Horns, wipers & washers

•Horn
operates on an electomagnetic principle that vibrates a diaphragm to produce sound waves

similar to a buzzer operation

the diameter of the diaphragm and the strength of the internal spring dictate the pitch and the
frequency

components

•horn switch

momentary switch

typically completes the circuit by energizing the ground side of the circuit

can be installed in the steering wheel pad or as separate buttons

•slip ring

used vto maintain continuity for horn control in all steering wheel positions

used on pre-airbag vehicles

contains a brass ring and a spring loaded contact connected to the horn relay

•clockspring

used on air bag equipped vehicles to maintain continuity for horn control in all steering wheel
positions

a ribbon of wires are wound up inside, which unwing and rewing when the steering wheel is
turned

•horn relay

allows use of a low current circuit through the horn switch to control the higher current horn circuit

some systems dont use a relay

diagnostics

•check the fuse

•test the horn
•test the relay inputs
•test the switch
•check the slip ring or clock spring

•check fuses or fusible links

•operate horn while moving the steering wheel
poor contacts in the slip ring may cause intermittent operation
•jumper horn to test diectly
•if system has a relay
test energizing and load sides of the relay for input and output voltage
•if system doesnt have a relay
test switch for available voltage and proper operation

windsheild wipers
•basic design
•
•standard two or three speed system
•
•two or three speed system with intermittent feature
•
•brush location designs
•
•high, low and common brushes contact the armature windings of the motor to control speed
•
•permanent maget wiper circuits
•
•most common design
•reduces the size of the motor by reducing the number of windings required
•speed is controlled by the placement of the brushes on the commutator
•
•when current is traveling through fewer windings, there is low magnetic field and less opposing
current to the armature
•
•electomagnetic field wiper circuit
•
•uses two fields that are wired in oppoisite directions: the shunt field and the series field
•the fields oppose each other
•field strength controls speed
•
•relay controled wiper
•
•reduces the need for larger wire size in the driver compartment
•usually connected to the ground side of the circuit and switch between low and high brushes
(double throw relay)
•
•intermittent wiper designs
•
•most are controlled by and electronic module (the module may be mounted on the steering
colum or on the wiper motor
•some vehicles incorporate this function in the body control module
•contains a capacitor that must be "saturated" to operate the wipers
•a fixed or variable resistor controls the time it takes for the capacitor to fully saturated
•once saturated, a sillicon-controlled rectifier (diode) releases the capacitor current and starts
wiper movement
•the park switch continues the movement until it returns to park position

testing
•no operation in one speed only
•usually an electrical problem
•measure output voltage at switch positions
•study wiring diagram for things that are common only to that speed
•no wiper operation
•check fuses and source voltage
•check grounds (use a jumper wire)
•check for mechanical binding of the motor
•if no voltage is present at the motor, start from the spot where voltage is foiund and move
towards the motor until voltage is lost
•slow than normal speeds
•check for high resistance by performing voltage drop test on the power and gorund sides of the
circuit
•check for binding mechanical linkage
•check for excessive current draw from the motor
•wipers will not park
•check switch operation by teswting for voltage at the motor through the park circuit when the
swich is turned to off
•check for mechanical binding
•intermittent wiper system
•check for voltage output from the switch to the intermimttent module
•check module ground
•check moudule output to the motor

washer pumps

•locations
•in the washer fluid reservoir
•mounted on the wiper motor
•in-line between the reservoir and nozzles