Open trunk - horn blows steady

[Viking]

Hey All, 2009 GL1800, if I open the trunk all the way, the horn starts blowing - steady. Will not shut off till I close the trunk. Is there something for the horn that goes through the hinges on the trunk? That seems strange to me if there is, but from electronics I is really a know nuttin. Anyone who is willing to share knowledge - it would be most welcome.

[DaveO430]

I suspect the wires in the harnesses near the right trunk hinge have broken and shorted together.

[Viking]

Thanks Dave. I have been waiting for those wires to cause some rear speaker problems, what with all the blurb on that on here, but I did not expect the horn to be the culprit. Thanks for the aim. I will look there directly.

[WingAdmin]

Odd - I suppose it could have something to do with the trunk lock control unit/relay? The right two wires shorted together could definitely cause this to happen.

GL1800 Horn circuit

[Viking]

I suspect the wires in the harnesses near the right trunk hinge have broken and shorted together.

You hit it on the head DaveO430. Right side wiring had three wires that had cut insulation, and one broken. There was nothing burnt, but obviously, cross shorting was the problem. Green, PinkWgreen and Pink all had insulation separation and BrownWpink was broken. Fixed them by tapeing the insulation on three and adding a wire patch to the brown to keep it same length and then insulating it and rewrapping and repositioning the wire bundle. The bundle anchor at the very front of the trunk hinge was missing/broken off. I checked the left side and then replaced the anchor on the right with a bundle tie in a corresponding position as per the left side. I can see these bundles being a pain in the butt over the years, but cannot see a total and permanent solution.

[GoldWingrGreg]

I you look on your remote, the red button blow the horn to help locate your Wing when it is parked and hidden around vans and pickups. The harness at the right hinge gets voltage in, and then sends it out to the horns, from the remote control unit under the inner trunk liner.

The best advise I can give is to repair with a new harness. They are not that expensive. I've done both ... carefully repaired the old making the outside look as if nothing ever happened, and well crimped long wires far from the bends, and replace the harness. For me, a new harness lasts considerably longer than my repair.

[WingAdmin]

I you look on your remote, the red button blow the horn to help locate your Wing when it is parked and hidden around vans and pickups. The harness at the right hinge gets voltage in, and then sends it out to the horns, from the remote control unit under the inner trunk liner.

The best advise I can give is to repair with a new harness. They are not that expensive. I've done both ... carefully repaired the old making the outside look as if nothing ever happened, and well crimped long wires far from the bends, and replace the harness. For me, a new harness lasts considerably longer than my repair.

I generally will pull new wire, make it a larger gauge wire to prevent it from happening again, and splice it in place of the old wires. When one wire has broken, I assume that the others aren't far behind, so I will usually do it to ALL of them. I had a wire break like this (from fatigue) on a handlebar bundle once, and as a result spliced and re-soldered 20-odd wires in the bundle. I had to space the splices out over several inches, as having 20-something splices and heatshrink tubing all in the same spot would have made it too wide to fit into the handlebar wire channel. Not fun, but it was a permanent fix that I'm fairly sure will never break again.

[GoldWingrGreg]

I generally will pull new wire, make it a larger gauge wire to prevent it from happening again, and splice it in place of the old wires. When one wire has broken, I assume that the others aren't far behind, so I will usually do it to ALL of them. I had a wire break like this (from fatigue) on a handlebar bundle once, and as a result spliced and re-soldered 20-odd wires in the bundle. I had to space the splices out over several inches, as having 20-something splices and heatshrink tubing all in the same spot would have made it too wide to fit into the handlebar wire channel. Not fun, but it was a permanent fix that I'm fairly sure will never break again.

In the trunk hinge area I've tried that, but using the same gauge. I do the same thing ... long wires to get well past a stressed are, soldered, heat shrunk, etc ... . Here is probably why my repairs have failed, and is why I suggest just getting a new harness from Honda.

I live in the out skirts of a very small city (Tampa). And basically, since Florida, in general, has little to no industry, getting good electrical wire is challenging. The only known electronics place I used to use closed down about 5 years ago. Almost everything I need to repair 5th gens is not come to me from a local supplier. The best source I have for wire is from Napa, and as most know, Napa is not the Napa from the past. Although I get good wire from them, what is really needed is wire quality equal to, or better than what Honda uses. Honda uses wire with finer strands then I can get through Napa. If I had a local source for wire such as "test lead" wire, then my repairs would probably last much longer.

I used to live in Seattle, and back then I would have known several stores with a good choice for such wire ... and could choose from various colors. Seattle is a huge city, that feeds Alaska, and Canada, with big industry like Boeing. Unfortunanly, Tampa is just too small to offer good a selection of good wire.

