Horn turned itself on?

[tnxj]

Weirdest thing... 1:00 a.m., I've been home for 3 hours and in bed for 2. The Jeep is in the driveway locked for 3 hours. Suddenly I hear a car horn on constantly. It's been raining here today so I check the local channels to see if it is a weather siren or something. Nope. Check out front to see if there was a wreck nearby. Nope. Open my back door and it sounds really close, then it stops all of a sudden. Close the door and it starts again. Run out to the yard expecting to find somebody screwing with me. Nobody is there.

It's my jeep all by itself.
Turn the key on... it stops.
Turn it back off it starts again.
Key on... stops.
Start it.... stays off.
Turn it off....stays off this time.
Drive to nearby parking lot with lights. Push horn...works fine
Hit lock button.... beeps just like normal.
Can't get it to do it again!?!?

Don't want to piss the neighbors off more than I'm sure they already are, so I find where the horns are and disconnect the wires. Now I'm afraid to hook them back up.

What the hell is going on?

Are they just shorting from getting wet in the storm? I drove through a pretty deep puddle a bit fast.

Would it be safe to hook them back up tomorrow after they dry out?

Advice?

This is weird as hell.

1998 XJ 4.0/AW4/231/8.25&HP30. Has most of the buttons (cuise, power everything, heated mirrors, etc).

 

[Blaine B.]

Maybe the horn relay is screwing up? Not sure what year you have but it'll be under the lower dash panel in the black box containing the rear defog and combination flasher module.

 

[Jess]

If you just pulled the wires off the horns themselves, and the relay is still getting power, it will drain your battery. What makes the horn blow is in the column. My 94 did the same thing after I replaced the lock cylinder, until I tore the column back down and fixed what I did not install correctly.

Have you done any work on the column lately?

 

[jsolorza]

what u do is check the remote lock thing above the over head console. It will probably be wet so dry it and check where it is leaking.

hope it helps

jose solorza

 

[tnxj]

I haven't done any work to the jeep since I replaced the plugs a month ago. I've never done anything to the column.

It doesn't have an overhead console, just the interior light "pod". Is there something behind that? There do not appear to be any leaks on the roof, the headliner is dry.

I was getting some dripping from the Heat/AC box under the dash on the passenger side (cool water, not warm coolant). Does anybody know if there is something on the passenger side that would cause this? Edit: Just went outside and that's where the fuse panel is, not where it was dripping, but potentially close enough. I'm thinking relay now. Do you all agree?

If the current configuration could drain the battery, would pulling the relay for the time being be the thing to do? I have to go to school soon, and I'd prefer it not to go off in the vet school parking lot randomly at some point. I guess I could just pull the battery neg. but that's more of a pain until I sort this out.

 

[tnxj]

It is definitively not the relay.

What do I look for when I take apart the column? What do I do about the airbag?

Got the meter out:
key off................horn on
key on................horn off
Key acc..............horn off
Key running.........horn off

Where is the horn switch? Is it part of the ignition switch?

 

[tnxj]

Not the remote entry module either. Unhooked it, horn still getting 12.6 volts in the off position.

 

[jneary]

unplug the clockspring amd see if it goes out, if you remove the airbag you can see if the wire for the horn pad touches the steering column causing a grounded horn circuit

 

[tnxj]

Replaced the ignition switch. Couldn't remove the airbag, didn't have the right size socket on hand.

No luck, but oddly:

Key off.........12.6V
Key on and other positions..............9.4V
Key on and depress horn button..........12.6V

Horn not "off" in any position.

If it's not the ignition switch, not the relay, and no wires appear burned what-so-ever, does it then have to be the horn wire behind the air bag?

 

[tnxj]

Replaced the ignition switch. Couldn't remove the airbag, didn't have the right size socket on hand.

No luck, but oddly:

Key off.........12.6V
Key on and other positions..............9.4V
Key on and depress horn button..........12.6V

Horn not "off" in any position.

If it's not the ignition switch, not the relay, and no wires appear burned what-so-ever, does it then have to be the horn wire behind the air bag? I hate to take it apart again and find nothing.

I'm going insane.

 

[Wallymander]

Call a priest. :eeks1:

 

[searchingforXJ]

I had a similar problem with my first CJ. It turned out that a few metal shavings were jumping the two points that contact when you pushed the horn. It would go off on it's own at weird times. Probably not the problem here but I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[tnxj]

On a whim, I decided to hook the horn leads back up today regardless of the meter reading which was:

key off........0.xx V (not 12.6 like last night)
key on.........9.8V (still like last night)

and to my surprise the horn didn't sound. Pulled it back off and checked it with a meter; it was suddenly 0.xx V.

key back off..............0.xx V
key back on................9.8V
hook up horn lead...........no honk
recheck wire.................0.xx V

Is it an intermittant issue and I caught it in the in between time? Dunno.

Did the ignition switch fix it and there is just a normal transient 9.8V that needs to be hooked up to go away and never causes a honk? That's weird if it's true.

Regardless, she's currently reassembled and behaving like a good Jeep should.

I'll pull the relay again tonight for the sake of the neighbors and a good night's sleep, and hook it back up tomorrow. I guess if she behaves consistently for a few days, I'll let her keep her relay at night again. Hopefully the problem is resolved. My Jeep is currently on probation.