Beefy Horns
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
Beefy Horns
Well, as most of you know, the horns on the G are quite weak. I don't go out honking at everyone I see, but there are times I really need to use my horn. I have found myself in a few situations where I've been on the freeway, or even the streets, and some idiot is not paying attention switching lanes into me and I honk, yet my horn is not loud enough to be heard so I'm doing something about it and decided to share in case anyone else wants to try the same.
I decided at first to add some horns, but now I have decided it will be too many horns in total so I will be replacing the original ones. I would love to have train horns, but I don't want to deal with a compressor and air tank, so I decided to go with a pair of '66 Cadillac Deville and a set of '70 Deville horns. I tested them out and boy they are loud. I tried the trio set with the stock horns and it was plenty loud, so the two additional horns would be too much. Rather than mix and match, I'll stick to all Cadillac (Delco Remy actually) horns.
The '66 horns are on the left (high and low) and the '70 horns on the right (low, hid, and mid). You can see the size of the stock horns compared to the ones I'll be putting in as well (in the middle on top).
All horns
Here is a pic of how it looks with the stock horns.
Here are a few locations where I can mount the horns.
Only thing I have to do is get a few more of the stock bolts and I'll be good to go. I verified to make sure that the horns that will be placed in the stock locations will not interfere with the grille and they don't, they have plenty of room. I'm hoping that the 15A fuse for the horn will be sufficient. If it's not it's basically a game of testing several fuses to see which one works without it continuously blowing. What sucks is that the fuse is no ordinary fuse. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow. Autozone wanted $10 for the same fuse and apparently they can't just type in a higher amperage fuse, they need the exact model number. I'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow afternoon I'll work on the wiring and whatnot and hopefully I'll have pics up later in the day.
BTW, I got the pair of horns for $35 shipped and the trio of horns for $44 shipped on eBay. I believe the ones from the Buick are also the same. Just look for Cadillac or Delco Remy horns. The one that comes with the trumpet is super loud, but unfortunately it gets up to about 80 - 90 shipped and I didn't wanna spend that much.
I decided at first to add some horns, but now I have decided it will be too many horns in total so I will be replacing the original ones. I would love to have train horns, but I don't want to deal with a compressor and air tank, so I decided to go with a pair of '66 Cadillac Deville and a set of '70 Deville horns. I tested them out and boy they are loud. I tried the trio set with the stock horns and it was plenty loud, so the two additional horns would be too much. Rather than mix and match, I'll stick to all Cadillac (Delco Remy actually) horns.
The '66 horns are on the left (high and low) and the '70 horns on the right (low, hid, and mid). You can see the size of the stock horns compared to the ones I'll be putting in as well (in the middle on top).
All horns
Here is a pic of how it looks with the stock horns.
Here are a few locations where I can mount the horns.
Only thing I have to do is get a few more of the stock bolts and I'll be good to go. I verified to make sure that the horns that will be placed in the stock locations will not interfere with the grille and they don't, they have plenty of room. I'm hoping that the 15A fuse for the horn will be sufficient. If it's not it's basically a game of testing several fuses to see which one works without it continuously blowing. What sucks is that the fuse is no ordinary fuse. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow. Autozone wanted $10 for the same fuse and apparently they can't just type in a higher amperage fuse, they need the exact model number. I'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow afternoon I'll work on the wiring and whatnot and hopefully I'll have pics up later in the day.
BTW, I got the pair of horns for $35 shipped and the trio of horns for $44 shipped on eBay. I believe the ones from the Buick are also the same. Just look for Cadillac or Delco Remy horns. The one that comes with the trumpet is super loud, but unfortunately it gets up to about 80 - 90 shipped and I didn't wanna spend that much.
Last edited by The Stimulation; Sep 26, 2008 at 12:43 AM.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
Nice, I'm sure you're happy with the train horns though. The '70's mid tone horn is actually the largest. I figured I'll put either 2 horns on top and 3 on the bottom or 3 on top and 2 on the bottom. I definitely need at least 2 on top though so I can use the factory wiring and I'll daisy chain the positive wires together and probably use ring terminals for the ground.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
Not yet, still need to mount the horns. I'll definitely get vids up though. I would have done a before video, but I took the horn fuse out and I actually had some random guy help me out at Pep Boys. He somehow managed to get it out. So silly how Infiniti makes it difficult to pull the fuse out. I don't want to put it back in and try getting it out again so I can't do a before and after test. I'll touch them to the battery as a comparison though. Hopefully all will be done tomorrow.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
Well, I got the horns installed and it wasn't loud at all. OEM horns sounded louder. Then the fuse blew out, at least I think it did, because hardly any sound would come out. Later today it worked for a few short moments, but when I held the horn again, it went out.
