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I hate the weak horn the clarity has and need to replace it ASAP. I opened up the good and can’t seem to locate it at first glance. Can anyone tell me where to locate it and how to access it?
Horn location
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30 Posts
I am picking up my car in a few days, and right now I am checking out dealers. I don't use my horn very often (once every few years ) if I was not happy with the horn I would open the hood and have a friend push the horn button and hopefully you can find it by listening to the sound. Be careful before you muck around with the horn because many places issue tickets and fines for using the horn unnecessarily
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5 Posts
RE: Horn Location
Hello,
I agree completely. I also have the BlackonBlack Clarity and I hated the horn. I bought the car about a month ago. Today, I successfully changed out the horns (it has a pair) with a pair from ebay. The ones I bought shipped from China, but here is a set shipping from Texas:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Black-L...4AAOSwX61ZNZVm
These sound like standard horns you would expect to hear on a respectable automobile, not "meep, meep". I also have a Chevrolet Volt which has a good horn, and these sound virtually identical to it.
To install: you have to remove 7 pop up clips from the shroud just behind the grill. Then you can pull the shroud up at the back and bend it up and forward (there is a vent of some kind that is released by 4 of the clips and a rubber piece that holds it down attached that you have to pull toward the engine so that the shroud will clear it and pivot forward towards the grill of the vehicle). It is flexible, so this isn't a problem. You then have to remove the two bolts holding the two round horns with a socket (12mm, I think). You can then unclip the horns (there is a tab you have to push in and then they unclip). The trick then is connecting the new horns. I was able to cut the clips on the ends of the wires for the horns povided to make tabs like are on the original horns. Then you can push these "blades" into the original clips. Luckily I had my son at home cause it is a pain to try to hold a flashlight, hold the shroud up and out of the way, connect these wires into the original plugs and then tape them in place (with electrical tape), making sure that they are secure and won't short out. Still it is doable and the result is a Clarity with a very respectable horn. Afterward, you just push the shroud back forward and put the vent back into place (it may take a flat blade screwdriver to get the vent back into the two slots in the shroud). Then just replace the piece of rubber back on top of the vent, put in the 4 clips holding it, and then put the remaining 3 clips back into the shroud.
Hope this helps...
Hello,
I agree completely. I also have the BlackonBlack Clarity and I hated the horn. I bought the car about a month ago. Today, I successfully changed out the horns (it has a pair) with a pair from ebay. The ones I bought shipped from China, but here is a set shipping from Texas:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Black-L...4AAOSwX61ZNZVm
These sound like standard horns you would expect to hear on a respectable automobile, not "meep, meep". I also have a Chevrolet Volt which has a good horn, and these sound virtually identical to it.
To install: you have to remove 7 pop up clips from the shroud just behind the grill. Then you can pull the shroud up at the back and bend it up and forward (there is a vent of some kind that is released by 4 of the clips and a rubber piece that holds it down attached that you have to pull toward the engine so that the shroud will clear it and pivot forward towards the grill of the vehicle). It is flexible, so this isn't a problem. You then have to remove the two bolts holding the two round horns with a socket (12mm, I think). You can then unclip the horns (there is a tab you have to push in and then they unclip). The trick then is connecting the new horns. I was able to cut the clips on the ends of the wires for the horns povided to make tabs like are on the original horns. Then you can push these "blades" into the original clips. Luckily I had my son at home cause it is a pain to try to hold a flashlight, hold the shroud up and out of the way, connect these wires into the original plugs and then tape them in place (with electrical tape), making sure that they are secure and won't short out. Still it is doable and the result is a Clarity with a very respectable horn. Afterward, you just push the shroud back forward and put the vent back into place (it may take a flat blade screwdriver to get the vent back into the two slots in the shroud). Then just replace the piece of rubber back on top of the vent, put in the 4 clips holding it, and then put the remaining 3 clips back into the shroud.
Hope this helps...
Joined
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5 Posts
RE: Horn Location
Do ebay search on:
12V 110 dB Loud Dual-tone Snail Universal Electric Horn Car Truck Auto
I bought the ones in the box with the BMW on it that says "LOUD ELECTRONIC HORN". They are solid black.
