2001 Jetta with nonworking horn

Hi,

I bought a 2001 Jetta TDI Sedan, and then discovered the horn does not work! Swapping the 20a fuse with another fuse tested in the windshield washer circuit proved the fuse was good. Does anyone have ideas on what the likely problem may be?

This may/may not be related: The airbag indicator is always lit on the instrument cluster.

thanks

well this might help I had the same problem on my 04 jetta. if you follow the wire from the fuse panel over 8 or or so inches the 04 has a relay that is square there are two or three of these relays in thr same spot. try switching them around. thats what mine was?

well this might help I had the same problem on my 04 jetta. if you follow the wire from the fuse panel over 8 or or so inches the 04 has a relay that is square there are two or three of these relays in thr same spot. try switching them around. thats what mine was?

Did you look and see if the wires are attached to the horn? Might have been bumped off by someone or could be a broken wire.

Thanks for the suggestions - the relays suggestion sounds promissing. I neglected to say this is a GLS model. When locking the car, the horn(?) sounds with a very short sound - do you think this indicates that wires are connected to the horn? Also, where is the horn located - I looked around and could not find it in there.

cspeter8 said:

...When locking the car, the horn(?) sounds with a very short sound - do you think this indicates that wires are connected to the horn?

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Separate horns.

cspeter8 said:

...Also, where is the horn located - I looked around and could not find it in there

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http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=185827&highlight=horn

Drivers side under the front bumper. Just in front of the wheel.

Thanks for that horn location. I found it no problem. The wiring going into each horn looks pretty good, although it didn't seem obvious how to remove the bumper to get a really thorough look.

Perhaps I have a bad or missing relay? Are they those cube-shaped things about 1" wide that plug in? I saw a few of them plugged into a thing with holes to plug the prongs into, up inside the dash just inside from where the fuse panel is. There seems to be space for a few more relays than what I saw there. Would it be in that area?

Is there a way to determine the exact location of the relay for the horn circuit? I don't hear any noise whatever when I push on the horn/airbag area of the steering wheel.

thanks!

Fuse listings for your car. #40. Dual tone horn (20A). Might try changing even if it looks good. I had a fuse look good before and it wasn't.

Lefty said:

Fuse listings for your car. #40. Dual tone horn (20A). Might try changing even if it looks good. I had a fuse look good before and it wasn't.

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Test with ohm meter.

I like to check for voltage, if you are getting voltage to both horns, then you've got a bad horn. they tend to get water in them, and go bad.

FL2AK-tdi said:

Test with ohm meter.

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I knew there had to be another way. I have had an Ohm meter for 20 some years and never can remember to use it. Let alone find it.

alphaseinor said:

I like to check for voltage, if you are getting voltage to both horns, then you've got a bad horn. they tend to get water in them, and go bad.

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You should hear them when they get water them and then the water freezes; it's actually pretty comical.

Lefty said:

I knew there had to be another way. I have had an Ohm meter for 20 some years and never can remember to use it. Let alone find it.

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Pull fuse.
Connect meter leads to fuse terminals, one each, polarity irrelvant.
Take reading.
No reistance = good, high resistance or no reading = bad.

alphaseinor said:

I like to check for voltage, if you are getting voltage to both horns, then you've got a bad horn. they tend to get water in them, and go bad.

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YES! - I figured out the front bumper removal (not so hard once I looked it over) and unplugged each horn and tested for voltage ... The ignition has to be turned to where the instrument cluster lights up, then I had my wife push the horn control. I did hear the clicking of the relay, and I did see 12v on my voltmeter on each of the 2 pairs of horn leads.

I am missing both side-skirts along with the plastic cover for under the engine - perhaps this caused the horns to get wet? The guy who sold me the car is sending up 2 replacement horns, so I will find out soon if the horn is fixed for sure...

If it was water that killed the horn, then is there anything I can do to keep the water out so I don't have to keep replacing the horn? Or is it best to stock up on a few at the auto salvage yard in advance?

thanks again alphaseinor !!!

cspeter8 said:

... If it was water that killed the horn, then is there anything I can do to keep the water out so I don't have to keep replacing the horn? ...

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Keep the water out by putting on the side skirts and at least the plastic skidplate.

The sideskirts are about $15 each new, the skidplate is more but you may be able to find one that is good enough at the salvage yard.

Doing this willl pay off in cleanliness every time you work under the hood, and minimize the chance of water in horn.

Having the underside of an A4 platform naked is a scary thought, road debris does not get along well with a serpentine belt that is so close to the pavement.

My horn was not working on my 2001 Jetta TDI. We swapped relays around and boom horn is working the relay for the horn was broken.