GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I installed my Hella Horns way back earlier in the year and they did work fine. I bought them since I really dislike the stock horns and the week prior to buying them I wanted to use my horn so bad after being cut off so many times. Well, since I installed them, I have actually only used them a couple of times and they worked great. Well, today I just wanted to hear them so I tested them. Turns out only the high frequency horn is going off. The low is not working at all. I tried several things. I checked all the connections and they are good. I thought maybe it has to do with the grounding, since when I first installed them I had a problem with one getting properly grounded. I then disconnected the high frequency horn and connected the low to both of it's wires. It still did not work. It seems as though it is dead. I cannot figure it out. Anyone have any ideas or had a similar problem?Thanks,

Talk to cdfxer.I sold him a dead set of horns (or at least I thought they were dead) and he revived them.

Well, my new Hellas are dead again! I installed the new low tone in May or June and they were working great. I rarely ever use my horns, but on Tuesday some lady drove right in front of me when I had a green light. I honked and it lasted for less than a second and cut off. I got home and tested it out and turns out both horns are dead now. The connections were good and I even connected one of my model airplane battery packs directly to them and they do not work at all. I tried the battery on the stock horn to make sure that test would work and it does. For now I just reattached my wimpy stock horn. I'm really disappointed in these Hella Supertones. They did sound great, but for $50-80, they need to last more than a few months and only several seconds of actually being used! Am I the only one having these problems? I already had the low tone go out earlier in the year and now both are out.

Well, they went on life support in the shop... Muhahahahaha... after a new brain and 100kV, we were all set... oh wait, never mind wrong project....Yep, got them to work. They had a decent amount (suprising in my opinion for such a new horn) of corrosion or rust in/on them. I cleaned up the rust inside and outside. The biggest culprit was the center part (solenoid) that does the vibrating was binding up. It needs some pretty EXACT alignment. Would not suprise me if just normal bumping in a vehicle would knock them out of whack! Not sure how you have yours wired up, but seperate relays for each might help as the extra current will help over come corrosion/alignment issues. Not right, but workable. At least for awhile....(edited to fix my 2AM spelling errors.....been writing PLC code all day)

Thanks for the tip, I'll check mine out when I get some time. One question, what do you recommend to clean the rust out?Thanks,

I used a stainless steel brush that is normally used for cleaning welding tips. I also used a bit of naval jelly and a tooth brush. Watch that alignment issue though. That disc HAS to be exactly centered or the solenoid will rub. As you tighten the outer screws, the disc will try to shift. Poor design, IMO.

Ah ha! Now I feel more confident in having a 30 amp relay coming off the battery for my horns...

I am afraid with these critters it is almost a 'must have'. I would even recomend a relay for each horn. I had to get out my 20A power supply to work on em'. They did not draw that much, but my normal bench supplies run either 1A or 5A. Little bit of a jump from a microcontroller + support IC's to those monsters

An update:I opened up my Hellas and there is no rust at all. I do not know what has happened to them, especially since this is the second set that has gone out. I'm surprised I'm not hearing anyone else having problems with them since they are so popular. I have a 12 amp continuous 12 volt power supply. Would connecting the horns directly to it to perform some tests be okay?

Okay, I took a closer look today and found some corrosion on one spot. I was testing the circuit to see where I was losing the electrical connection and it is right where these two contacts meet. See the attached pictures. I disassembled and sanded off the corrosion. I the reassembled and tested the circuit and now the power flows through. I thought, great, now I'll install it in my car and test them. They didn't make any horn sound, some clicking kind of electrical sound for a second and then the horn fuse blew. CDFIXER or anyone else that may know, does the spring inside need to be set at a certain tension. I had to compress it enough to get the contacts I circled in the pic to be flush and meet evenly with each other. To test the horns I'm thinking about connecting them directly to my 12amp 12volt power supply. That should be okay right? I stopped by my local Advance Auto Parts today and they have some PIAA horns, a pair of low and high tones for $20. Maybe I should have just bought these in the first place. I wonder how they sound. I'm dissapointed in these Hellas.

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Here is another picture.

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Another update. I've figured out the problem, at least most of it. I tried connecting the horns directly to the car battery. They do work. So, the problem is within the stock wiring. I blew the fuse when I last connected them, so they must be drawing too much power. What I am now going to do is use the relay switch that is included with the horns. I will have a lead from directly from the battery to the relay being actuated by the stock horn lead. I'm thinking about maybe putting a fuse in line with the positive lead from the battery. The stock horn fuse is 10 amps, but I'm not sure what these Supertones are drawing. Can anyone recommend a proper fuse and tell me if it really is needed?Thanks,

That's odd...I"ve had mine running off stock wiring since day one without a problem...I fully intend to wire them to run off their own circuit...just been too lazy to do it...anyway, let us know if the rewiring solves the problem!

Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT » The stock horn fuse is 10 amps, but I'm not sure what these Supertones are drawing. Can anyone recommend a proper fuse and tell me if it really is needed?Most automotive relays are capable of 30 amps. And YES. Any time you wire ANYTHING directly to the battery. You NEED a fuse. ANY TIME. Lets say that wire happened to rub against some metal and shorted out...that wire would melt awful fast..and if it didn't damage anything, could damage the battery, and who knows what else...I think I used a 20 amp on mine..but you may need to go to 30. I'd reccomend getting a waterproof fuse holder and wiring that in-line, less than 18 inches from the battery. Here's what should go to the relay:Pin:85 - The stock horn wire86 - Find a ground point.30 - The fused 12v from the battery87 - Out to the horns.

I got my Hellas to work now! I put in the relay with a 20 amp fuse. At first the horns did not make any noise, just a click sound. I could tell that power was getting to them, but then I thought that spring inside may need to be adjusted since I opened them up. Sure enough, I turned the screw on the back several increments and checked each time. You have to have the screw tightening the spring at just the right amount. I could hear the change in sound with each turn of the screw and had to adjust it to sound just right. I'm glad I fixed them. I just hope those contacts on the inside don't corrode more.

I'm surprised you were able to get that tuning screw re-adjusted correctly. Those things are pretty sensitive. Since the screw was out of adjustment, it was probably shorting against the reverb plate therefore blowing the fuse.