[WingAdmin]

I generally will pull new wire, make it a larger gauge wire to prevent it from happening again, and splice it in place of the old wires. When one wire has broken, I assume that the others aren't far behind, so I will usually do it to ALL of them. I had a wire break like this (from fatigue) on a handlebar bundle once, and as a result spliced and re-soldered 20-odd wires in the bundle. I had to space the splices out over several inches, as having 20-something splices and heatshrink tubing all in the same spot would have made it too wide to fit into the handlebar wire channel. Not fun, but it was a permanent fix that I'm fairly sure will never break again.

In the trunk hinge area I've tried that, but using the same gauge. I do the same thing ... long wires to get well past a stressed are, soldered, heat shrunk, etc ... . Here is probably why my repairs have failed, and is why I suggest just getting a new harness from Honda.

I live in the out skirts of a very small city (Tampa). And basically, since Florida in general, has little to no industry, getting good electrical wire is challenging. The only known electronics place I used to use closed down about 5 years ago. Almost everything I need to repair 5th gens is not come to me from a local supplier. The best source I have for wire is from Napa, and as most know, Napa is not the Napa from the past. Although I get good wire from them, what is really needed is wire quality equal to, or better than what Honda uses. Honda uses wire with finer strands then I can get through Napa. If I had a local source for wire such as "test lead" wire, then my repairs would probably last much longer.

Napa wire is definitely not good quality wire anymore - pretty much the same stuff you get at any auto store, or Wal-mart.

I buy my wire in spools from https://www.delcity.net - it's cheap, high-quality, and in any gauge or color that you could want. I keep spools of various colors and gauges in my shop, and re-order when I start getting low.

[GoldWingrGreg]

Napa wire is definitely not good quality wire anymore - pretty much the same stuff you get at any auto store, or Wal-mart.

I buy my wire in spools from https://www.delcity.net - it's cheap, high-quality, and in any gauge or color that you could want. I keep spools of various colors and gauges in my shop, and re-order when I start getting low.

I just looked ... the smallest order of 20gauge primary wire is 100 units of 100 ft. Do they sell in smaller units ???

[WingAdmin]

Napa wire is definitely not good quality wire anymore - pretty much the same stuff you get at any auto store, or Wal-mart.

I buy my wire in spools from https://www.delcity.net - it's cheap, high-quality, and in any gauge or color that you could want. I keep spools of various colors and gauges in my shop, and re-order when I start getting low.

I just looked ... the smallest order of 20gauge primary wire is 100 units of 100 ft. Do they sell in smaller units ???

I don't think so, I usually order a couple 100 foot spools at a time. They are about the size of a soup can.

I also get my heat shrink tubing there in bulk, far cheaper than anywhere else. Zip ties, too.

[ayassa]

Thanks for all the chats and comments. The same thing happened to me this week on Gl 1800, 2008. Horn sound if trunk is open completely.
Although the alarm/call red button on the remote never worked, I found out a good but noisy way to have an alert if someone open the motorcycle trunk. Unfortunately that is uasually my wife or I.

Anyway, will replace some wires temporarily until I can locate a new harness.

Regards,

[GoldWingrGreg]

Although the alarm/call red button on the remote never worked, I found out a good but noisy way to have an alert if someone open the motorcycle trunk. Unfortunately that is uasually my wife or I.

Anyway, will replace some wires temporarily until I can locate a new harness.

Regards,

Once it is all repaired, to test the red button on the remove, press and hold the red button. Pressing it does nothing ... holding is the important part ... probably 3-5 secs.

[Viking]

Greg, do you know the part number for the harness in question? Is it 32120 MCA H50? The one that goes across both hinges and into the trunk? Looking at a parts fiche of wiring is like looking into a birds nest. Thanks.

[ayassa]

Hope this could help. Unfortunately, it applies to GL1800 up to 2008/
Based on earlier post, I believe that the wire harness with horn component is harness # 9 (on right of the trunk) highlighted in reddish color.

[GoldWingrGreg]

It is part #9.

https://www.mrcycles.com/oemparts/a/hon ... re-harness

Hint: when removing the old harness, use a magic marker to mark which hole in the trunk lid that the harness routes through, and which holes the clips snap into. Also, both hinges have metal bent-over-tabs that hold the harness in place. Gently pry those up to get the old harness out and new in. The less they are bent, the longer they lost. You will need to remove everything that is black that hangs on the front and both sides of the trunk and trunk lid.

[GoldWingrGreg]

It is part #9.

https://www.mrcycles.com/oemparts/a/hon ... re-harness

Hint: when removing the old harness, use a magic marker to mark which hole in the trunk lid that the harness routes through, and which holes the clips snap into. Also, both hinges have metal bent-over-tabs that hold the harness in place. Gently pry those up to get the old harness out and new in. The less they are bent, the longer they lost. You will need to remove everything that is black that hangs on the front and both sides of the trunk and trunk lid. Test your rear speakers first to know that all is good there.

[Techdude2000]

Just a FYI, the pink wire breaking and being grounded is the horn blowing culprit. Normally, the trunk lock control unit grounds this wire to blow the horns when the red fob button is pushed and held for 2 seconds or more. A new harness is the best way to fix this.