I connected the horns directly to the battery and they got extremely loud. I have a feeling its the fuse that our car uses, because the OEM horns sounded louder connected directly to the battery.
I did a quick search on the horn fuse and I guess it's a relay as well. I just went outside to check on it and on the fuse box it says its a horn relay. There is an additional horn fuse. Neither are blown since the OEM horn works just fine.
I hooked up only 2 horns directly to factory wiring and those two horns were not loud, but again, when connected directly to the battery, they got loud.
I have a pretty good feeling it has something to do with the horn relay. If you notice, when you lock your doors with the alarm, the horn is not loud, same with honking it. But when you press the panic button it gets louder. I can hear the horn relay doing something when the Cadillac horns are hooked up. For some reason even though I connect one of them to the OEM wiring, it's not loud at all, I'd actually rather have the OEM horns.
My only thoughts at the moment are to run wires that connect the horns directly to the battery and use a push button for the horn rather than the steering wheel. The only problem with this is all the extra wiring, location of the push button, and the hassle of it since it is quicker to use the one on the steering wheel. Anybody have ideas or suggestions? Maybe things to try out?
I connected the horns directly to the battery and they got extremely loud. I have a feeling its the fuse that our car uses, because the OEM horns sounded louder connected directly to the battery.
I did a quick search on the horn fuse and I guess it's a relay as well. I just went outside to check on it and on the fuse box it says its a horn relay. There is an additional horn fuse. Neither are blown since the OEM horn works just fine.
I hooked up only 2 horns directly to factory wiring and those two horns were not loud, but again, when connected directly to the battery, they got loud.
I have a pretty good feeling it has something to do with the horn relay. If you notice, when you lock your doors with the alarm, the horn is not loud, same with honking it. But when you press the panic button it gets louder. I can hear the horn relay doing something when the Cadillac horns are hooked up. For some reason even though I connect one of them to the OEM wiring, it's not loud at all, I'd actually rather have the OEM horns.
My only thoughts at the moment are to run wires that connect the horns directly to the battery and use a push button for the horn rather than the steering wheel. The only problem with this is all the extra wiring, location of the push button, and the hassle of it since it is quicker to use the one on the steering wheel. Anybody have ideas or suggestions? Maybe things to try out?
Last edited by The Stimulation; Sep 27, 2008 at 09:08 PM.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
I just ran one of the oem horns and one of the '70 Deville Horns and its a bit louder than the two OEM horns. However, at times, the Deville horn cuts out and you can tell there are two different horns. I'm still clueless as to the problem and I'd like to just run the two '65 Deville horns.
Problem is, with one of the Deville horns, it doesnt get loud on OEM wiring but it does directly to the battery, but the other one works decently off the OEM wiring.
Problem is, with one of the Deville horns, it doesnt get loud on OEM wiring but it does directly to the battery, but the other one works decently off the OEM wiring.
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Joined: May 2008
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From: Riverview, Florida
I don't know if this will help, but here's a little information about how a horn circuit works and where you might be running into a problem.
The horn switch in the steering wheel sends low amperage current to the horn relay. The horn relay is a switch that controls the flow of high amperage current to the horns.
Technically, a relay isn't required to make the horns work. you proved that by wiring them directly to the battery. However, without the relay, you would have high amperage current running through the steering column and through the horn button. Basically, it's a safety device.
The stock G35 horns draw less than 15 amps. I only know that by looking at the horn wiring schematic and noting that the circuit is protected by a 15 amp fuse. My guess is that the older, beefier horns draw more than 15 amps. If that is the case, though, the fuse should blow if you lay on the horn with them connected.
Since that isn't happening, I'd guess the circuit itself (wiring or relay) can't handle more than 15 amps. In other words, the older horns are pulling as many amps as they can, which is probably enough to really heat up the wiring and relay, but not enough to blow the fuse or power the horns at full output. If you held the horn button down continuously in this situation, you would either burn through the wiring, melt the contacts in the relay, or (hopefully) blow the fuse.
