2 semi-unusual questions

Jwood1712 · Post by **Jwood1712** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:40 pm

1. (the one I have no clue about) about a year-year and a half ago my horn stopped working and then would suddenly work briefly and randomly set itself off in parking lots and stuff. I eventually just pulled the relay and went totally without...I asked my mechanic and he just said it might be something in the steering column and walked away without looking into it at all. Checked the fuses and relays all were good. I even spent the 25 bucks and bought a new relay at the dealership just to have the same problem. Any ideas?

2. The A/C. I'm trying not to spend $500 having it checked out but eventually I might just go all out. I've been without A/C for the last 2 summers and goin on the third. Usually I just roll down the windows but on the killer hot days I use a different car. I checked the pressure and refrigerant levels and all checked out full and I even tried a store bought can but it didnt do anything so I just brought it back. I should note the heat still works real well and gets hot on freezing cold days in about 5 mins.

any help would be great. thanks.

Post by **Diablo0** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:47 pm

1. I'd pull your bumper off and check to see if there is voltage getting to the horn itself first when the steering wheel is pressed. If there is voltage getting there it could be a faulty horn. If not it's somewhere else in the system... possibly the the horn switch in steering wheel/airbag. I'd start at the horn first

2. It could be overfilled if you tried to add some. Does the compressor kick on when you turn the AC on? The heating system is for the most part completely independent of the AC system.

Jwood1712 · Post by **Jwood1712** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:53 pm

Diablo0 wrote:
2. It could be overfilled if you tried to add some. Does the compressor kick on when you turn the AC on? The heating system is for the most part completely independent of the AC system.

thanks for the input, I just figured the heat works so it probably wasn't the dashboard switches (or atleast it wasnt my first guess)

edit (sorry I forgot this part): Also I checked the pressure before and after and it didnt change at all I dont think. As for the compressor I didn't hear it in the first place but really when I started driving the car it was already out so I probably wouldnt have noticed anyway.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:54 pm

1: agreed with diablo, check your voltages at the horn, make sure you are getting 12volts when the horn is pressed. If not, its time for wire tracing to find out why

2: Also agreed, is your compressor trying to turn on at all? If you switch the system to defrost or A/C the compressor should start trying to kick on. If it does not, check to see if the compressor relay is bad by swapping it out with a known functioning relay.

Jwood1712 · Post by **Jwood1712** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:57 pm

BlackRoseRacing wrote:1: agreed with diablo, check your voltages at the horn, make sure you are getting 12volts when the horn is pressed. If not, its time for wire tracing to find out why

2: Also agreed, is your compressor trying to turn on at all? If you switch the system to defrost or A/C the compressor should start trying to kick on. If it does not, check to see if the compressor relay is bad by swapping it out with a known functioning relay.

Thanks, I should also mention the horn clicks when pressed if the relay is in idk if that means anything and I tried swapping AC relays before and fuses and still got nothin

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:31 pm

grab yourself another horn for testing, wire it up to see if your factory horn is bad...

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:32 am

i'd say just bring it to the shop for the A/C those problems are really hard to hunt down sometimes.

If you want to deal without a/c just remove the whole thing. its just adding weight and parasitic loss to the engine anyway.

Jwood1712 · Post by **Jwood1712** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:55 am

Just to let everyone know, I was cleaning out some of the dashboard dust the other afternoon and clicked on the A/C and I did hear something start making noise underneath the regular blower noise. I assume its the compressor.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:01 pm

The AC system may have a faulty component, such as the metering device, evaporator, or the condensor. I would suggest taking it to a professional, since the equipment necessary to diagnose these issues isn't something in your home tool box.

Regarding the horn, listen to Jason and Chris. Its almost a sure thing that it's either the horn itself or the switch (behind the airbag on the steering wheel).