when i make a turn my horn goes crazy?
 

everywhere i go i get the finger, dirty looks and even cursed out by people i pass or im behind when i make a turn because my horn continiously beeps when i make a turn. then when i straighten the wheel it stops.? i personally dont care about the noise but i dont like getting cursed out every time i have to make a turn.. has anyone had this problem before..? if so any way to fix it besides disconnecting the horn...what i did was dissconnect the horn and radio controls from the steering wheel. .. ..

i really love this site......................i do really lol

sounds like something in your clockspring is messed up.. have you been messing with your steering wheel at all?

no
 

not really..all i did was install some fog lights.. and no where near the steering wheel did i run any wires.. it was a plug and play setup..? i had a new steering column put on about 2 months ago but never had a problem untill yesterday

Re: no
 

Uh, but where did you connect the fog lights too? The wiring for the horn is in the fenderwell but extands into the engine compartment up near the radiator shroud. You may have tapped into some wires for your fog light connection and got one of those circuits instead. Or, like the fellows alluded too, there may be a short in the steering column that is grounding out the horn button when you turn the wheel. If they pinched a wire in the column, it may have taken a little while for the insulation to rub through and cause the short to ground.

Either way, you have a short somewhere in the wires that is setting off the horn...it's just a simple electric buzzer with two connections to make it go toot...one power, one for ground to activate it.

I know an 88 doesn't have the maxifuse relay center like the later models (91-99), so where is the horn relay located on an 88, and does the relay switch power or ground? If it switches power, the problem is going to be BEFORE the relay. If it switches ground, the problem will be either before or after the relay.

Hi Will, on my '90 the relay is on the fender support, just in front of the driver's side shock tower. Looking at the opposite side of the car, all the mounting points for a horn are over there too...so in theory, that generation Bonnie could have the horn on either side (or both sides) I don't know if different trim levels got more than one horn. Jr could probably answer that better than I.

Edit: I have to correct myself on this one. The relays in front of the shock tower are not for the horn. That relay is under the dash on the passenger side. There are a pair of relays in the location I mentioned, and while the horn wiring is part of the same harness, it doesn't connect to either of them.

i tried
 

i tried to follow all the wires for he horn. i even dropped my whole steering column to look for a cut or ripped wire and i couldnt find nothing. on my 1988 bonneville i have the radio controls on the wheel that pull out and show a radio controls plug and a ground wire and another wire with a round 1'' long plastic peice and a spring on it. i believe this is for the horn.. could that peice with the spring be bad.

Try looking under the hood near the horns and relay.

Re: i tried
 

See my corrected previous post about the location of the relay.

You are correct about the contact under the center cover on the steering wheel. That spring loaded contact you have is for the horn (It transfers the horn circuit to the cover that holds the buttons..allowing the steering wheel to turn without winding up a coil of wire.) Touch the contact to any metal part of the steering column and the horn will go off.

So, now you have to test out the problem. run the steering wheel from lock to lock and see if the horn goes off on it's own. You can pull the horn relay and start testing continuity on that wire and ground...it should remain an open circuit if it is good. If you see continuity while moving the steering wheel, then the short is in the steering column.

If the steering column wire checks out and works properly, then you have to start working with the other circuit that runs from the relay contacts to the horn itself.

The reason the circuit is split like this instead of one wire from the button on the steering wheel to the horn is due to the current draw of the horns. Typically they draw about 5 amps, but can draw as high as 20 amps if the coil in them shorts out. The button only has to provide a ground to close the circuit on the relay's coil. The relay's contacts then provides the 12vdc which drives the horn's coil. The ground return for the horn is the steel mounting bracket that hangs it on the fender support.

I have the same issue with my 1998 Buick Regal LS. While I find a solution I unplugged the horn fuse ...