Hey,
I'm new to the forums but I've been a lurker for awhile.

I have a 2000 Honda Accord Ex 5 speed w/ the 2.3L engine, and recently my SRS light came on and my horn doesn't work (I haven't really tested the cruise control since I have a manual). I did some research and figured I had a broken clockspring based on my symptoms.

http://htarchive.org/showthread.php?t=1337710

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...t=clock+spring

Anyways, I ordered a replacement off Amazon and installed it according to the instructions in the last thread and also w/ the help of my service manual.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-525-601...664479&sr=8-11

However upon starting up my car w/ the new clockspring installed my car still has the same issue.... SRS light is still on horn still doesn't work.

I'm wondering if Amazon sent me a defective unit, so I've requested an exchange. However I'm curious if there's anything else that might be causing my issue?. I don't have a multimeter to test the connections on the horn or what not. I thought I had localized the problem based on my symptoms, but if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I'm all ears. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get my car to pass PA inspection and they need the horn to work!

 

You may be dealing with two different problems. You should look at the horn problem by itself.

See if the cruise control works. Check that the horn fuse is ok (15amp in engine bay fuse box). Your owner's manual should have have it labeled.

You should pick up a volt meter. They run ~$20 for a digital one or $10 for the analog one.

Unplug the horn relay in the engine bay fuse box.

If you look at the relay, two of the pins should be better metal (copper). The other two should be of lesser quality metal.

You want to test where the lower quality metal plugs into the fuse box. One pin should always have 12V to body ground (use a valve cover bolt as the ground). The other pin should have continuity (~zero resistance) to ground when you press the horn switch. It should be an open circuit when the horn is not pressed.

Let us know what you find.

 

I checked all the fuses prior to replacing the clockspring, visually they all appeared intact. I didn't check them with a multimeter. I'll check my cruise control tonight. Assuming my cruise control doesn't work still does that point me back to the cable reel/clockspring? I'll have to pick up a multimeter and check that out thanks for the help

 

No CC could indicate a bad cable reel.

The continuity test on the horn relay will also verify that the cable reel is working.

 

Checked my CC tonight, and it worked. Now I'm confused. I'm not sure if the new clockspring I installed from Amazon is working or not. I guess I need to get a multimeter and test the continuity. Was hoping it was just a bad clockspring. Is there any chance the CC circuit in the clockspring works but the others don't? My srs light is still on and my horn still doesn't work.

The replacement clockspring also fell from a height of about 1.5 feet from my lap to the floor of the car during the install - could this have broken it?

Not sure where to go from here.

 

I really don't know the answer about the CC working with the condition of the cable reel.

Testing at the relay with a volt meter would be my next step. It will help narrow down why your horn is not working.

You could also switch the horn relay with an identical working one (if there is and identical relay). If the horn starts working, you pretty much verified the relay was your problem.

 

How would I go about switching the relay? What exactly is a relay? I'm kinda new to this type of stuff.

 

A relay is an electrical switch that is turned on/off electronically.

In hondas, they are other items plugged into the fuse box that are not fuses. See #18 in the diagram.

The top of the fuse box lid in the engine bay should have labels that will identify the horn relay location. Just unplug the relay (there may be two tabs that you have to push/pull on the side to allow you to pull the relay). Swap with a relay that has the same part number printed on the top. It is not much harder than swapping out a fuse.

Several of the relays are labeled 18, so hopefully one of the #18 is the horn relay. Just make sure you are swapping identical relays and the other one is something not important (like the power window relay, or something).

 

Sorry for the late response, schools been keeping me pretty busy lately so I didn't get a chance to mess w/ my car till late. I tried swapping out the horn relay with another relay, and still no go. I didn't get a chance to test the continuity of the circuit at the 4p or 5p connector, additionally the horn relay had 4 plugs and I was unsure of which to test (I didn't have another person to press the horn anyways so this was kinda a moot point). Amazon sent me another clockspring replacement, I'm wondering if I should just replace the clockspring again and hope for the best? According to the repair manual to get to the 4p and 5p connectors I'm pretty much taking the steering wheel column apart anyways. Any ideas?

 

I would do the electrical test first, so you can figure out what is going on before tearing apart the steering wheel to put in a new cable reel, because you may be wasting your time. This will help identify what part of the electronics are causing your horn not to work. It should only take about 10-15 minutes to test.

The test with the volt meter is done in the engine bay where the relay plugs into the fuse box.

Look at the pins on the relay. Two of them should be good metal (copper looking), the other two should be cheaper metal. You want to test the pins on the fuse box that the cheaper metal plugs into. If everything was working normally, one of the two plugs will always have 12 volts to ground. The other pin will be open to ground when the horn switch is not being pressed. It will be shorted to ground when the horn switch is pressed.

If you want to test the other pins (where the higher quality metal plugs in), one of the pins should always have 12V. The other pin should have continuity to the non-black wire that plugs into the horn on the radiator support.