Horn trouble

[sunrun176]

So I park my car in the ramp this morning and I double-press the lock button on the fob like usual.. but there's no horn blast. I stop.. go back to the car.. and try again. Being closer, I hear the doors lock and then something that sounds every bit like Donald Duck taking a punch in the gut. I try again.. same thing: <CHUNK-uh> <KGkgkggg>. Definitely coming from the horn. Sounds like it's not getting enough juice. So I unlock it, open the driver's door and press the horn and <bweeekgkgkekggg>... wow, does that sound awful.

On my way home last night, I had stopped at the gas station to fill 'er up and run it through their brand new touchless wash, just to rinse off the rain from the previous day. I even had occasion to use the horn afterward on my way home from there to blast at some punk kids riding their BMX's toward me the wrong way in the middle of the road and it sounded normal. It was working fine when I locked it after getting home. So WTF?!? (scratch)

Guess I'll be troubleshooting it tomorrow evening and maybe putting the factory horn back in on Saturday 'til I can get a warranty replacement for the Bad Boy. (gah) I think I can manage that w/o taking off the bumper cover...

Anyone else had problems with the Wolo Bad Boy / Stebel Nautilus?

 

[icspots]

Sounds like it got filled by water, possibly when everything was draining off the engine. Did you mount the horns with the trumpets facing up or down?

 

[sunrun176]

I mounted it to the same bracket as the factory horn but, due to space constraints, I had to mount it sideways. At least I mounted it with the trumpets on the bottom and slightly tilted down. I would've thought that if it did get water in it it would've been evident as a problem when I used it on the way home from the wash. (dunno)

 

[sunrun176]

UPDATE: So, it's working again... through no fault of my own.

Since it had stopped working I'd been in the habit of double-locking it anyway and re-double-locking it before getting in it when I'm heading somewhere, just on the off chance that it might decide to work.

Tues., after complaining about it not working to someone else more experienced w/ car mods than I am, as I was walking up to it at the end of the day I double-locked it.. <Toot!>... I had to do it again just to be sure I wasn't imagining things.. <Toot!>.

A former coworker of mine once imparted this piece of knowledge to me:
"Technology is only willing to deal with us to a certain point. Beyond that point it wants someone with more experience."

I know it's a complete coincidence and that there's some rational explanation as to why it's working again (i.e. it did get water in it, which has finally evaporated), but some part of me likes to think that somehow it knew that someone higher up the chain was gonna get involved and "lay the smack down", even if it wasn't the guy I talked to...

Also, there's the principle of "Effin' Magic", wherein a problem presents itself to someone who then calls for assistance, but upon appearance of the helper the problem refuses to produce itself.
(eekdance)

Next time I have occasion to do so, I'll be seeing what I can do to re-orient the horn so the trumpets' flares are pointing in a more downward direction. Until then, it's no more automatic car washes -- hand wash only.

 

[J-Speed Inc.]

I had a similar problem with the FIAMM Highway Blaster horn I mounted to my SV1000S motorcycle a few weeks ago. I mounted it with the horn output facing out and downward. I was at a friends house cleaning the bike and water got into the horn and apparently didn't drain. For the next few days I figured the horn had shorted out and it needed to be replaced.

Then I tried pushing the horn button and smacking the horn; water came out! Did this a few more times and more water came out. When I got home, I removed the horn from the bike, shook it some more to get the rest of the water out of the horn and applied 12V power to it; works like a champ! I'm impressed at how resilient these horns can be!

The horn is still working fine to this day and I have modified the mounting so the horn output faces a more downward direction.