Where Is the Car Horn Located?

Q: Where Is the Car Horn Typically Located?

A: Car horns can be mounted just about anywhere in or around the front of the engine compartment or even forward of the front wheel well. Some car horns are more difficult to locate than others. You can check your owner’s manual to identify its exact location.

Horns emit a loud sound to alert other drivers or pedestrians in the area of your vehicle’s location. They emit different tones ranging from 1,800 to 3,550 hertz (Hz).

Cars usually have either a high-frequency (HF) or windtone horn as part of standard equipment. It’s common for cars to have two horns: an A note and an F note that sound together. Some large Oldsmobiles from the ‘70s have three horns with different notes that almost sounded like a train horn. Electric car horns make use of a vibrating diaphragm to generate sound. An electromagnet and contact breaker usually move the diaphragm.

For HFs, a resonator plate is fixed to the diaphragm to amplify the sounds, while windtones rely on air vibrations to produce a low-pitched sound.

Tips on How to Access the Car Horn

Depending on the location, you might need to remove the grille or other parts to reach the horn mounting screws. If the horn requires replacement, then it’s best to use a horn of the same tone as the original. Remove the fasteners and lift the old one from the mounting bracket to replace it.

Pro Tips are nuggets of information direct from ASE-certified automobile technicians working with CarParts.com, which may include unique, personal insights based on their years of experience working in the automotive industry. These can help you make more informed decisions about your car.

Pro Tip: Some horns have a single wire providing power to the horn (usually through a relay) with the horn grounded through its mounting bracket. Other horns will have a two-wire connector with ground and power being fed to the horn through the wire harness.

Clean the attachment area on the mounting bracket and chassis before you install the replacement horn. Some models also use corrosion-resistant mounting bolts to ensure ground connection.