The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay How to fix a horn??

54 1/2 ton original 6-volt

The truck has it's original horn (the one that kinda looks like a snail) and a pair of old aftermarket trumpet style horns. I know that the horn relay is working, and that there is voltage to the horn.

I've removed the original horn and applied voltage with a battery charger set to the highest amp setting...6 amps (maybe not enough??) and it sounds like it's trying to honk, but fails to. It looks pretty clean to me, so I don't think it's just too dirty/rusty. I didn't see an adjustment screw on it like I have seen on some others. Does anyone know how to go about fixing it???

One of the Trumpet horns isn't working either. It does have an adjustment screw, but I've run it to the limit in either direction and it doesn't help.

Any help or links would be greatly appreciated....I would really like to keep the originals, so no one tell me to "just trash em' "

I believe that the aftermarket horns were manufactured by the Heintz manufacturing co. I'll have to double check that info tonight though....

Thanks guys!!!

Hey neighbor. You can bend the tabs back & remove the cover on the horns. You can file the points & there is an adjustment in there. A battery charger is not a good source of power to test stuff with. With out a battery hooked to it there is no control over the voltage. Jumper wires to the battery would be better.

Thanks Wrenchbender!

I had the cover off last night. It's a miracle I didn't mess anything up too bad, It looked to be like the "horn" part of the horn is actually plastic?? or some kind of resin??

I'll look more closely at it tonight, and try hooking it to the battery w/ jumper wires.

I think if you have a seashell horn, there should be two. The horn is much like a bell buzzer only the diaphram produces a high pitch. Using a battery charger feeds it with pulsating DC and can cause it to work after a fashion even though it might not do anything on a battery. The adjustment is very fine on these units.

I hooked it up to the battery last night and after a little adjustment I got it to work. The adjustment I was using is the nut that's right on top after you take the cover off. I didn't see any points to file... Where are they located??

I'm pretty sure that the main problem I was having is lack of a good ground. I'm trying to get stuff to work without having to run seperate ground wires for everything!

If you got the horn working well you might want to leave the points alone.

In 1953-1955, the stock (single) horn was the "seashell" style of horn. From 1947-55, the seashell-style horn was sold in high-note/low-note pairs as accessory dual horns.

In 1953, the standard seashell horn was mounted on the intake manifold in front of the carburetor. In 1954/55 the standard seashell horn was mounted on the front of the radiator frame.

"If you got the horn working well you might want to leave the points alone."

would it not do me any good to try and file them? I'm curious what my odds are between making it actually work better, or messing it up!

"In 1953-1955, the stock (single) horn was the "seashell" style of horn"

"In 1954/55 the standard seashell horn was mounted on the front of the radiator frame."

This is what I have, low note only.

Hey if it works don't fart with it. Go find the high note horn and be happy it works.

I got it re-installed last night, after priming the back cover, and bracket, then cleaning some things up w/ emery cloth to ensure good grounding, and it works!! For the first time in who knows how long!!! It sounded a little weak, but I guess I can't ask for too much!

Thanks for all you help guys!

Speaking of horns. I took mine off to clean and paint since I am redoing the wiring harness. Mine is the single long cone type. I took the guts out and brushed off all the dust. There are some small, very thin, plates that mount to the bracket and horn. They are sort of butterfly shapped with two holes that slide onto the mount. There are four altogether. three on one side of a spacer plate and one that is soldered or spot welded to the plate. There is some fatigue on the plates. One is cracked near the mounting hole, and the one soldered to the spacer plate is missing a piece at the top of the mounting hole. My question is, are these thin pieces some sort of reed that actually makes the sound? I am just curious how a horn works. Inside the round cover is what looks like an electro-magnet. Does it make those thin plates vibrate to make the sound. I tried searching on the net for and couldn't find any info. It's a Delco-Remy.

On the dual horn setup on a '49, will they work if converted from 6v to 12v? Would it be possible to run a 6v reducer to the horn relay? Or will I have to replace the horns completely?

Six volt horns will work OK on 12 volts as long as you don't lay on the horn for extended periods. Just use them like you would a regular set of horns. They will be louder than they are on six volts. My dad used to go to the salvage yard every time we upgraded cars to get a set of 6v horns for the "new" car. He liked loud horns.

My horns are adequate on 6 volts. On 12 volt they are deafening!

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