DIY Horn Upgrade Mod - Updated Jan 12

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HarryHouck said:
I suggest using recycled parts. Horns can be found in salvage yards for a few dollars and some effort. Find the model you like and unbolt them. Most salvage yards also sell batteries, use them to test the horns before you buy. Mercedes Benz have nice ones and they have the frequency stamped on them.
Now, there's as sound idea! :lol:
 
After a week and a half of ownership, today I almost got taken out by motorhome drifting into my lane! I laid on the horn, and to my surprise, I couldn't hear it, let alone the knucklehead motorhome driver!

I'm now researching horn upgrade options and will soon have this pitiful stock horn replaced! Yikes!
 
I have purchased and received a Stebel Nautilus horn and plug-n-play wiring harness from BikeHiway via Amazon....Free shipping...$31.99 + $19.99...

Horn:
http://www.amazon.com/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motorcycle-Horn/dp/B000NPRTII

Wiring Harness:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028ZKMM6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000NPRTII&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=00Y5BXS4HCY7V3KR59AD

Will get them installed in another weekend or two....
 
Randy said:
I have purchased and received a Stebel Nautilus horn and plug-n-play wiring harness from BikeHiway via Amazon....Free shipping...$31.99 + $19.99...

Horn:
http://www.amazon.com/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motorcycle-Horn/dp/B000NPRTII

Wiring Harness:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028ZKMM6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000NPRTII&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=00Y5BXS4HCY7V3KR59AD

Will get them installed in another weekend or two....


For those ordering this horn be advised there is a motorcycle version and a car version and the car version is lower and louder. The motorcycle version is slightly more compact.
 
Perfectly doable mod for even the faint of heart. I'm a DIYer, but I tend to steer away from mechanics. This is truly an hour mod (if that), and gives you a nice upgrade.

I went in through the top, and simply lifted the coolant tank out of the way. The PITA was the wiring harness. I didn't have the connectors and needed to make a trip to the Shack. Wish I could have purchased one as making one took the most of the time.

Thanks to OrientExpress for the detailed instructions and pics.
 
Randy said:
I have purchased and received a Stebel Nautilus horn and plug-n-play wiring harness from BikeHiway via Amazon....Free shipping...$31.99 + $19.99...

Horn:
http://www.amazon.com/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motorcycle-Horn/dp/B000NPRTII
EVDRIVER said:
For those ordering this horn be advised there is a motorcycle version and a car version and the car version is lower and louder. The motorcycle version is slightly more compact.
Actually, despite what I claimed earlier, both the "regular" Stebel Nautilus and the "compact" version have the same sound output. I misread the specs sheet, sorry! They are both 115 dB at 2 meters and 135 dB at 4 inches. The only difference is the size.

Randy said:
Wiring Harness:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028ZKMM6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000NPRTII&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=00Y5BXS4HCY7V3KR59AD

Will get them installed in another weekend or two....
Good find!
 
We had these on an RV... they really make a statement but you need an air tank

http://www.hadley-products.com/catalog/Catalog.aspx?cmd=cat&div=3&cat=32

I remember now... they were called "The Ambassador" - funny I just now got the joke :lol:
 
aqn said:
Randy said:
I have purchased and received a Stebel Nautilus horn and plug-n-play wiring harness from BikeHiway via Amazon....Free shipping...$31.99 + $19.99...

Horn:
http://www.amazon.com/Stebel-Nautilus-Compact-Motorcycle-Horn/dp/B000NPRTII
EVDRIVER said:
For those ordering this horn be advised there is a motorcycle version and a car version and the car version is lower and louder. The motorcycle version is slightly more compact.
Actually, despite what I claimed earlier, both the "regular" Stebel Nautilus and the "compact" version have the same sound output. I misread the specs sheet, sorry! They are both 115 dB at 2 meters and 135 dB at 4 inches. The only difference is the size.

Randy said:
Wiring Harness:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028ZKMM6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000NPRTII&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=00Y5BXS4HCY7V3KR59AD

Will get them installed in another weekend or two....
Good find!


I don't trust the spec sheet, why have two models if they are the same output. They sound files I heard sound different as well, does not make sense, humm.
 
leafnode said:
After a week and a half of ownership, today I almost got taken out by motorhome drifting into my lane! I laid on the horn, and to my surprise, I couldn't hear it, let alone the knucklehead motorhome driver!

