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Changing horn on my Saturn Astra

I want to replace it with something that is A LOT LOUDER and has a lower tone. But I don't know what to get and if it would mess up my air bags or my OnStar system. I can't get an answer as to what would work. Not from OnStar or the dealer!

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Permalink Reply by JASON J. on August 10, 2009 at 7:40pm: I personally wouldn't change anything as if something goes wrong the dealer will pin it on the changing of original factory equipment. I owned an Astra and found out afterwards that the airbags do not automatically signal onstar. It is not equipped with automatic crash response. If you don't believe me, push the blue onstar button and ask if they are getting a signal from the airbags, the answer will be a resounding no. The window sticker says "safe and sound" package but, in this case it is not the truth. Good luck and enjoy your Astra. Jason and family.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kyle on August 27, 2009 at 8:38pm: The horn is a lot louder on the outside than what it seems like from the inside. I laughed out loud the first time I honked my horn - - and it does seem wimpy, even girly. But stand in front of the car and have someone else honk it. It works. The wimpy horn must be a Euro thing.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JHEvil on August 31, 2009 at 8:12pm: That is likely because they don't want to get into technical problems over the phone. However, I have had the same problem as you. And like you, I wanted to figure out what I could do to stop the car from sounding like it was attempting to attract a scooter as a mate.

I went to a local auto supply store, and looked for the loudest, low-tone horn that was available. I found one. I went about looking things up on the web, but no avail. I couldn't find anyone that had done it that posted how they did it.

Here is how I did it:

1. Walk up to the front passenger side of the car (with the car off and cool).
2. Get down on your back and slide your head basically right where the front passenger tire is.
3. Look up. You will see a 3" diameter disk attached to a black bracket, with a wiring connector attached to it. That is your horn.
4. Disconnect the wiring connector.
5. Loosen the nut that is holding the bracket (and horn) to the car.
6. Remove the bracket and everything from the car.
7. Remove the horn from the bracket. It should have a nut on the back that is holding it to the bracket.
8. Put the new horn on the bracket, using the same nut (or a different sized nut, if the new horn comes with a different sized nut).
9. Put the horn and bracket to the side.
10. HERE'S WHERE WE GET SCARY.
11. Disconnect the negative terminal to the battery. This will stop any juice from getting in there and sounding the horn, deafening you in the process.
12. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE 2 WIRES!!!!!! Cut the wiring harness right behind the wiring harness connector. (I told you that this was scary).
13. Strip the ends of the wires.
14. Attach the wiring connectors for the new horn to the wires from the car.
15. Put the bracket/horn assembly back on the car. Only hand-tighten the nut to hold the bracket in-place.
16. Connect the wires from the car to the new horn.
17. At this point, reconnect the battery. Be careful not to do it too slow. You will get some sparks from the battery.
18. Test your new horn. If it works, you should hear an IMMEDIATE difference in tone, loudness, etc. If it doesn't, then check your connections.
19. Assuming that everything checked out OK, then just tighten up the nut that holds the bracket to the car, and VIOLA! A new, more masculine sounding horn. Now, instead of attracting the nearest Vespa, you might just scare the crap out of that tractor-trailer that is coming over in your lane!!!!!!

The new horn was $20 or so at the nearest (insert auto parts store here). The difference is palpable. I wouldn't recommend this for the absolute novice, but if I can do it, any semi-resourceful person can.

Salute!
JHEvil; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Steve Doman on September 1, 2009 at 6:15pm: Thanks for the tips! So..any basic horn will do, huh?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JHEvil on September 6, 2009 at 11:58pm: Any 12v horn will do it. If you need any further help (pics, etc.), I wrote an instructable on it. Just go to www.instructables.com, and search for Astra, and you should find it.

I plan on putting a second horn with this one. This one will be a higher tone, so that I can have a 2-tone sound.

-Evil; ▶ Reply to This