Hi Everyone!

I’ve got a bit of an issue that I was hoping someone may be able to offer some advice on. The horn on the Z no longer works and I can’t really work out why ?

I’ve changed the fuse in the engine, the relay in the engine and even got new horns – Hella Supertone, but still no joy.

I also removed the air bag from the steering wheel to check if something had happened there, but everything looked good!

One thing I’m not sure on is how the wiring for the horns works. The buttons from the steering wheel connect to the earth and then go into some kind of ‘module’? Is this for the air bag or the HICAS or something else?

As everything else is working independently, I’m leaning towards this ‘module’ thing being at fault – but I have no idea what it is or does!

The ‘Air Bag’ light goes on on ignition and turns off as normal too. Nothing has changed in terms of the wiring and the problem randomly occurred.

I’m not that great at electrics, but I have a friend who is and they also suggested it may be the ‘module’ at fault, as everything else looks okay.

Is there anything else to consider?

Thanks in advance all! ?

Information on the ‘module’ sticker:

Nissan Motor DC12V

Custom ER’S No = 98584 53P00

Parts No = 407933-0591

ASCOTEC

A picture of the module under the air bag –

 

Horn Button - 

 

Steering Wheel Rear View - 

 

Module Closer -

Probably a grounding issue

Mine has the original horns and the ground is the bolt that bolts the horn to the chassis. Make sure it clean and free of dirt for a good connection. Aftermarket horns can have a ground wire (normally black) so make sure that is connected somewhere for a good ground. Mine is the non airbag version so cant really advise much Im afraid.

After a lot of digging:

- Ascotec make airbag module boards for cars, including the nissan/infinity range (https://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/415233-Infinity-Q45-Nissan-Cima-1996-light-on-no-codes?p=2281660&viewfull=1)

- a replacement can be found from a japanese auction site, but only as part as a new steering wheel. However, due to Yahoo locking out European users (due to GDPR internet rules I imagine) you need a VPN to access the site and a translater on chrome (https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/closedsearch/closedsearch/z32 純正 ホイール/0/)

- A horn relay can be found here (https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1996,300zx,3.0l+v6+turbocharged,1209844,electrical-switch+&+relay,horn+relay,3468), looks different to the airbag relay.

- I would trace the voltage to see if you have a bad connection or broken wire somewhere. Maybe even jury rig a horn from a known working 12v to make sure the horns are actually working too

Hope that kinda helps or at least can get you on the right track

For the life of me I cannot find on this forum info about my horn fix, so it looks like I didn't post about it.

I lost my horn like you, I couldn't figure it out why it wouldn't function and scratched my head like you are doing.

I just put a fresh wire in from the steering wheel push to the the engine bay relay and this fixed it.

Just rig it up initially and get it working, then tidy up through the bulk head, other than that vague info I cannot remember anymore !!

On 08/01/2023 at 00:16, Toomanyzeds said:

Probably a grounding issue

I was kind of hoping this would be the issue, but I tried both the original location of the horn bolt mounting to the chassis and a few other locations - still no luck,

 

On 08/01/2023 at 10:38, TheRealNips said:

Mine has the original horns and the ground is the bolt that bolts the horn to the chassis. Make sure it clean and free of dirt for a good connection. Aftermarket horns can have a ground wire (normally black) so make sure that is connected somewhere for a good ground. Mine is the non airbag version so cant really advise much Im afraid.

After a lot of digging:

- Ascotec make airbag module boards for cars, including the nissan/infinity range (https://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/415233-Infinity-Q45-Nissan-Cima-1996-light-on-no-codes?p=2281660&viewfull=1)

- a replacement can be found from a japanese auction site, but only as part as a new steering wheel. However, due to Yahoo locking out European users (due to GDPR internet rules I imagine) you need a VPN to access the site and a translater on chrome (https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/closedsearch/closedsearch/z32 純正 ホイール/0/)

- A horn relay can be found here (https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,1996,300zx,3.0l+v6+turbocharged,1209844,electrical-switch+&+relay,horn+relay,3468), looks different to the airbag relay.

- I would trace the voltage to see if you have a bad connection or broken wire somewhere. Maybe even jury rig a horn from a known working 12v to make sure the horns are actually working too

Hope that kinda helps or at least can get you on the right track

- Ascotec - So does that mean that the 'module' is the air bag module? It looks completely different to what I can find when searching online,

- The horns and relay were tested individually on a bench test and were working - even the old horns worked when tested individually!

 

On 08/01/2023 at 21:51, phutumsch said:

For the life of me I cannot find on this forum info about my horn fix, so it looks like I didn't post about it.

I lost my horn like you, I couldn't figure it out why it wouldn't function and scratched my head like you are doing.

I just put a fresh wire in from the steering wheel push to the the engine bay relay and this fixed it.

Just rig it up initially and get it working, then tidy up through the bulk head, other than that vague info I cannot remember anymore !!

I feel this may be the way to go. Sorry for the simple question, but would this mean running a wire from the left-brown connector on the module to the relay? Hopefully, this doesn't cause any issues to make the module think something is wrong,

I'm trying to source a just a second module too as it's a bit annoying having the additional wire running around for the horn. But as TheRealNips has said, they can only be found on the Japanese auction sites,

 

Thanks for the inputs all ?

I would say that the module in your picture with Ascotec on it, in high probability, is the air bag module. I would be very careful doing anything to it or around it. Last thing you need is to set the air bag off. Safety first!

Have you tried the engine bay fuse, check for power there. Chase the power with a multimeter to narrow down your fault area. A wiring diagram will help as well.

17 hours ago, mister_fcx said:

I was kind of hoping this would be the issue, but I tried both the original location of the horn bolt mounting to the chassis and a few other locations - still no luck,

 

- Ascotec - So does that mean that the 'module' is the air bag module? It looks completely different to what I can find when searching online,

- The horns and relay were tested individually on a bench test and were working - even the old horns worked when tested individually!

 

I feel this may be the way to go. Sorry for the simple question, but would this mean running a wire from the left-brown connector on the module to the relay? Hopefully, this doesn't cause any issues to make the module think something is wrong,

I'm trying to source a just a second module too as it's a bit annoying having the additional wire running around for the horn. But as TheRealNips has said, they can only be found on the Japanese auction sites,

 

Thanks for the inputs all ?

Yes but not at the steering wheel, trace to under the steering column and solder in there.

Then run through the bull head and you can trap at the contact in the relay.

On 13/01/2023 at 23:32, TheRealNips said:

I would say that the module in your picture with Ascotec on it, in high probability, is the air bag module. I would be very careful doing anything to it or around it. Last thing you need is to set the air bag off. Safety first!

Have you tried the engine bay fuse, check for power there. Chase the power with a multimeter to narrow down your fault area. A wiring diagram will help as well.

Indeed! I was quite sceptical of doing anything near it in case it tripped something,

It seems there is power at the fuse, but tracing it back it more tricky than I thought it would be - perhaps a bit more time is needed ?

 

On 14/01/2023 at 16:19, phutumsch said:

Yes but not at the steering wheel, trace to under the steering column and solder in there.

Then run through the bull head and you can trap at the contact in the relay.

 Ooooo okay, I may need a bit more info on how to complete this - electrics confuse me ? So I may take it to a friend and see if they understand it,

I'll keep an eye out for a module though to see if swapping it would resolve it,