It seems that my 30k service had an unexpected side effect: my horn stopped working. When the horn button is depressed, I hear a "whir" which I suspect is the air pump, but no sweet, sweet honking. I did a search to no avail. Anyone got any pointers? I'm not afraid to tear things apart, but I'd rather tap into the combined wisdom of the brotherhood before tearing into her tomorrow.
Well, first you need to get access to it...could be as simple as a disconnected air hose between the compressor and the horns.
Whoever did your 30K service needs to fix it and make up for your wasted time going back and the worry you SHOULD have that something else may not be right. If they forgot something as simple as reconnecting the horn and did not check it, you need to convey to them in the strongest possible manner that they need to be better at this or sell thier shop and go into another line of business. Sorry to be strong about it. I have NO lee way for ****ty service...when it costs this much.
On the 348, the horns themselves are dead center behind the front "grille". If you get down on your hands and knees and look up from under the bumper, you can see them, and the air hose that runs to them. The compressor is under the right side trunk panel, next to the window washer tank, to the outside. It isn't real easy to reach. If you can hear the whirring sound, then the compressor is getting power to it, but either the hose has come off, or it needs some light weight oil added to the compressor. I used some Snap-On air tool oil in mine, it's worked fine for six years since then. You can do it! Edit: After reading the above post, I might add that there is no reason whatsoever that anyone performing the 30K service would touch any part of the air horn system, so I doubt if the horn failure is related to the service. Coincidence? Let us know what you find!
Thanks Milt. Going for a quick jaunt tomorrow. Perhpas I'll take a look at it in the afternoon. I'm a fairly capable wrench turner, but I always like to lean on the wisdom of others before I spend hours chasing down a familiar problem. My_adidas: It is quite possible that the horn ceasing to work was purely coincidental wiht the 30k, but I have already e-mailed the dealership to ask if something could have been bumped during the service, such as when the A/C was recharged, etc. If, however, it turns out that is appears to be something that was overlooked, I will assuredly follow up with the dealer. They have been great so far, and I'm sure they would fix it. Will follow-up with resolution, one way or the other.
The receiver/drier for the A/C system is right next to the air horn compressor, but I don't know why that would have caused a problem. The ports for refilling the A/C aren't near there. It may be remotely possible that the hose got "crunched" if someone curbed the nose of the car. The hose runs right next to the wiring bundle on the very lowest part of the nose behind the front bumper.
