Horn Upgrade
#1
02-19-2010, 10:30 PM
Horn Upgrade
Honda Horn Upgrade
This DIY will work on most if not all Hondas but there may be slight differences from what is covered in this DIY.
So you’re tired of your wimpy stock “meep meep” Honda horn, right?
Well, on the 2008 Accord, Honda started using some nicer horns and they sound tons better. I saw the swap done on new Hondas but never on an older Honda like mine. I did some research and found out how to install it.
Hear the difference for yourself (end of video):
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rn_upgrade.flv
This video is property of College Hills Honda. I have rehosted it on Photobucket solely to make sure that it is not lost.
On the video, you'll see that on newer Hondas the horn is a direct swap. Unfortunately, on older Hondas it is not.
For quick reference, here is the new horn sound again: http://pascente.com/Honda_Fit_Horn_After.wav
Parts needed:
•SPST Relay and wire harness (2 of each if you are using dual horns)
•Honda horn part #38100-STK-A02
(if your Honda has dual stock horns you will also want Honda part #38150-TA0-A01, which is the high tone horn. Or, you can remove your second stock horn and just use the new low tone horn by itself. This will be fine, I went from dual horns to a single horn and it’s still louder than it was.)
•Crimp Caps, electrical tape, and other electrical work materials
•Horn wiring harness plug, Honda part #04321-S87-305 (comes with 5) (optional but recommended, see step 8 for details)
•Horn pigtail wire, Honda part #04320-SP0-U10 (comes with 10) (needed if you are unable to de-pin your stock horn plug without damaging the pin during step 5)
I have a 3 of the complete pigtails (pinned wire and plug) available for sale, and 5 pinned wires without plugs available for sale. I had to buy one, and as you read they come with more than one, so I have extras. Send me a PM for more info and i'll try to help you out. I'm not going to rip you off on shipping like Honda does.
Here’s the new horn on the left and the old style horn on the right in the picture below:
You can see that the new one is much bulkier so make sure that you have adequate space.
On the newer Hondas (~2006+, I am not sure of the exact year), this newer style horn is plug n’ play. However, on the older Civics that most of us are modifying, it will not plug n’ play. This is because the newer Honda horns are grounded through their mounting bracket and only have one wire going to them, a 12V wire which is controlled by the horn button on the steering wheel. On the older Hondas, the horn is not grounded through its mounting bracket. It has two wires, a ground and a 12V wire, and the ground is switched at the horn button and the 12V wire provides a constant 12V.
To solve this problem, we need a relay.
The type of relay you want is called an SPST (single pole single throw) relay. It has 4 contacts, labeled 85, 86, 87, and 30.
You can also use an SPDT (single pole dual throw) relay. The only difference is that it has an extra contact (87a). All you need to do is de-pin 87a’s wire from the relay harness and you basically have an SPST relay. 87a will not be needed.
Make sure you buy one that comes with a wire harness or you buy a separate harness to go with it.
Procedure
1. Unplug and unbolt the stock horn(s) and remove them.
2. Using a multimeter, probe the horn harness to figure out which wire has a constant ~12V current. The other wire will have no current. The wire with no current is the ground wire. Remember which wire is which as you will need to know when wiring the relay.
Alternatively, you can find the service manual for your car and look up the wire colors for the horn to figure out which is which.
3. Remove the horn fuse in your under-dash fuse box.
4. Cut the stock horn harness, making sure to leave adequate length of wire on both sides of the incision, as you will be reusing most of it. Make sure that you do not let the cut wires that are on the car touch
5. On your stock horn pigtail that you cut off, de-pin the wires from the plug. The plug will not fit on the new horn. Look carefully at the pins while you de-pin them, they have metal tabs that have to be pushed with a small flat head screwdriver. If you damage the pins you’ll need new pigtail wires, which are Honda part #04320-SP0-U10 and come with 10.
6. Now you are ready to wire your relay harness to the stock horn wiring.
First, connect the relay harness’ pin 85 wire to the stock horn ground wire that is on the harness still on your car.
Next, attach the pin 87 wire to one of your pigtail wires that you de-pinned from the plug in step 5.
Last, attach both pin 86 and pin 30 wires to the stock horn 12V wire that is on the harness still on your car.
Make sure all connections are secure and covered with electrical tape. Moisture is the enemy and you don’t want it in there.
7. Attach your new horn(s) to the car and plug your relay into its harness. Mount your relay(s) somewhere.
8. The de-pinned wire pigtail can be plugged directly into the plug on the horn without having its own plug, but it will not be clipped in. This will work but it could come loose. You can buy the new plug from Honda, it is part #04321-S87-305 (5 included).
So, whichever method you choose to use, it’s time to plug your horn in.
9. Put your horn fuse back in and try it out!
This DIY will work on most if not all Hondas but there may be slight differences from what is covered in this DIY.
So you’re tired of your wimpy stock “meep meep” Honda horn, right?
Well, on the 2008 Accord, Honda started using some nicer horns and they sound tons better. I saw the swap done on new Hondas but never on an older Honda like mine. I did some research and found out how to install it.
Hear the difference for yourself (end of video):
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rn_upgrade.flv
This video is property of College Hills Honda. I have rehosted it on Photobucket solely to make sure that it is not lost.
