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Horn won't -ever- honk.

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nweed

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Ok so I was disabling the horn honk for my unlock and messing around with the key fob while reading the manual for setting up my jeep the way I wanted it. When all of the sudden I trigged the panic alarm and then in the process of turning it off it disabled the horn honk for the panic alarm.

Now my panic alarm just flashes lights but theres no horn honk. I'm even fine with that.

The issue I have is.....

The horn will never ever honk. When I push to honk nothing happens, ever.

So I spent a few hours searching the web, the jeep patriot forums and nobody seems to have had this issue before. Yes everyone has apparently disabled the horn honk on keylock/unlock but nobody seems to have managed to disable the entire horn system.

while messing around in frustration trying to turn it back on it did honk 1x and then went back to no horn again. I've tried disconnecting the battery, pulling all the fuses, pounding on the keyfob for 30minutes randomly and so far nothing works.

Before anyone starts giving me suggestions to use the EVIC, I don't have one. Also the dealer doesn't exist anymore and the closest one is 650 miles away by ferry (no roads outta town).

Help?
 
#2 ·
Gees Nweed, where abouts are you located, having the only way out by ferry and 650 miles to a dealer - Alaska? Sorry don`t have any knowledge about your horn problem. My horn honks but I can`t set it to honk with the lock/unlock function. There`s no setting for that available in the EVIC on the european model. Since you`re in such a remote area and there`s no know-how about this on the board, I guess the best way for you would be to describe your problem in detail to some Jeep customer service dept. I`m sure the will help or direct you to someplace they can.
Good luck and keep us posted :)
 
#3 · (Edited)
I always try the basics first...

Re-trace your steps. Have you tried to "MAKE" the horn honk again upon lock/unlock? If so and still no results... do you have access to a spare horn that you can swap out? I mention the swap because you mention that you got it to honk once and you disconnected the battery (for about 10 mins.? - it takes a bit of time for some features to reset when battery is disconnected)

I got my horn to stop honking on unlock/lock with no problems but I have the EVIC.
 
#5 ·
MEGULA said:
I wish the horn wouldn't honk... that little toot is so unworthy of the Patriot! :p
Click to expand...
Funny about that horn, or whatever it is.

Yesterday I went to visit a customer. As I was driving this van started to drift to my lane and on top of me (idiot driver was on his cell phone, go figure - non multi-tasking). Anywho... I bashed away on my "horn" and he finally corrected. I watch him in his big mirror as he turns to see what was "honking" at him and he looked "downwards" through his mirror. Then I see him slowly move up to his mirror until he see's me.

I guess he thought I was a Mini Cooper sized vehicle or something. I just shook my head at him and he just smiled back and made the usual sign of "apology"...Oh well.

Horn may sound small but I guess the Patriot makes up for itself in size.
 
#7 ·
sskelmar said:
If the nearest dealer is 650 miles away,, that tells me that where you live you really have no need for a horn. You're the only one on the road!
Click to expand...
:smiley_thumbs_up: :smiley_thumbs_up: :smiley_thumbs_up:

MEGULA said:
I wish the horn wouldn't honk... that little toot is so unworthy of the Patriot! :p
Click to expand...
I don`t know about US models, but my Pat`s horn is double or maybe triple accorded and makes our two cats jump like 3 feet up in the air when I pull into the driveway and honk to make sure I don`t run them over :)
 
#8 ·
Are you sure the horn doesn't honk? It isn't very loud. :D

Somewhere on the list there is a process to reset the computer to zero/factory day of delivery. It has something to do with turn the ignition on, press and release the acclelrator 3 time in 30 seconds, and turn the key back off. (I think) That shoud re set the whole car. If not, leave the battery disconnected over night, or al day at work, like 4 or 5 hours. See what happens. I would try it on mine, but I don't have power locks,
 
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#9 ·
I agree with Megula... that horn is not worthy. Even my kids say "is that it".

Every time I need the horn it reminds me I need to read that horn modification thread.
 
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#10 ·
you pulled all the fuses?? how about checking or even replaceing the horn fuse?

or apply 12V to the horn directly to see if it's working.

The horn being a safety device, there's no way that you can disable it completely using the keyfob or EVIC.
 
#11 ·
Kahbrohn said:
I just shook my head at him and he just smiled back and made the usual sign of "apology"
Click to expand...
Was that an extended middle finger? Because that is about the only gesture ever seen on the streets around here :)
 
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#13 ·
My horn didn't work when I got my Patriot. I didn't realize it when I picked it up from the dealer, until I tried to use it a while later.

I took it in a few weeks ago to get it replaced under warranty, after Chrysler went bankrupt, and it's fine now. They had no problems doing it for free.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
yep alaska. Need to horn because the occasional road issue occurs like today someone didn't stop at the sign cut me off and was on his phone ignoring traffic. I almost hit him and laying on the horn does nothing of course. Or you are about to drive off and the wife is out in the woods ignoring you and you need someway to make her lookup and see the fact that everyones in the car and you are driving away.

I've retraced my steps and the unlock/lock doesn't sound the horn because the horn feature as a whole has somehow been disabled. providing power directly to the horn makes it honk so I know its working. Changed out the fuse and that didn't fix it either.

I've definately got it narrowed down to a setting somewhere in the computer. Apparently there is a keyfob code that will disable the panic alarms horn and the entire horn for the jeep. Still have no idea what did it I'm calling a jeep expert this afternoon and I'll let you know if that does anything.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
so my "expert" has the diagnostic computer for jeep patriot 08's (lucky for me). We hook it up and the computer says the horn circuit is open. We reset the circuit and it auto opens itself. We try reseting the panic alarm mode and that doesn't work either. Looks like either I get lucky with the code on the fob by accident or factory reset time.
 
#16 ·
Are you sure the horn didn't just break at the same time you were changing settings? Sounds a bit weird that it won't work at all.
 
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#17 ·
My horn sounds wimpy

Tony1911 said:
Are you sure the horn didn't just break at the same time you were changing settings? Sounds a bit weird that it won't work at all.
Click to expand...
My horn got really quiet, and feeble/wavering.

I wonder if I splashed some mud and water into a connector or the horn itself.
There was another thread on horn augmentation or replacement.... If I'm going in to fix it, I'm replacing it with a REAL horn.
 
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Discussion starter · #18 ·
Nope the horn didn't break, as I was messing around again this weekend and managed through frustration on the keyfob to get the panic alarm re-enabled with the horn. It honked about 3-4 times and then quit again when I unlocked the car doors with the fob.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Got the jeep to a jeep certified repair shop. They ran the diagnostics and claim the horn is dead. They removed the horn added power directly to it and it works. Then they put it back in the car and it doesn't. Not sure how the heck this justifies their claim that its the horn, especially when it works if its not connected to the car.:confused:

While they were messing around we also and I had already suspected that rear passenger side window won't go up once it gets past 50%. Apparently theres a bad actuator.:doh:

And since I drove all the way here to get it all looked at. I had them order up some external bumpers, hitch, and do the standard maintenance.:blah:
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
So we finally got the whole thing fixed. Ended up with a new horn and a flashed computer.

Apparently if you pound on the keyfob enough you can short the settings for the horn on the computer which requires a reset. And then because the computer has been trying to continously honk the horn the horn can short out.

BLEH!
 
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