Hey guys........today my Lincoln LS horn was going off non-stop. Nothing I did would make it stop aside from unhooking the battery. I took the air bag out to check behind there to see if my horn switch was sticking or something and it all checked out fine. From there, I decided to unhook the clock spring connector. I hooked up the battery and the horn started blaring....unhooked the clock spring connector and horn stopped. So now, it looks like I will be replacing my clock spring.........does this sound right? Thanks guys!
horn sounding continuously
- Thread starter DLS8K
- Start date
G
GrayGhost1
Guest
Well, when the clock spring went out in my LS the horn didn't work at all. That would be strange that the horn is sounding if the clock spring is bad. I don't know if anyone else will respond to this with a clear answer but for some reason I remember someone posting a while back that their horn went off continuously because their battery was on the blink. Maybe I'm dreaming that for some reason.
Jim Henderson
Dedicated LVC Member
I do NOT know if this is true for the LS, but some of the older Ford horns had a cheesy metal(thin aluminum sheet?) sandwich with dimples separated by some foam with holes cut in it for the dimples. When you press the horn, the metal sandwich deforms and allows the dimples to contact thru the holes in the foam.
Maybe this is how the LS horn works.
My 89 SHO had this kind of horn and it once got stuck on. I was on the freeway in traffic and had just beeped the heck out of someone and the horn stuck on. I peeled the plastic cover off the horn pad and discovered the metal sandwich arrangement on the fly, down the freeway that is. I just bent the part that looked too bent back into shape and the horn stopped. It was easy enough to do that I was able to do it while in traffic and in a panic.
A free fix, my favorite kind, if this is the way your LS works and if this is your problem. Before replacing the clock spring I would do a resistance check on the connection from the horn pad. Normal should be infinite or very high resistance. Stuck would be near zero. You don't want to mess with the clock spring unless you are sure that is the problem.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
Maybe this is how the LS horn works.
My 89 SHO had this kind of horn and it once got stuck on. I was on the freeway in traffic and had just beeped the heck out of someone and the horn stuck on. I peeled the plastic cover off the horn pad and discovered the metal sandwich arrangement on the fly, down the freeway that is. I just bent the part that looked too bent back into shape and the horn stopped. It was easy enough to do that I was able to do it while in traffic and in a panic.
A free fix, my favorite kind, if this is the way your LS works and if this is your problem. Before replacing the clock spring I would do a resistance check on the connection from the horn pad. Normal should be infinite or very high resistance. Stuck would be near zero. You don't want to mess with the clock spring unless you are sure that is the problem.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
To clarify what i did to check to see if it was the horn pad.......I hooked the battery up and the horn started going off. I then unhooked the connector going to the horn pad and the sound was still there. I then proceeded to the clock spring connector and that made the sound start/stop. What I think happened was the wires got connected and thus made the horn sound continuously........it has been around 0 degrees here so it would make sense if a wire or two broke. If anyone has any more info on this, that would be great..........thanks for the quick responses.
Also.........my battery was a little low on CCA but the voltage was within spec. The lower CCA could be a result of it being 0 degrees outside, but I am not for sure as I am no battery expert. What I do know is the tester said my battery was fine. Voltage was 12.6 with the car off........14.7 with the car running. Hopefully, someone will come on here and verify my assumed problem with the clock spring but from the tests I ran in the thread before this one, I am almost certain it is the clock spring.
Jim Henderson
Dedicated LVC Member
1>>unhooked the clock spring connector and horn stopped.<
2>>I hooked the battery up and the horn started going off. I then unhooked the connector going to the horn pad and the sound was still there. I then proceeded to the clock spring connector and that made the sound start/stop<
Yeah that sounds like the problem is localized in the clock spring. Once in awhile those flex circuits will die on you and cause problems. Wild guess is that the horn line is shorting out to ground somewhere in the steering column.
Hope someone who is aen LS expert steps in to confirm or guide.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
2>>I hooked the battery up and the horn started going off. I then unhooked the connector going to the horn pad and the sound was still there. I then proceeded to the clock spring connector and that made the sound start/stop<
Yeah that sounds like the problem is localized in the clock spring. Once in awhile those flex circuits will die on you and cause problems. Wild guess is that the horn line is shorting out to ground somewhere in the steering column.
Hope someone who is aen LS expert steps in to confirm or guide.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
That's very strange and scary. I would ASSUME that the clockspring would be designed to fail in a manner that circuits are left OPEN. imagine if your airbag wires had failed instead...and with a CLOSED connection. Frightening indeed.
2001LS8Sport
Dedicated LVC Member
Do you have an alarm on the car? I know that if I unhook the battery on my wife's Aviator then hook it back up, the alarm goes off because it lost power. It's supposed to.
bufordtpisser
Dedicated LVC Member
Cold weather issues??
I have had more than one ford product that has had an issue with the horn blowing in very cold weather. My 92 T-Bird was such a pain that on cold days I would just hit the battery disconnector that I installed for racing. Steering wheels with the horn activation on the rim are notorious for this issue. May be that the clock spring is weak and the cold wheather has had an effect on its ability to keep the circuit open properly.
I have had more than one ford product that has had an issue with the horn blowing in very cold weather. My 92 T-Bird was such a pain that on cold days I would just hit the battery disconnector that I installed for racing. Steering wheels with the horn activation on the rim are notorious for this issue. May be that the clock spring is weak and the cold wheather has had an effect on its ability to keep the circuit open properly.