It ships with 4 wires that help to make the clips.
Current pricing is $13 to $14 delivered.
Do ebay search on:
12V 110 dB Loud Dual-tone Snail Universal Electric Horn Car Truck Auto
I bought the ones in the box with the BMW on it that says "LOUD ELECTRONIC HORN". They are solid black.
It ships with 4 wires that help to make the clips.
Current pricing is $13 to $14 delivered.
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134 Posts
Easy horn fix
The 1st time I honked my horn I also thought 'pretty darn wimpy'. Then being the curious sort I am, I powered the window down and tried again.
Wow! We have sound insulated glass in the Clarity. You can even find it mentioned in the specs. Try with the window down yourself and you may find the horn will blast away with the others.
Now we have to decide if we want it even louder, or if the car is so naturally quite the sound deadening could create a danger to the driver by not being able to hear others :smile:
Or maybe I just hear to well ???
The 1st time I honked my horn I also thought 'pretty darn wimpy'. Then being the curious sort I am, I powered the window down and tried again.
Wow! We have sound insulated glass in the Clarity. You can even find it mentioned in the specs. Try with the window down yourself and you may find the horn will blast away with the others.
Now we have to decide if we want it even louder, or if the car is so naturally quite the sound deadening could create a danger to the driver by not being able to hear others :smile:
Or maybe I just hear to well ???
Joined
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30 Posts
I guess people that don't live in big cities don't use their horns very often. I live in a small town and often drive more than a year without using the horn. I tested it once the day I got the car and tested it a second time when I read this thread. Some towns have regulations about horns. If your horn is too loud or you use it in an area where it is designated as a quite zone you will get a ticket. It is your car so do whatever makes you happy as long as it is within the law.
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10 Posts
I'm reading the posts, albeit old, with interest/amusement since I've lived my life in the southern US and have noticed when I'm in the Buffalo, NY suburbs that standard driving practice dictates honking is first with braking being a second and "optional" action! I'm not familiar with any prohibition of its use but we usually use the horn just before a wave using ALL our fingers.
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20 Posts
Instead of retyping and adding pictures I'll post a link to my FB thread regarding replacement of horns. If you click on the pictures I added information there. Sorting picture, 1 picture 2, etc did not work well.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/408505746238938/permalink/798361057253403/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/408505746238938/permalink/798361057253403/
I had a driver try to pull into me on the freeway, & the rinky-dink factory horn did no good at all. So I decided that I needed something that could be heard. Thanks for the info on installing a replacement horn, it was helpful to a point. A couple of things I might enlarge on, though, are that the plastic clips have a unique release & replacement method, which involves pushing down the thin plastic ring around their outer edge. Also, the original horns each have a single attachment point for the two thin wires encased in a hard plastic & sticky rubbery filled cable, which is then wrapped in electrical tape. The dual Hella horns I ordered have two, separate attachment points, and came with no wires, just the horns. I clipped off the connector on one original horn & was eventually able to peel away enough cable to free-up the wires. But working in that confined space, holding back the plastic cover, with lots of metal edges, and that sticky filler which didn't want to let go, was far from an easy job. I ordered some wires that were supposed to work with replacement horns, but didn't. Fortunately, I had some old crimp connectors and some wire, and was able to crimp new wires onto those two original wires which I had freed out to maybe 3/4", & then to crimp connectors onto the other end of the wires to connect to the horn. I taped the crimped connections to ensure no shorts. I did the easiest horn to access, then decided discretion was the better part of valor, and to leave the other original in place. So far, the new horn works fine & is much louder. I don't get the dual tone effect, but that's OK with me. Thanks, again. Rimrock
Wimpy is the word. Bought a new set at Princes Auto(Canada) and putting them in soon as possible. Live in a small town and like to toot High at friends as I go by, do not want to be embarrassed by that wimpy horn. Even my Nash Metropolitan has louder better sounding Horns!
Done but not that easy for a LARGE handed man.. Horn located on right side if Grill. was able to move Right horn wire out grill to convert but the other wires were impossible to bring up to work on. Had to undo harness from rad support, and remove the whole top plastic shield, not just bend it forward. But yea.. nice sounding horns now!
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