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Horn doesnt work and ive done all i know to do...

I think the OP have done all the tests that can be done and have proven the horns to be good, 12 volts positive does exist in the relay socket at the correct terminal and that 12 volts do not make it to the horn when the afore mentioned 12 volts is jumped/hard wired to the other side of the relay which carries the 12 volts from the relay to the horn. Now it is time to move on to something else,....find where the wire is broken between to relay and the horn.
 
I think the OP have done all the tests that can be done and have proven the horns to be good, 12 volts positive does exist in the relay socket at the correct terminal and that 12 volts do not make it to the horn when the afore mentioned 12 volts is jumped/hard wired to the other side of the relay which carries the 12 volts from the relay to the horn. Now it is time to move on to something else,....find where the wire is broken between to relay and the horn.
It's not broken, he claims to have testes and got .009 ohms on one side and zero on the other.

I have a different theory of what's going on...troll.
 
no not nervous, i just want to bypass the horn wiring from the front of the car and put the horn on the passenger floor and plug it into the relay socket to see if it sounds. + to 30 - to 87 and it should sound right?

No not with the horn on the passenger floor -- Jumping 30 to 87 will verify if the wiring from the relay to the horn is good -- but the horns must be hooked up as normal -- I was assuming you've tested the horns and they are good


I'm thinking you have a frayed wire between the relay and horns -- The voltmeter won't tell you this -- as long as just 1 strand in the wire is still connected you will get a 12 volt reading and continuity -- what you won't get is amperage to actually run the horns

Think of the wire like a garden hose -- when the hose is good you can turn in the spigot and get full flow of water -- This is a good wire

Now if you kink the hose, you still get water but at a much reduced rate -- it will still give you full pressure for an instant if closed with a nozzle but can't keep or hold that pressure -- This is a frayed wire only connected by a strand or two

If you haven't confirmed your horns you need to do that -- then test the wires -- it's a horn circuit on an XJ, shouldn't be this difficult
 
I've been giving this some time because I'm clueless as to where I'm tracing wires.

I have a green red stripe wire headed out of the cab outlet/plug on the fuse panel. I'm peeling away the shielding in the engine bay and it looks. Like that wire goes to the PCM.
Now, the wires to the horns are green red stripe as we've all noted. Where do these junction in the engine bay, OR what wire can I cut in the cab and feed new wire through to the horns?

Thank you for everyone's help and patience.
 
found the wire coming out of the cab (thanks to Heaveyopp), its wrapped in some type of velcro shielding. I spliced new wire on and ran it down to the stock passenger horn location. got one working horn, sometime ill get another new one for the driver side and splice that on, but ive got a working horn so thats all i need........ maybe a train horn hmmm

thanks for everyones help, this was a a simple issue that had me running in circles.
 
Glad to hear it -- Finally

Just as you thought it was safe . . .

Anyway this thread isn't SO old &, if you'll bear with me I'll explain why it seemed wise to revive it.

I also have a problem with non-working horns (don't think they worked when I bought this '97 just about a year ago but, somehow, I've not got round to sorting out a few things) & you guys were soooo helpful & patient I thought I'd chance my luck.

First, that circuit diagram is brilliant (my manual barely mentions horns at all!) although, I'm pretty sure the original wire to one horn isn't dkgn/red (looks more like ltgn, to me) - but that's the least of my problems, which are, basically, lines of sight, acess or lack of it. One horn does work, when connected to the battery! I don't even hear a relay click when I press the horn push. Which fuse is #21, the 2nd one down on the right? I'm reluctant to pull all the blue ones - because they ARE so difficult see, much less remove (or attempting to replace), especially on a RHD model.