To resolve the issue, you'd need to rewire the circuit with heavier gauge wire and go to a higher amperage relay and fuse. You could just replace the relay and fuse, but you'd be risking a fire. To be safe, you would need to determine the gauge of the stock wiring and check to see that it is sufficient to handle the amperage permitted by the new relay/fuse combo.
The horn switch in the steering wheel sends low amperage current to the horn relay. The horn relay is a switch that controls the flow of high amperage current to the horns.
Technically, a relay isn't required to make the horns work. you proved that by wiring them directly to the battery. However, without the relay, you would have high amperage current running through the steering column and through the horn button. Basically, it's a safety device.
The stock G35 horns draw less than 15 amps. I only know that by looking at the horn wiring schematic and noting that the circuit is protected by a 15 amp fuse. My guess is that the older, beefier horns draw more than 15 amps. If that is the case, though, the fuse should blow if you lay on the horn with them connected.
Since that isn't happening, I'd guess the circuit itself (wiring or relay) can't handle more than 15 amps. In other words, the older horns are pulling as many amps as they can, which is probably enough to really heat up the wiring and relay, but not enough to blow the fuse or power the horns at full output. If you held the horn button down continuously in this situation, you would either burn through the wiring, melt the contacts in the relay, or (hopefully) blow the fuse.
To resolve the issue, you'd need to rewire the circuit with heavier gauge wire and go to a higher amperage relay and fuse. You could just replace the relay and fuse, but you'd be risking a fire. To be safe, you would need to determine the gauge of the stock wiring and check to see that it is sufficient to handle the amperage permitted by the new relay/fuse combo.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,850
Likes: 158
From: Los Angeles
Originally Posted by jimrockford
I don't know if this will help, but here's a little information about how a horn circuit works and where you might be running into a problem.
The horn switch in the steering wheel sends low amperage current to the horn relay. The horn relay is a switch that controls the flow of high amperage current to the horns.
Technically, a relay isn't required to make the horns work. you proved that by wiring them directly to the battery. However, without the relay, you would have high amperage current running through the steering column and through the horn button. Basically, it's a safety device.
The stock G35 horns draw less than 15 amps. I only know that by looking at the horn wiring schematic and noting that the circuit is protected by a 15 amp fuse. My guess is that the older, beefier horns draw more than 15 amps. If that is the case, though, the fuse should blow if you lay on the horn with them connected.
Since that isn't happening, I'd guess the circuit itself (wiring or relay) can't handle more than 15 amps. In other words, the older horns are pulling as many amps as they can, which is probably enough to really heat up the wiring and relay, but not enough to blow the fuse or power the horns at full output. If you held the horn button down continuously in this situation, you would either burn through the wiring, melt the contacts in the relay, or (hopefully) blow the fuse.
To resolve the issue, you'd need to rewire the circuit with heavier gauge wire and go to a higher amperage relay and fuse. You could just replace the relay and fuse, but you'd be risking a fire. To be safe, you would need to determine the gauge of the stock wiring and check to see that it is sufficient to handle the amperage permitted by the new relay/fuse combo.
The horn switch in the steering wheel sends low amperage current to the horn relay. The horn relay is a switch that controls the flow of high amperage current to the horns.
Technically, a relay isn't required to make the horns work. you proved that by wiring them directly to the battery. However, without the relay, you would have high amperage current running through the steering column and through the horn button. Basically, it's a safety device.
The stock G35 horns draw less than 15 amps. I only know that by looking at the horn wiring schematic and noting that the circuit is protected by a 15 amp fuse. My guess is that the older, beefier horns draw more than 15 amps. If that is the case, though, the fuse should blow if you lay on the horn with them connected.
Since that isn't happening, I'd guess the circuit itself (wiring or relay) can't handle more than 15 amps. In other words, the older horns are pulling as many amps as they can, which is probably enough to really heat up the wiring and relay, but not enough to blow the fuse or power the horns at full output. If you held the horn button down continuously in this situation, you would either burn through the wiring, melt the contacts in the relay, or (hopefully) blow the fuse.
To resolve the issue, you'd need to rewire the circuit with heavier gauge wire and go to a higher amperage relay and fuse. You could just replace the relay and fuse, but you'd be risking a fire. To be safe, you would need to determine the gauge of the stock wiring and check to see that it is sufficient to handle the amperage permitted by the new relay/fuse combo.
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Originally Posted by donpisto
I'd want to but I don't want to run a compressor and air tank.
