I wish I could record the current sound of my horn to help describe the problem here, but I have no way to record it and then get it online. Driving in DC requires me to use my horn fairly frequently and I'm not shy about doing it. Yesterday, though, I blew the horn at a guy who wasn't moving at a green light and while the honk initially sounded normal, the sound changed suddenly to a higher-pitched noise. When I got where I was going, I got out in the car park and set off the alarm and sure enough, strange sound; the lady getting into the SUV across the aisle turned around and said, "That horn sounds really weird."

I'm guessing that something in the horn assembly has probably come loose; the sound is almost like it's not getting the proper amount of air or something. But I don't really want to take it in for service just for something like this. Does anyone have access to the service manual pages that would tell me how to poke around and examine the horn? I suppose I could just poke around on my own, but my time these days is limited.

(Otherwise, I'll just put up with a weird-sounding horn until the next servicing is due in a month or two.)

Thanks in advance.

 

Not sure about the TL specifically but most cars use two horns. A high pitched and a low pitched horn. The low one probably stopped working.

 

yup -- your lower pitched horn is gone -- or the connection is loose/malfunctioning.

It's a DIY project for sure ..

 

Thanks. I did not realize that.

If anyone has access to the service manual, I'd still be grateful for it. My MID shows 30% oil life, so I guess I'll have the car in for servicing soon enough, but fixing it myself would be nice because the current higher-pitched honk doesn't sound very masculine!

 

It's fairly easy to find .. open the hood, look towards the front by the radiator... it's in front of the radiator behind the center grille .. you'll see two circular discs... one's the high pitch, one's the low... there are grey or black plugs that connect the power to these horns .. they are bolted on.

 

Thanks for that. I'll have to check it out this weekend.

 

Can anyone post a picture of where these horns are located on an 04 TL, or a picture from the service manual would work as well, for the life of me I cant find it..

I think I lost the low pitch horn and now my horn sounds like a cow mooing!

 

I started the thread, but I can't help you because I ultimately got it fixed at the dealer under warranty late last summer.

 

i JUST put my front bumper back on, or else I would have taken a pic for you.
the two horns are on the front passenger side, just in front of the winshield fluid reservoir, and kinda below the front part of the passenger headlight.