Many years ago I had a motorcycle. The original owner had installed an aftermarket horn that made a really big noise. Sounded like a truck. It really helped to get folk's attention when they were crowding me.


Now one of the two horn noisemakers on my Jag's horn has quit. Since everything else works, I figure that the problem is in the horn itself. I figure that a horn is necessary, especially since the car is made of aluminum and expensive to fix.


Has anyone ever used an aftermarket horn on their Jag? I would be interested in anything that would; 1. Fit 2. Be extra loud.


Thanks,
Tom

 

Sablecat, looking at the electrical diagrams, you have 15 amps to play with. So, you should be able to find something that will work with those electrical requirements.

I say to do some looking around and seeing what you can find. As long as you have some basic wiring knowledge, you can make just about any horn work (it would be a matter of putting new connectors on the ends of the wires going to the horns, pretty easy in the big scheme of things).

The big data point that you want to find out about each horn is what it "dB rating" is. dB is a rating of loudness at a given distance. So, a horn with a higher number is going to be louder. Keep in mind that a horn that is 3 dB louder than another horn is really twice as loud. So, once you start hitting the 120 dB range, there won't be a lot of difference in the dB ratings. But, every little bit will help in this case. Also keep in mind that by running say two 120 dB horns, combined, they will make a noise equivolent to 123 dB (3 dB is twice the volume, so, 2 horns working together make the combined noise 3dB above a single horn).

Now, if you are looking for a truely "poop your paints" type of horn, this will set you back a little ways. But, I can garantee that you will get peoples attention when you blow the horn. This would be an air horn set up. This takes a little bit of construction as you are going to need a small air compressor, a tank, a solenoid valve, and a fair amount of wiring. But, in short, picture having the horn from say a semi in your car. Some of these will hit 150 dB (the front row of a rock concert is only 130 dB, a 747 under full thrust is around 145 db as I recall, so, it will be LOUD!!!!).

Not being intentionally vague on this, but if you do some research, all you will most likely need is a horn with a center mounting post (should be what is on your car, so, no modification of the mounting plate will be needed) and then make sure the horn comes with the appropriate connectors for the horns. Cut off your factory plug and wire up the horns (if you need the wiring colors and which one is positive, let me know). Then you can find a set of horns that will meet what you want in the way of volume. Also remember that some are more of a "moped" type beep where others will have more of the big truck deep rumble. So, pay attention to the reviews and see what people think of the noise the horn makes.

 

When you say one of your horns has failed, do you know WHY it failed? One of mine did also but the reason was the wiring pulled out, not a failure of the horn. I simply fixed the connection and I am back in business. I agree with the previous poster in that the sound QUALITY is more important than quantity. A lot of reviews on horns show that they are loud, but sound horrible. You also need to keep the tone British, which is a twin trumpet sound (Think King Authur's Court and all that, not a mmbbbbeep as a Small German "People Car" does or a bepee bepee as a Japanese car does - Horns from different geographies should SOUND like their home country. You don't have to tell me its an eccentric concept. But it is true (or was, traditionally) What has the world come to with Ribbit ribbit horns on British cars. Oh, it should sound like an Italian horn, as in a twin trumpet, but much more reserved.

 

Love mine, seems to be in keeping with the car both in terms of decibel rating and tone, in my opinion

 

Well folks, I solved the problem.

First I am delighted to say that I found a British car mechanic just a couple of miles from my house here in North Orange County, California. The owner started working for Rolls Royce in England in 1953. He employs a couple of mechanics to do the actual work nowadays.

I described my problem to him, and he answered, "You can just install a Mercedes horn set. I've done a few of those."

Today I had 2 new horns installed. Hi tone and Lo tone. They cost $44 each, new from the dealer. I don't know what the decibels are but it is major LOUD!

They charged me 1 hour labor.

Me happy camper.

Tom

 

JimC64,

I assume that is gaelic? A patriotic saying for Scotsmen?

If yer lum reeks should you wash it?

In other words, what does that mean?

Tom

 

Hi Tom,

Does your receipt happen to show the Mercedes part numbers for the Hi and Lo horns? I'd like to give them a try myself.

Cheers,

Don

 

Not Gaelic, but Scots !
Lang = Long
Lum = Chimney
Reek = Smell, or in this context Smoke. The real meaning is 'Long may you prosper and afford a fire in your house'.

There were so many coal fires in old Edinburgh that it's nickname was 'Auld Reekie' (cf 'The Smoke' = London)

 

I fitted theseAcoustic Devices - EL GRANDE - FIAMM to my Capri Xpac I am building the original ford one where a joke these sound wicked and will wake you up LOL

I love Fiamm horns ever since I was a kid and my dad got a set of Fiamm air horns for his Falcon GT never look at anything else if I need horns or someone asks me

 

I've run these cheap-o "air horns" that RalphP mentions in many of my vehicles (including my Aspire) and I've been pleased with both the sound (definitely loud enough for me) and the durability. You just need to mount them somewhere where the horns have good clearance in front of them.

Any true air horn is going to be expensive. And in some states railway horns are illegal on vehicles. There may also be a db maximum, but again it probably varies by state.

 

FIXED!
Searched through a few threads visually finding what to look for. I have the original steering column horn now. Wow such relief!!!!!!

Thanks guys as always amazing!!!!!