1996 Pontiac Sunfire Horn/Hazard

Tiny
ARIYA0828
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
1996 Pontiac Sunfire w/140000 approx miles. The problem is the rear hazards do not work, but the front does. The turn signals work fine, both front and rear. In addition to that problem the horn does not work. There is an aftermarket alarm system installed and it still sounds through the horn. When the horn button is pressed the only sound is a clicking from the passenger's side below the dash. Removing the kick panel on the passenger's side to get a better look revealed very little. It appears that the fan for the heating and cooling is in the way of the relay that I hear clicking from there. I have replaced the relay behind the driver's side kick panel that supposedly controls the alarm, horn, and hazards, but that didn't solve anything. Aside from removing the alarm system and rewiring everything that they cut and spliced, I am out of ideas. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Saturday, December 30th, 2006 AT 6:28 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
SERVICE WRITER
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,123 POSTS
There are two flashers. One is for the turn signals and one is for the hazards, try swapping them and see if the turn signals become the problem.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 30th, 2006 AT 10:44 PM
Tiny
ARIYA0828
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Okay, I'll give that a shot and see if that narrows anything down for me. My Haynes manual says that the Hazard flasher is located in the 'in'convenience center which is not very convenient. I can't even find it. I've removed the kick panel and all I can see is a bunch of wires and connectors, so I'm not entirely sure where the Hazard flasher is, but I'll track it down.
So how about the horn issue? I was under the impression that the horn and hazard circuits ran through the same relay, but replacing the relay that I was pretty sure was the relay in question didn't solve anything. This is the same relay that is wired to the alarm system. It was removed from any kind of convenience center by the "technicians" (I use the word very loosely here) who installed the alarm. They just plugged the four necessary wires onto the back of the five blade relay with female blade connectors and wrapped the whole assembly with black electrical tape. Anyway. I'm still kind of at a loss here. Thank you for the suggestion though. I am sure it will help me narrow down part of the problem.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 30th, 2006 AT 11:25 PM
Tiny
SERVICE WRITER
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,123 POSTS
The alarm systems can really turn a car into a frankenstein; especially with the "techs" as you say. :Shock: It's pretty funny the way you word things. You echo the frustration of most techs. We have a saying about the engineers of the auto industry. :Lol: That they are divorced females that were married to a tech. FLasher locations can be a real challenge in GMs. They aren't always where they say they are :evil: Are you working with an electical diagram. I'm not very familiar with Haynes. If I remember right it is like chiltons, which leave a lot to the imagination.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 AT 7:08 AM
Tiny
ARIYA0828
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Funny you should say that, I am an electonics tech. Aviation is where I started, and if you think cars are bad. Try rewiring an airplane. Anyway, yes Haynes is much like Chilton's only Chilton's gives much more info in the way of mechanical stuff. Haynes is more layman's terms and less technojargon. I've pretty much resigned myself to just going through everything with a DMM and tracing all of the wires. I don't really have a good wiring diagram of the car, and absolutely no wiring diagram of the alarm system. The only justice that I have is the guys who wired it are now out of business! Big surprise there. Anyway, I'll post back when I've found the problem. Maybe I can point someone else in the right direction at a later date.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 AT 3:11 PM
Tiny
ARIYA0828
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Okay, problems found and solved. And now is the time that I must admit my stupidity. Apparently I overanalyzed the situation because the two problems were not related at all. In theory it is possible but this was not the case for me. I had a bad horn. That's it, no wiring, no fuses, no relays. Bad horn. And the hazard problem was simply an intermittant contact in the hazard switch unit. I've replaced the horn and the hazard switch in the steering column and everything works fine. Sadly it took me about 6 to 8 hours to find all of this out. That'll teach me to assume I know something about wiring and electronics, huh? Throw a simple problem at a tech and they'll pull their hair out trying to figure it out. Anyway. There's a lesson for everyone. Sometimes it is a simple solution. :Oops:
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 AT 6:36 PM
Tiny
SERVICE WRITER
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,123 POSTS
Brother, it isn't sad at all. A happy ending and a little knowlegde gained is always good.
Happy new year! :D
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 AT 11:48 PM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links