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Horn Questions - '82

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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 07:22 PM
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Default Horn Questions - '82

The horn on my car doesn't work, and it's been like that since I bought the car. I finally got around to looking at this, and I'm a little confused about the fuse box. The shop manual says the horn relay is powered by the 20A CTSY-CLK fuse. When I checked this, the first thing I saw was that the fuse in my car in that position is 10A. I pulled it out, and it was blown. I replaced it with a 15A, and it didn't blow right away, but neither did the horn. (See what I did there?)

Next, I pulled the horn button off. The only thing I could see wrong was that the contact ring was sloppy when I pushed it on one side. That turned out to be a broken plastic retaining pin. The good news was that I could blow the horns with a screwdriver. I put the horn button back on, and now I could occasionally get the horn to blow briefly if I pushed it just right. Thinking the retaining pin was the problem, I pulled the 15A fuse out and pulled the horn button again. As I was removing the three screws that hold the contact in place, the horn blew. Wait, I already pulled the fuse !!? Checked it again, sure enough, fuse is out, and it's the CTSY-CLK fuse. Knowing the manual instructions are sometimes wrong, I traced it out through the schematic. Yep, the horn relay is supposed to be fed from that fuse.

This leads me to two questions. Does anyone know definitely which fuse powers the horn in the '82? I don't have any history on this car, so it's possible something has been modified. Knowing for sure would be a big help.

Second, I need the three little nylon retaining pins that hold the horn button contact together. Otherwise, it'll cost $30 for a reproduction (probably Chinese) contact. Does anyone know if these might be available from one of the Vette suppliers, or maybe from Dorman? I know there's a warehouse with 250,000 of these somewhere.




Last edited by 454Luvr; Feb 28, 2016 at 07:25 PM.
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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 08:41 PM
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Pushing the horn button grounds and activates the horn relay which sends power to the horns.

http://www.vetteprojects.com/bmv/mis...tte%201982.pdf

Instead of rivits you can use nylon screws, nuts and washers.
Size 10 X 24 X 1/2".

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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 09:00 PM
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I spent another hour searching for these items, and I think the rivets are Dorman 47901. I also figured out why the horn isn't working - the contact spring is there, but not the pin. So, it's a P.O. issue. Dorman 83230 looks like it replaces this. Hopefully I can find both parts locally. Good idea about the nylon screw and nut. If anyone knows about the fuse, it would still help.
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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 10:00 PM
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Here are the rivets from Corvette Central...

http://www.parts123.com/corvettecent...50g&ukey=13090
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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 10:20 PM
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If I remember right the horn relay your car is in the same place as the 70-73 which is the driver - left fender just rearward of the alt. The black wire trips the relay and blows the horn. The horn relay is also a junction point for other feeds. You can pull the black wire and use a ground to see if the relay works.
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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 10:32 PM
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Follow this guide and you can fix any horn Simple as it gets..

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Old Feb 28, 2016 | 10:35 PM
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Neither part available locally, so they're coming from Corvette Central. Thanks!

Now that I've replaced the CTSY-CLK fuse, the key warning buzzer is working. At least THAT part of the manual is correct. What's odd is that p. 661 says the horn relay operates from the CTSY-CLK fuse, and a PDF schematic that another member sent me agrees with that. However, that same page of the shop manual has a wiring diagram showing the relay being powered form the Stop/Hazard fuse. I'm pretty sure that's a typo, because the diagram on p. 632 indicates that the Hazard fuse only powers lights and flashers. Guess I'll have to pull the fuses one by one until the horn stops...


OK, one more question... The horn contact kit comes with a spring, eyelet and insulator. Does anyone have an enlarged image of how they fit together? there isn't enough detail in the AIM, and I don't have the original assembly.




Willcox: Thanks for your post, I think I see how the three pieces fit together. Which fuse is that Red wire in your drawing connected to?

Last edited by 454Luvr; Feb 28, 2016 at 10:56 PM.
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Old Feb 29, 2016 | 08:04 AM
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Willcox has the parts also. Here is how the contact goes together in this link...

http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/?yt=&s=horn+contact

Last edited by Street Rat; Feb 29, 2016 at 08:07 AM.
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Old Feb 29, 2016 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Street Rat
Willcox has the parts also. Here is how the contact goes together in this link...

http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/?yt=&s=horn+contact
I probably should have ordered from them, but I was really frustrated when I got back from chasing these parts at the local parts stores. I saw your earlier post about CC and just wanted to get this behind me. Oh well, this is small stuff, Willcox will get more of my business in the future. If I could, I'd drive up there and ask them to renew the whole car.
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by 454Luvr
Does anyone know definitely which fuse powers the horn in the '82?
The schematic I posted shows the relay gets power from the 'stop-haz' fuse.
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Peterbuilt
The schematic I posted shows the relay gets power from the 'stop-haz' fuse.
I think you're right about the stop-haz fuse, but that schematic has an error. It's the same schematic I've been using, and it's impossible to tell whether the horn relay is powered by the stop-haz fuse or the ctsy-clk fuse. I think that's why there's also an error in the shop manual. The printed description says to check the ctsy-clk fuse if the horn doesn't work, but the diagram next to it on the same page (p.561) shows the stop-haz fuse connected to the relay.

Here's the relevant part of the schematic. Note the junction dot where the wire from the horn relay is attached. It goes to the output side of both fuses. Not only that, the wires at both fuses (and the wire at the relay) are orange. Doh!


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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 10:41 PM
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Could the drawing be bad and the wire you outlined does not exist? (drawn in error between the red marks I added).


You pulled the clock courtesy fuse but the horn still worked, have you tried to pull the stop hazard fuse and tried the horns?
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 11:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Peterbuilt
Could the drawing be bad and the wire you outlined does not exist? (drawn in error between the red marks I added).


No, the ORG 40 wire at the bottom of the page goes to the "seat belt/key in" warning buzzer. That's a correct connection to the CTSY fuse. In fact, all the connections are correct, but they've been laid on top of each other at the junction dot. It's just a bad drawing, the draftsperson screwed up.

You pulled the clock courtesy fuse but the horn still worked, have you tried to pull the stop hazard fuse and tried the horns?
I posted about this earlier in a new thread. I can't get that fuse out because it's covered by a plug-in that I also can't get out.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...anel-help.html

Really a comedy of errors.
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Old Mar 4, 2016 | 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Peterbuilt
You pulled the clock courtesy fuse but the horn still worked, have you tried to pull the stop hazard fuse and tried the horns?
I finally got the STOP-HAZ fuse out, and yes, it kills the horn. Also, thanks in part to a drawing posted here by Willcox, I got the horn working great today.

You know, I found a post in another thread here that might explain the shop manual error. A member wrote that his '79 feeds the horn from the CTSY fuse, but the factory changed the connection to the STOP-HAZ fuse after that year. I guess they revised the illustrations in the manual for this, but forgot to change the text. That really threw me...

Last edited by 454Luvr; Mar 4, 2016 at 06:58 PM.
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Old Mar 4, 2016 | 07:05 PM
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I'm glad you got it! I have an 82 with the tilt and telescopic and the horn hardware usually is a mess by now. Rivets broke, bent or worn contacts... I pulled everything out and replaced everything I could get and luckily it works well. So my advice is if it acts up again, replace everything you can get. It just saves headaches down the road
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