I'm now researching horn upgrade options and will soon have this pitiful stock horn replaced! Yikes!

Same thing almost happened to me last night, with a stupid MBZ driver wanting to change into the lane I was in. Stock horn was completely ineffective! Well past time for change!
 
mwalsh said:
leafnode said:
After a week and a half of ownership, today I almost got taken out by motorhome drifting into my lane! I laid on the horn, and to my surprise, I couldn't hear it, let alone the knucklehead motorhome driver!

I'm now researching horn upgrade options and will soon have this pitiful stock horn replaced! Yikes!

Same thing almost happened to me last night, with a stupid MBZ driver wanting to change into the lane I was in. Stock horn was completely ineffective! Well past time for change!
I had a similar near miss from a merging driver at the I-24 / I-75 junction.
The horn was nearly useless.
I don't know what the codes / standards / requirements are on horns, but I don't see how the horn on the Leaf could meet any reasonable standard. Absolutely the worst thing about the car.
Will be the first thing I change about it.
But Nissan should step up and replace it as a safety recall.
 
I replaced my Leaf horn yesterday. A VERY easy mod, and one I'm very glad I did. Now, the horn actually gets attention instead of laughs. :mrgreen:
 
I finished installing my Stebel Compact air horn today. As many others have done, I did the install from the top. I removed the black plastic trim piece at the top and the water bottle. I had to replace the stock bracket because it moved too much due to the weight of the horn. So I put in a stout L-bracket and it worked much better. The wiring kit I purchased from Amazon was indeed a plug and play thing, with no additional wiring or spade lugs, etc. needed. Below are some audio samples...It is a much nicer louder horn....Look out for my car now!!!!

Sound of stock Leaf Horn before mod...

Sound of new Stebel Compact Nautilus Horn after mod...

I couldn't get a very photo of the horn installed, but at least here is how I mounted the power relay (on the side of positive battery connection with 3m double-faced tape)...

relay.jpg


Randy
 
You didn't connect any grounds directly to the battery post did you? The service manual says not to. I assume it's because of the current loop on the ground side. You'll need to connect the wire to the terminal on the non-battery side of the current loop.
 
OrientExpress said:
UPDATE - added instructions for access from under the car.

............ recommendation of several of my Leaf owner friends, I decided to try the FIAMM 74100 El Grande - Twin Horns. At $16.60, they are a real value, they sound like my old 68 Buick, blast at 110db, and have a real tone of refinement. These horns are PnP, and don't need a relay to operate.




leafhorn03.jpg





leafhorn05.jpg


Accessing the horn from under the car - Thanks to Tony Williams for use of his underside photos

This requires you to crawl under the car to remove the front underbody panel. This is probably best done by driving the car up on ramps, putting the car on jack stands, or on a lift. Use extreme car when working under the car, make sure that the parking brake is set, and that your lifting method is secure. Proceed at your own risk.

leafhorn11.jpg



After you get the cover removed, the horn is accessible. Note from this view you can see the bottom of the coolant overflow tank.

leafhorn14.jpg



The stock horn is held on a short bracket that is bolted to the center brace with a 12mm bolt. Take out the horn and bracket, and disconnect the power and ground leads.

The new horn assembly had to brackets to hold them apart, bolt the brackets and a ground lug to the horns securely. A good idea is to add a drop of Loctite to the horn bolts. Make sure that when you install your horns, that they are pointing DOWN, so they don't collect water.

leafhorn07.jpg


To wire up the new horns to the existing wiring, I made a short pigtail for the power lead. The stock ground line goes to the ground lug that is bolted to the horn bracket.

leafhorn08.jpg


Make sure that that the single power lug (which plugs into the existing horn power connector) is a male blade and not a female like what I have on this photo (Duh!)

Now you are ready to install the new horn assembly. The two horns and their brackets get bolted to the original horn bracket, and that in-turn gets bolted to the car's center brace. Connect your power and ground wires to the power pigtail and to the ground lug respectively. (Don't mix them up! The ground wire is the LONGER wire.) I stuck a piece of shrink tubing over the power connector to pigtail connection, just to make sure there was no chance of shorting. I would highly recommend this.

leafhorn09.jpg


leafhorn10.jpg


Give your new horns a try, and if they work, ........you are done!
............For me this was the best $16.50 and hour of my time that I have spent all week!

