Need help with 550 horn wiring.

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pearly427
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:39 am
Location: U.S.

Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by pearly427 »

My horn doesn’t work, but I know it’s wired incorrectly inside the headlight bucket. I can’t figure it out even looking at wire diagram. In the picture I’m pointing at the the orange and green wire that come from the horn up through the back of headlight bucket. I have the orange connected to another orange wire with a splitter and you can obviously see where the green is connected. What did I do wrong here ? know the switch is good, I know the horn is good. I dismantled this bike about 5 years ago to paint the frame and the horn didn’t work when I reconnected all the wiring. I also have a unused brown wire that I have no idea what it hooks to ? Everything works but the horn.
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barney01
Posts: 3118
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:33 pm
Location: Prestatyn.Wales

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by barney01 »

Do you have a multimeter to check you have power to the horn? The orange is always the positive. Green connects to one side of the button and black with white trace goes to the earth. I'm pretty sure the brown wire is for the park lamp fitted to US bikes. When the ignition key is turned all the way to the right the rear lamp only illuminates
NO SMOKE .......NO POKE
pearly427
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:39 am
Location: U.S.

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by pearly427 »

Yes, I have multimeter. Yes, U.S. bike. Yes, the tail light turns on with switch turned all the way to the right. But, the brown is unhooked and there is no other brown wire to connect to. There is a thicker black wire that I have connected to a green that is lighter in color to the one pictured. I believe that’s wrong too ? What two wires connect to the orange splitter, orange from horn and which other ?
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canaletto5
Posts: 5228
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:43 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by canaletto5 »

The horn connector loom is a dedicated spur off the harness so all the other stuff you are referring to is irrelevant. The horn picks up the earth return through the switch body so if that isn't earthed properly, your horn won't work. Make sure your handlebars are providing an earth return to the frame. Kev
Gr8uncleal
Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:17 pm

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by Gr8uncleal »

Horns can be funny beggars.

I bought a second hand one and the seller was adamant that it worked just before he posted it, but when I received it, it didn't. I got it working in the end, but had to unscrew the little adjuster quite a few turns to do so.

Did you check the horn was working immediately before you re-fitted it, or are you assuming that, because it worked when you took it off, it should have worked as soon as you put it back on? If you haven't already wired it direct to a battery to test it, try this. If it still doesn't work, then try the small adjuster screw on the horn, in and out until it works. If it did work when connected to the battery, then I'd refer back to the previous posts.

If everything else works ok it probably won't be this, but just double check that your various earth contacts to the frame are ok. It's not unknown for the new paint or plastic coating to interfere with this.

Good luck.
pearly427
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:39 am
Location: U.S.

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by pearly427 »

Thank you, yeah everything worked before I removed the main harness for paint. Good suggestion on checking the tone adjustment screw. To test the horn, I can just run the orange (+) and green (-) straight to a separate battery ? I rarely get disgusted with mechanical stuff. As I enjoy working on bikes. But, I had to walk away for a couple days, lol ! I had problems with my idler gear. Removed clutch cover 3 or 4 times to address it. Fix something, put it all back together and something else quit working. Now the bike only goes into neutral and second. So, I’m going to have to take clutch cover off again, ha ha. That’s the way it goes with old bikes. They’re like women. Always needing attention and a pat on the ass, lol !
Gr8uncleal
Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:17 pm

Re: Need help with 550 horn wiring.

Post by Gr8uncleal »

Yes, just run those 2 wires direct to the battery to test the horn.

If you stored the horn in a relatively clean and dry place, it's unlikely that you'll need to look at the following theory. However, just in case (and apologies if you already know this!), inside the horn is a set of points and an electro magnet. On a couple of occasions I have got a "broken" horn working my taking it apart, cleaning the points and putting it back together again. Some Suzuki horns were riveted together, so that makes the aforementioned task quite tricky. However, others are just held together by small nuts and bolts/screws and so it is more straightforward.

Don't forget to post how you got it working (which you will!).

I've got 4 restos on the go and it always seems to be 2 steps forward, 1 step back with all of them. I agree that it makes sense to step away for a while and cogitate over a problem!
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