High horn not working on a 1981 C10 Silverado

[bucket]

I heard about that, but if I don’t have continuity I’m guessing that the coil is busted, so no way I’m getting current to pass.

I'm no electrical engineer, but I'd assume the only way for a horn to fail is with a failed coil. But I have brought many back to life with wd-40, some shock loads and 12 volts. A build-up of grime and corrosion may give a false continuity reading? Not sure, but it's worth a try to have an operational factory horn. The aftermarket horns never sound the same and they tend to be unreliable.

 

[C10_Blackie]

I'm no electrical engineer, but I'd assume the only way for a horn to fail is with a failed coil. But I have brought many back to life with wd-40, some shock loads and 12 volts. A build-up of grime and corrosion may give a false continuity reading? Not sure, but it's worth a try to have an operational factory horn. The aftermarket horns never sound the same and they tend to be unreliable.

I have nothing to lose so I’ll give her a try and let you know.

 

[C10_Blackie]

I have nothing to lose so I’ll give her a try and let you know.

Yep - gave it a good try. Soaked it in aerokroil for over a day, emptied it and then tapped it progressively harder - checking continuity and testing with power between steps - until I was dropping it on the floor. It never came back to life. It's dead. Bummer.

 

[C10_Blackie]

The horn saga is over for now. I found one off of a ‘76 that mounted in yet another way I had never seen before - but the bracket was the same as mine, only reversed.

I tried to find somebody who was willing to cut the bracket and weld it back on reversed but no shop will do anything for less than $80.

I ended up cutting the new and old brackets myself in a way that I could sandwich them together and secure with a bolt and washers, and it went in almost like the original.

The two horns blend really well - one isn’t noticeably louder than the other - and it sounds a lot less wimpy than it did with just the low note working.

 

[Matt69olds]

I’m cheap. I got horns from big land yacht Cadillacs for all my vehicles with defective horns. Sometimes it took a little bending, cutting or welding to adapt the mounting brackets.

I despised the puny horn that was on my beater daily driver Neon. With the Cadillac Fleetwood horns, I can sound off with some authority!!

 

[Gander]

I’m cheap. I got horns from big land yacht Cadillacs for all my vehicles with defective horns. Sometimes it took a little bending, cutting or welding to adapt the mounting brackets.

I despised the puny horn that was on my beater daily driver Neon. With the Cadillac Fleetwood horns, I can sound off with some authority!!

If you’ve already got the Hi/Lo A/F, then all you need is the C&D horns off any pre 2k Caddy that came with them, mount them behind the grille alongside the Hi/Lo, wire them in, and that’s how you get the Caddy 4-note horn.