They sound great. Get a pair and see for yourself!
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Thanks for the excellent pics-quite helpful. I found access from underneath was best for me. It was an easy installation.

Only modification I did was use the original horn ground tab and bend the original Leaf horn mounting bar into a "C" shape to angle the horns to the front in a 45 degree position.

Then I covered the entire horn and aluminum AC grill with a window screen (all under the bumper and front grill assembly out of view) and fastened it with zip ties. This will keep bugs from damaging the aluminum cooling grill.

These horns command attention from lane drifters :cool:

*****While I was under there, I sprayed liquid silicon spray on the CV boots, steering boots, and strut boots to keep them supple. I did this on my 2001 Insight every 3,000 miles and they lasted over 287,000 miles. Sold the car with the original boots :) *****
 
gasmiser1 said:
Then I covered the entire horn and aluminum AC grill with a window screen (all under the bumper and front grill assembly out of view) and fastened it with zip ties. This will keep bugs from damaging the aluminum cooling grill.
You might want to keep an eye on that screen; I wonder if its mesh might be too fine and thus clog up quickly with debris. I suppose it's a fine line between that and having the radiator's fins smashed & bent by gravel and such.

gasmiser1 said:
*****While I was under there, I sprayed liquid silicon spray on the CV boots, steering boots, and strut boots to keep them supple. I did this on my 2001 Insight every 3,000 miles and they lasted over 287,000 miles. Sold the car with the original boots :) *****
Good tip. What brand of silicone spray did you use? Gunk?
 
aqn said:
gasmiser1 said:
Then I covered the entire horn and aluminum AC grill with a window screen (all under the bumper and front grill assembly out of view) and fastened it with zip ties. This will keep bugs from damaging the aluminum cooling grill.
You might want to keep an eye on that screen; I wonder if its mesh might be too fine and thus clog up quickly with debris. I suppose it's a fine line between that and having the radiator's fins smashed & bent by gravel and such.

gasmiser1 said:
*****While I was under there, I sprayed liquid silicon spray on the CV boots, steering boots, and strut boots to keep them supple. I did this on my 2001 Insight every 3,000 miles and they lasted over 287,000 miles. Sold the car with the original boots :) *****
Good tip. What brand of silicone spray did you use? Gunk?

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Window Screen- I've been using nylon screen from HomeDepot for years without any clogging issues.


Silicone Spray- I've been using Pyroil Silicone Spray (by Valvoline) which is a non-oily, non-staining polymer film safe for rubber and leaves no residue for dirt to attach. It goes on wet and drys in a few minutes. I get it at "O'Reilys (formally Kragen), but it's also available on Amazon.

I think Permatex Silicon Spray would work too. It has similar properties.
 
Do you think the silicone spray would be a good choice for protecting the J1772 cable? I've been wondering how hard sun and parking lot grime is going to be on it.
 
gasmiser1 said:
*****While I was under there, I sprayed liquid silicon spray on the CV boots, steering boots, and strut boots to keep them supple. I did this on my 2001 Insight every 3,000 miles and they lasted over 287,000 miles. Sold the car with the original boots :) *****

I don't feel like I've ever gotten a good answer on whether preservatives and conditioners prolong the life of rubber and plastic parts. Some have told me things like Armorall actually eats away at material.

For reference I have a 2001 Honda also with the original boots. Only half the miles as you though, although rubber parts seem to me to go more with time than miles.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
gasmiser1 said:
*****While I was under there, I sprayed liquid silicon spray on the CV boots, steering boots, and strut boots to keep them supple. I did this on my 2001 Insight every 3,000 miles and they lasted over 287,000 miles. Sold the car with the original boots :) *****

I don't feel like I've ever gotten a good answer on whether preservatives and conditioners prolong the life of rubber and plastic parts. Some have told me things like Armorall actually eats away at material.

For reference I have a 2001 Honda also with the original boots. Only half the miles as you though, although rubber parts seem to me to go more with time than miles.
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ArmorAll-Absolutely Do Not Use It!

When I was working at a gas station in 1979, my boss used silicon spray religiously on all rubber parts and suspension/sway bar bushings under the car to preserve the rubber from drying out and oxidation.
 
gasmiser1 said:
When I was working at a gas station in 1979, my boss used silicon spray religiously on all rubber parts and suspension/sway bar bushings under the car to preserve the rubber from drying out and oxidation.
At least we don't have to worry about ruining the O2 sensors. :D
 
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