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Replacing The Stock Horn

189K views 238 replies 122 participants last post by  robspeedGLS  
#1 ·
OK so as many of you already noticed, the stock horn leaves a lot to be desired. This is a "how to" on changing the horns....

First off you need the replacements... I chose Hella Supertones.
http://www.fixthisride.com/showproductdeta...p?prod_id=89724

And then a little electrical know how. First off, remove the front grille. There are 6 plastic screw looking clips at the top of the grille insert (circled in RED). Just give them a quarter turn counterclockwise and they should let loose.



Then work your way to the actual bumper cover and remove the two 10mm bolts (1 on each side) (circled in green)



And now is where you have to be extra careful not to pull too hard and crack the paint....

Lift the two corners of the front bumper cover over the tabs and gently pull the grille insert away from the radiator, pulling here...



reach your hand down in the gap and remove the 4 screws. Located behind the grille roughly where i circled in blue...



It is pretty easy with this tool..



once the 4 screws are removed the grille insert should just pull out towards you. leaving this...



notice the single stock 110dB horn :( Remove that. It has a black clip at the bottom with a release tab. Once removed, throw away horn or keep for later. install BOTH of the new horns on the same original mounting stud. I used blue medium strength loctite to secure the extra load.



NOW the fun begins. This part (the wiring)can be done MANY different ways so i am going to leave this section somewhat vague. I ohmed out the stock connector and to my surprise, the green wire was actually not ground. It is the hot/positive lead. and the black is negative. I didn't want to cut or splice into the stock wiring so i rigged up a connector. i took a forked lug connector and cut off one of the forks



These fit perfectly into the stock connector. Make sure to do a thourough but tidy electrical tape job so that none of the wires short and so that no bare metal is showing. Remeber this is where all the rain and puddle water goes. You don't want this to get all wet and corrode. A wiring diagram for the Automotive relay and the actual relay both come with the horns. Follow the wiring diagram. I believe it's diagram 2b with these particular horns. I'm not going to explain the exact wiring because it should be done by someone that can read a diagram, and i don't want to be responsible if someone doesn't fully understand my explanation and does permanent damage. But i will say it's very easy. Once done wiring the relay, run the last 2 wires back to the battery and use cable ties to neaten up the area... I also used wire loom to make it look completely stock-like



i took the last 2 wires,in loom, to the battery and attached them to the terminal. The black wire is barely noticeable on the battery and the red is completely covered by the plastic terminal cover. To keep consistent with being neat.






This is my first DIY, so if there are any improvements you would like me to make, i will try, and yes, i know it is somewhat vague in parts, but like i said, the parts that are left out should be common sense, and if they aren't i don't want to be responsible for your mistakes. Hope this helps!!

Before 110dB
After 120dB
A world of difference
 
#2 ·
Thanks for the excellent step-by-step directions for people who are not so mechanically inclined such as myself. I few questions, does the red of the horns you bought show through the grill at all? If so I might want to choose a different color. Also, is 120db enough of an increase or do you think I should look for something higher if possible? I am surprised to hear the stock horn is even 110db, it sounds more like 90.

Any idea if this one would fit? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-Ford-O...=item335b4be2a9

Sound like I'd have to splice the wires myself and I don't have a voltage meter or any of that equipment so this might be more trouble than it's worth.
 
#3 ·
QUOTE (Syitalian25 @ Mar 25 2010, 03:01 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=307172
Thanks for the excellent step-by-step directions for people who are not so mechanically inclined such as myself. I few questions, does the red of the horns you bought show through the grill at all? If so I might want to choose a different color. Also, is 120db enough of an increase or do you think I should look for something higher if possible? I am surprised to hear the stock horn is even 110db, it sounds more like 90.

Any idea if this one would fit? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-Ford-O...=item335b4be2a9

Sound like I'd have to splice the wires myself and I don't have a voltage meter or any of that equipment so this might be more trouble than it's worth.



10 dB is an incredible gain. You probably won't find anything higher than 120dB in an electric horn. The highest i have ever seen are the 123dB Wolo Super Horns, only 3 dB higher but also cost twice the price at $110

Accoring to a few websites 110dB is about equal to a battery powered drill, and 120dB is about equal to a jet engine on a runway. Obviously the horn doesn't sound like a jet, but you get the idea of what only 10dB's can do


And yes you can somewhat see the red through the grille. As you can kinda see in the first pic. But that part of the horn is removable and paintable. They only come in red. But honestly, i think it looks pretty cool.

And lastly, yes, that horn setup looks like it would fit nicely. But i can't say for sure how you would wire that one. Because, no matter how you cut it, you will be going from 1 horn to 2. And that means atleast twice the power, and therefore a relay is necessary or you could run into fuse problems
 
#5 ·
Thanks so much for the how to guide.........

