Dampness causes all sorts of weird problems when cars get older (and the
rubber seals around electrical connections start to age)... I wouldn't say
rain water was shorting out the horn (a true short would cause a fuse to
blow)... I would say the water caused and open connection (breaking the path
for current to flow)... Could have even been cooler/warmer temperatures, or
vibrations - we had a speaker in our old 1991 Golf that would randomly start
and stop working (for days at a time, or cutting in and out at random)...
And a headlight that for some reason when out... I got mad at the car,
kicked the bumper and the light came back on
.
Crawl under the car and look at the connections on the horn if you want...
But those are all permanent style connections - the first connections that
tend to go are on contacts (in the ignition, or the horn buttons/button)
Do you use your horn a lot? (seems like it)... I never seem to have to use
mine, I wouldn't even know if it started to act up for weeks... Volvo horns
seem to have a good enough sound to wake up other drivers, but if yours goes
completely you could always wire in an air horn ;-).
"Atif" <foo@foo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1d1e877774123fe99896f5@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
> My horn seems to work fine now. Yesterday when it stopped working it
> was raining. It has been raining here on and off for the last few days.
> Today was the first non-rain day and the horn seems to be working fine
> now. I see the next time it rains if the horn stops working.
>
> If it does I guess that means there is an exposed wire or something that
> is getting shorted out in the rain?
>
>
> In article <wvZse.18740$yU.857435@news20.bellglobal.com>,
> robertguenther@nospamsympatico.ca says...
>> The wires leading to the horn aren't protected all that well... but they
>> are
>> tucked away behind the bumper, a broken connection here would cause the
>> horn
>> to not work at all... And most likely one tone would still work (Volvo's
>> have two horns, one is a higher pitched, the other is a lower pitched
>> horn).
>>
>> I'd look at the ignition (well i'd get someone to)... Volvo's and VW's
>> are
>> two brands of cars that (I know for sure, probably other european makes
>> as
>> well) don't let you honk your horn unless the key is in the ignition, and
>> you are in position II (I believe, might be position I)... meaning a
>> faulty
>> connection here could cause trouble for the horn and other systems
>> (radio,
>> headlights - other systems that seem to only come on with the ignition on
>> a
>> Volvo).
>> "Atif I. Chaudhry" <foo@foo.com> wrote in message
>> news:MPG.1d1cfed2c8bc48519896f3@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
>> > First my rear wiper won't work....now my horn doesn't work.
>> >
>> > It is on the same fuse as the front wipers and those work fine, so not
>> > the fuse.
>> >
>> > What else could be wrong? Is this this a common 850 issue? Is this
>> > something I can fix myself? I'm wary of doing anything with the
>> > steering wheel because of the air bag.
>>
>>
>>