I suspect the clockspring so am thinking about an alternative switch (never have got on with those huge squishy pads that provide so little feel/control) but, as tempting as it is just run a wire from the battery to the switch & back to the horn, that's not really what I want to do. Now there was a lot of "talk" about checking, jumping, replacing, the relay - but how? As I understand it, it's one of those you can just about see, to the left of the fuses, but can't get at. It would seem you would have to remove the kickpanel which, I recall reading, is attached by 3 screws; really! Where? :helpme:

Sorry this seems to have taken me so long to explain, I do hope one of you has the perseverence to get this far AND kept the inclination to help. I'm not proud, if it's simply out of pity, that's fine.

Thanks in anticipation, & Happy New Year.
 
Thanks for responding so quickly but, due to time differences, I've had a night's sleep since then.

Yes, & that is part of the problem - the pedals are where you need to get your head, to look straight into the fuse box. Of course there's nothing that can be done about that & it's just something some of us have to accept. I've lived with it for several years (this latest XJ is my 3rd) but still dread hearing any reference to that fusebox.
 
That sucks -- I think I would chase down the reason why the relay doesn't click -- 1st off change it -- Can't be that hard to do it blind -- but it may be tight

Why not change the clock spring if that turns out to be the problem? -- It's pretty simple, only "special" tool you need is a steering wheel puller -- and it's easily accessible

Do you have cruise control? If you don't the horn only clock spring is fairly cheap too

Other than that I've got nothing else that hasn't already been mentioned in this thread -- gotta start at the beginning, unfortunately you have pedals and a steering column in the way
 
OK, some progress, the New Year dawned, the rain stopped (at last) the sun even came out - not that there was much warmth in it! But it changed my mood a bit & eased my frustration so, with a couple of hours to spare before getting the train back to London, I decided on the "one step at a time approach" spent 1/2-hr replacing the fuse I think is the horn, managed to remove the kick panel - so, now a couple of specifics:-
which is the horn relay?
how do I identify the wire to the clock spring? Splicing in wire to ground, via a "flasher" switch, still seems the easiest (&, importantly, quickest) fix.

The only "special tool" I've ever used to remove a steering wheel is a tire hammer - which I don't have any more, but not sure I want to get involved with airbags.

As it happens, I do have "cruise" - perhaps I should see if it works (never really had cause/opportunity to use it). Even though, this is a UK spec. Jeep I don't suppose a spring is readily available here - so it will be ridiculously expensive AND I'd still have that horrible squidgy pad to operate the horns (although, in fairness, it works well enough on my '99). An alternative would be to use the spring from my '96 donnor - if they're the same & while, I'm at it, could I fit the earlier wheel, which I prefer?
 
Bit disappointed that there was no answer to (1) which IS the horn relay & (2) is the '96 spring &/or wheel interchangable?

BUT thanks to the encouragement I pursued this a bit further & have now identified the black/red to the spring in a connector block down by the relays, worked out how to splice into it & made a hole in the dash for a switch, conveniently behind the wheel rim at about 10 o' clock. Just need a suitable piece of wire (piece of suitable wire?) &, ideally, how to remove the knee pad & we have a quick fix to get through inspection. A better solution can wait 'til the weather's better & the days are longer - except I could get another XJ for the price of a clockspring!
 
Yea that clock spring with cruise control isn't cheap -- probably worse where you are

As for which relay is the horns, I'd have to look it up just like you...

I find it hard to believe it wouldn't come up in a search here.
 
Probably look at swapping out the clockspring from my '96 donor but, otherwise I can live without cruise (after all, hadn't even realised it didn't work). Besides, I prefer my new switch - which got me through inspection, so thanks for that. :rof:

As for the relay, somehow I just assumed you'd know - but I wouldn't know how/where to look it up. I'll try a search though, not something I've needed to use before.
 
Thanks very much, because I did try, but had no luck. Then again, didn't really know what I was looking for OR what criteria were likely to work.
Now I can give some serious thought to reconfiguring the horn circuit, to bring the other horn back into it & reduce voltage drop, but probably not 'til Spring now, when I fit the new front bumper.
Not bad for someone who drove this XJ for nearly a year with no working horn, because they couldn't see/identify anything beyond the wires that went to the horns - & one of those was suspect!
 
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