I am sure you have saved a lot time for a lot of folks and maybe convinced someone not to play around and screw up something but let a mechanic do it..

Thanks again. I can't wait to get my car and some new horns.....

It just so happens I have one of those tools.... It came in very handy when I was installing tip out kits for the blank spots on my Kitchen sink cabinets.... and now I have found another use for it.....
 
#7 ·
Hello All,
I've been lurking around the forum for a while and reading about the weakness of the horn. I'm a little ways away from getting the Sonata, but I've been reading the service information. I think I found something interesting that lets you adjust the level of the horn:

Image


Hopefully someone could try this out!


-Patrick.
 
#9 ·
Has anyone seen this article (found on the MSNBC web site)?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36003883/ns/business-autos/

In it is the following quote:

"An example of Hyundai’s lightning reflexes is the horn on the Sonata. It appeared at the media drive program for the car that there was not a horn left on a scooter in Seoul, because Hyundai must have swiped them all for use on the Sonata. Hearing criticism that the bleating horn was an embarrassment to a car as impressive as the Sonata, Krafcik and his team made the decision within weeks to replace the moped-grade hardware with a more appropriate dual-shell unit that will give the car a fuller presence when the owner needs to use the horn."

If this is true, how can we tell if we have the original horn or the new and improved horn? Inquiring minds want to know...
 
#11 ·
QUOTE (herr_howard @ Mar 30 2010, 11:08 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=308504
Has anyone seen this article (found on the MSNBC web site)?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36003883/ns/business-autos/

In it is the following quote:

"An example of Hyundai’s lightning reflexes is the horn on the Sonata. It appeared at the media drive program for the car that there was not a horn left on a scooter in Seoul, because Hyundai must have swiped them all for use on the Sonata. Hearing criticism that the bleating horn was an embarrassment to a car as impressive as the Sonata, Krafcik and his team made the decision within weeks to replace the moped-grade hardware with a more appropriate dual-shell unit that will give the car a fuller presence when the owner needs to use the horn."

If this is true, how can we tell if we have the original horn or the new and improved horn? Inquiring minds want to know...
You'll know as soon as you press the horn... LOL

Also that article said the scooter horns were replaced with a dual shell, take a quick look behind the grill for either single or dual
 
#12 ·
QUOTE (Quigley21 @ Mar 30 2010, 07:12 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=308664
You'll know as soon as you press the horn... LOL

Also that article said the scooter horns were replaced with a dual shell, take a quick look behind the grill for either single or dual
If they did maybe I can buy an OEM duel-horn from the dealer and all the existing connections will fit?
 
#14 ·
Once the cars with the OEM dual horns show up, we should have a "honk-off" between the new dual horn and the people who installed the Hella horns.

Hella is a reputable brand, and I would be willing to bet the Hella horns are still going to have a louder, more defined, sound than an OEM dual horn.

There may still be value in upgrading to the Hellas, even for people with the OEM horns if they want something louder.
 
#16 ·
Just got my car 2 days ago and it sounds like i got the scooter horn. I rolled off the truck from the factory as I was signing the deal so it wasn't an old one sitting on the lot. I agree it sounds a bit goofy but is don't think its a safety issue and although I'm a pretty experienced DIY I have better things to do with my time than to spend an hour or two and some hard earned cash changing out the horn. How often do you guys blow your horn anyway :p I live in NY, which has to be one of the horn blowing capitals of the world and still I don't use it enough to consider this a real issue.
 
#20 ·
QUOTE (Swingman @ Apr 8 2010, 10:05 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=311538
has anyone gotten a sonata with the new horn?
No new horn on mine... I had someone cut me off the other day, and i hit the horn. :blush:
I have had bicycles with louder horns than this. Honestly, this is my only negative thing so far. If anyone gets an update regarding Hyundai's fix, please post.
 
#21 ·
I was on an off ramp from a 4 lane highway and we were at the stop light.. Two lanes of traffic and a tractor trailer in the lane next to me decided to pull out into my lane and didn't see me coming... I laid on the horn and the brakes at the same time....

So this big tractor trailer and my little toot toot.... I was definitely embarrassed by my horn....

He must have heard it though, he stopped pulling over into my lane avoiding a smash up .....
 
#26 ·
QUOTE (plgtx @ Mar 26 2010, 08:50 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=307353
Hello All,
I've been lurking around the forum for a while and reading about the weakness of the horn. I'm a little ways away from getting the Sonata, but I've been reading the service information. I think I found something interesting that lets you adjust the level of the horn:

Image


Hopefully someone could try this out!


-Patrick.
Has anyone looked at their horn and found this adjustment?