Horn Relay

[Plugs Sis]

Can anyone tell me where to find the horn relay on a Ford Escort Zx2.
Thank you in advance for your help.

[Escorts4ever]

If memory serves me correctly the on time Ford uses a horn relay is if your car has factory speed control. If it does not then the horn is direct wired. Can you give a reason for looking for it?

[Plugs Sis]

Originally Posted by Escorts4ever

If memory serves me correctly the on time Ford uses a horn relay is if your car has factory speed control. If it does not then the horn is direct wired. Can you give a reason for looking for it?

Yes the horn does not work anymore. Was told by someone it was the relay. I just can not find it anywhere. Thank you for your input.

[bmenzing]

Originally Posted by Plugs Sis

Yes the horn does not work anymore. Was told by someone it was the relay. I just can not find it anywhere. Thank you for your input.

The horn relay on ZX2's is located underneath the dashboard on the drivers side. There are several relays located there - identify the horn relay by the "clicking" sound it makes when the horn is pressed. The likelyhood that you have a bad relay is minimal. Start by checking the horn fuse (the fuse box is located under the dash on the driver side). Next, check the relay. If the relay is making a clicking noise, it is probably OK. The next thing to check is the horn itself. it is located on the passenger side of the vehicle, up underneath the front bumber. Most instructions say to remove the bumber cover to get to the horn, but this is not neccesary. In my experience with Escort horn problems, the problem has been with the horn "switch", a wafer thin piece of plastic that lies between the steering wheel cover and the airbag assembly. Below are instructions for replacement of this switch - don't be intimidted by the procedure - it is not difficult.

You cannot buy a horn switch at a dealer - they tell you that the horn switch is part of the airbag assembly, which cost $450 plus. Understandably, Ford doesn't want people "messing around" with airbags. Go to a junk yard - you can eazily find and remove the horn switch from an Escort who's airbags have already deployed. I bought two of them for $5. Identify and remove the junkyard horn switch by reading step 7 below. This is an eazy fix if you follow these instructions. Should take about 10 minutes. I replaced my "stuck" 97 Escort horn switch as follows...
1) Disconnect negative battery cable, wait for at least 1/2 hour for residual power discharge before proceeding to net step (IMPORTANT!). This will disable the airbag. Neglecting this step could cause serious injury or death!
2) Remove two 10mm bolts directly behind the steering wheel - one on left, one on right. These secure the airbag unit.
3) carefully lift the airbag unit out of the steering wheel.
4) remove two small star-screws at bottom of airbag unit using star end screw driver - the horn wires enter the airbag unit next to these screws
5) pry the airbag cover (this is the front part of the steering wheel cover with the horn picture on it) off of the plastic tabs of the airbag unit, on the left & right sides - should come off very eazily.
6) now you can lift the airbag cover up (there are three rivets that continue to hold the top portion of the cover in place)
7) the horn switch, which is covered by a thin layer of dark foam, is a very thin plastic pad with two wires coming out (same wires as step 4). You can see wafer thin copper strips inside the plastic. The switch is held in place by three small plastic tabs. Remove the switch and disconnect the wires at the red connector inside the steering wheel.
8) replace horn switch with junkyard switch
9) re-assembly is the reverse of the removal.
This procedure should apply to 97 through 2002 Escorts, including the ZX2. Hope this helps someone save some money.

[Plugs Sis]

Thank you very much. You have been very helpful. Will try that as soon as possible. I did checki the fise and it is fine.
Thanks again I will let you know how it goes later.