On the video, you'll see that on newer Hondas the horn is a direct swap. Unfortunately, on older Hondas it is not.
For quick reference, here is the new horn sound again: http://pascente.com/Honda_Fit_Horn_After.wav
Parts needed:
•SPST Relay and wire harness (2 of each if you are using dual horns)
•Honda horn part #38100-STK-A02
(if your Honda has dual stock horns you will also want Honda part #38150-TA0-A01, which is the high tone horn. Or, you can remove your second stock horn and just use the new low tone horn by itself. This will be fine, I went from dual horns to a single horn and it’s still louder than it was.)
•Crimp Caps, electrical tape, and other electrical work materials
•Horn wiring harness plug, Honda part #04321-S87-305 (comes with 5) (optional but recommended, see step 8 for details)
•Horn pigtail wire, Honda part #04320-SP0-U10 (comes with 10) (needed if you are unable to de-pin your stock horn plug without damaging the pin during step 5)
I have a 3 of the complete pigtails (pinned wire and plug) available for sale, and 5 pinned wires without plugs available for sale. I had to buy one, and as you read they come with more than one, so I have extras. Send me a PM for more info and i'll try to help you out. I'm not going to rip you off on shipping like Honda does.
Here’s the new horn on the left and the old style horn on the right in the picture below:
You can see that the new one is much bulkier so make sure that you have adequate space.
On the newer Hondas (~2006+, I am not sure of the exact year), this newer style horn is plug n’ play. However, on the older Civics that most of us are modifying, it will not plug n’ play. This is because the newer Honda horns are grounded through their mounting bracket and only have one wire going to them, a 12V wire which is controlled by the horn button on the steering wheel. On the older Hondas, the horn is not grounded through its mounting bracket. It has two wires, a ground and a 12V wire, and the ground is switched at the horn button and the 12V wire provides a constant 12V.
To solve this problem, we need a relay.
The type of relay you want is called an SPST (single pole single throw) relay. It has 4 contacts, labeled 85, 86, 87, and 30.
You can also use an SPDT (single pole dual throw) relay. The only difference is that it has an extra contact (87a). All you need to do is de-pin 87a’s wire from the relay harness and you basically have an SPST relay. 87a will not be needed.
Make sure you buy one that comes with a wire harness or you buy a separate harness to go with it.
Procedure
1. Unplug and unbolt the stock horn(s) and remove them.
2. Using a multimeter, probe the horn harness to figure out which wire has a constant ~12V current. The other wire will have no current. The wire with no current is the ground wire. Remember which wire is which as you will need to know when wiring the relay.
Alternatively, you can find the service manual for your car and look up the wire colors for the horn to figure out which is which.
3. Remove the horn fuse in your under-dash fuse box.
4. Cut the stock horn harness, making sure to leave adequate length of wire on both sides of the incision, as you will be reusing most of it. Make sure that you do not let the cut wires that are on the car touch
5. On your stock horn pigtail that you cut off, de-pin the wires from the plug. The plug will not fit on the new horn. Look carefully at the pins while you de-pin them, they have metal tabs that have to be pushed with a small flat head screwdriver. If you damage the pins you’ll need new pigtail wires, which are Honda part #04320-SP0-U10 and come with 10.
6. Now you are ready to wire your relay harness to the stock horn wiring.
First, connect the relay harness’ pin 85 wire to the stock horn ground wire that is on the harness still on your car.
Next, attach the pin 87 wire to one of your pigtail wires that you de-pinned from the plug in step 5.
Last, attach both pin 86 and pin 30 wires to the stock horn 12V wire that is on the harness still on your car.
Make sure all connections are secure and covered with electrical tape. Moisture is the enemy and you don’t want it in there.
7. Attach your new horn(s) to the car and plug your relay into its harness. Mount your relay(s) somewhere.
8. The de-pinned wire pigtail can be plugged directly into the plug on the horn without having its own plug, but it will not be clipped in. This will work but it could come loose. You can buy the new plug from Honda, it is part #04321-S87-305 (5 included).
So, whichever method you choose to use, it’s time to plug your horn in.
9. Put your horn fuse back in and try it out!
Last edited by trustdestruction; 05-13-2010 at 02:11 AM.
#2
02-19-2010, 10:37 PM
wow i want to do this, but i dont think i will have the skills to do this 
did you do this to your delsol? if so, vids of the sound
but thumbs up for a nice DIY write up
did you do this to your delsol? if so, vids of the sound
but thumbs up for a nice DIY write up
#5
02-19-2010, 10:46 PM
yea i was hoping it would be but when i got the horn in the mail i learned it would be a little more complicated. It's actually pretty simple if you understand basic wiring
#6
02-19-2010, 10:49 PM
the ones in my car is a single horn setup right? i might just end up doing this one day once i have some spare time to kill
#7
02-19-2010, 10:50 PM
i'm not really sure how many horns you have. probably one. I think Si model Civics and del Sols (and del Sol VTEC) were the only ones with 2. EX also maybe though.
#10
02-19-2010, 10:56 PM
ok thanks for the help, and the write up. i barely use my horn because it sounds so crappy. 