Horn only works while driving

[Marshall V. Daut]

Another thing I have noticed from car to car is if the horn unexpectedly fails to honk, try rotating the horn button in the center of steering wheel a few degrees one way or another. Rust and corrosion sneak in underneath the button and can interrupt the circuit closing action of the metal-to-metal parts that sends electricity to the horn. Sometimes you can rapidly twist the horn button back and forth to scrape away a bit of this crud and make the button functional again - for a while. Try moving the button a little left or right and see if that helps should the horn operation become intermittent. I still say, however, you can't beat oiling the felt armature shaft pads and fiddling with the adjusting screw. Those are the first and easiest steps to take before calling in the Marines.

Here's another simple check you can make. The OP states that the horn won't honk at idle, but will do so when driving. O.K. While the engine is idling, rev up the engine and try honking the horn. If the added juice makes the horn now work, my money's on dry armature shaft felts, followed by an adjustment.
Marshall

[sconnors]

Originally Posted by Marshall V. Daut

Another thing I have noticed from car to car is if the horn unexpectedly fails to honk, try rotating the horn button in the center of steering wheel a few degrees one way or another. Rust and corrosion sneak in underneath the button and can interrupt the circuit closing action of the metal-to-metal parts that sends electricity to the horn. Sometimes you can rapidly twist the horn button back and forth to scrape away a bit of this crud and make the button functional again - for a while. Try moving the button a little left or right and see if that helps should the horn operation become intermittent. I still say, however, you can't beat oiling the felt armature shaft pads and fiddling with the adjusting screw. Those are the first and easiest steps to take before calling in the Marines.

Here's another simple check you can make. The OP states that the horn won't honk at idle, but will do so when driving. O.K. While the engine is idling, rev up the engine and try honking the horn. If the added juice makes the horn now work, my money's on dry armature shaft felts, followed by an adjustment.
Marshall

When at idle, if I rev the engine the horn still does not honk. It only honks when I'm driving