horns, and not real Fiaam horns. LOL!

 

[thankyouOB]

How about a new program? ha ha....SYH....

I'll lease you a new horn for $2 per month in perpetuity, and that will get you some replacement privileges (as long as you don't honk the horn too much)

But if you sell the car, I want my horn back.....

perfect!
nissan will get right on it, then delay.

 

[leafydragon]

Anyone else lose their FIamms after 18 months or so?
wondering if they dont have longevity or if i have to check the wiring--squirrels maybe?
i didnt install it, so i am not going to be adept at cking. thanks.

Wow, my pair of Fiamm El Grande AM80S suddenly lost its normal sound, and now sounds wimpier than the stock horn.
This is after about 18 months too.
I installed them soon after getting the LEAF.

I pulled removed the horns from the car for bench testing, using a 12VDC bench supply, and they sound fine.
But when reconnected to the car, they still have the wimpy sound.
So I am not sure if the horns are broken or if the car is somehow not able to supply enough voltage / amps.
Due to the short length of the car wiring, it is not easy for me to diagnose.
I might just shop for a new pair of horns, looking out for something that advertises lower amp draw.

 

[Stanton]

I pulled removed the horns from the car for bench testing, using a 12VDC bench supply, and they sound fine.
But when reconnected to the car, they still have the wimpy sound.
So I am not sure if the horns are broken or if the car is somehow not able to supply enough voltage / amps.

Did you try measuring the voltage IN THE CAR driving the horn? Maybe you could tap into the horn fuse to measure (maybe it's a dirty connection?). Sounds like the problem ISN'T the horns.

 

[Nubo]

I might just shop for a new pair of horns, looking out for something that advertises lower amp draw.

If there's a resistance problem limiting current, it's likely that other horns would suffer as well. Or even if they functioned, a bad connection tends to deteriorate further over time.

My suggestion would be to make up a new pigtail connector and try re-installing. While the horn is out of the car, take it back to your test bench and just make sure that orientation doesn't have any effect. I.e., test them in the same position as they rest in the car.

 

[mwalsh]

If there's a resistance problem limiting current, it's likely that other horns would suffer as well.

Good call.

If you still have the original horn, reinstall it without the pigtail and see what happens. Or even one or other of the Fiamms.

 

[leafydragon]

Hi all,
After much futzing around trying to understand the problem, I removed the horn relay for testing, and found the the coil pins were shorted out.
And the output leg was open relative to the other two legs.

Anyway, most importantly, I finally realized that the wimpy horn sound was the original ANTI-THEFT HORN (actual location unknown).
It turns out that the pressing on the steering wheel must have been designed to activate both the ANTI-THEFT HORN and the normal HORN.

Then I checked the 10A fuse for my normal HORN, and it was blown! And the 10A fuse for the ANTI-THEFT horn was fine.

(should have been the first thing to check, but I was lazy to get the fuse tool from the the fuse compartment at left end of dash board, and also I did not suspect the fuse, because I thought my horns were making *some* sound.)

I now have a new relay which has incompatible legs, I might solder things together to get things working.

I'm now looking for a wiring diagram that explains how the 3-legged horn relay is connected.

UPDATE:
I'm looking at this diagram ( http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/images/e/e3/Nissan_LEAF_Power_Supply_Routing_Circuit.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ), not sure if I understand it...
It seems to show that the + line goes thru the 10A horn fuse, then to pin 2 of the HORN RELAY.
Pin 2 of the relay is the common pin as shown here:

I suppose pin 3 is connected to chassis ground and the pin 1 goes to one terminal of the horn, and the other terminal of the horn goes to ground (the longer connector).
If this is the circuit, then I don't understand the purpose of the horn relay, it does not serve to reduce the current load on the steering wheel momentary switch contacts.
Am I right?

 

[leafydragon]

Another update...
I found that my 18mth old FIAMM AM80S is indeed faulty, verified with a bench power supply, the symptom is that sometimes when 12V is applied it just makes a single "clunk" sound, and draws high current while being silent. Sometimes it horns normally. This probably caused the fuse to blow. But what caused the relay coil contacts to become shorted?

Anyway, I've installed a new relay and new set of cheapish horns, ("Kaion Dusound Europe Horn") that advertised 2 x 2.5A draw. (Although during bench test, with tissue paper stuffed into the horns, they drew a total of 9A. Dammit.)

Sigh too many hours have been spent on this, I hardly use the horn, like 1 beep per month or so.