Re: horn relay problem, 5 prong to 3 prong?

["Dean W. Cains" <alfisto74@domain.elided>]

Hi Luke:

About a month ago I went trough the same thing on my '74 Spider.  I had no 
horns for a year or so, and finally got them fixed.  The very next morning, 
they saved my ass on the interstate when a Ford Explorer (what a 
coincidence) started to move left one lane, almost crushing me and the 
Spider into the concrete divider.  The Bosch relay and Fiamm horns really 
saved our pancetta.

Anyway, the OEM Fiamm relay can easily be replaced by a Bosch or other 
generic equivalent.  While the Bosch relay has two external terminals that 
would each be connected to +12v, on the Fiamm, the terminals are internally 
connected, so only one external terminal is needed (red wire).  12V+ needs 
to be supplied to one side of the relay coil, and also to one side of the 
relay switch.  One of the two remaining terminals goes to the horn switch 
(black wire), and the other goes to the horns (purple wire).

I soldered a short jumper made from 18 ga. non-stranded copper wire between 
terminals #30 and  #85 on the Bosch relay, down close to the relay's 
plastic case.  The Spider's OEM red wire can then be pugged onto either of 
those terminals.  The OEM purple wire goes to the horns, and plugs onto 
relay terminal #87.  The OEM black wire goes to the horn switch, and plugs 
onto relay terminal #86.  That's all there is to do.

I found a new set of OEM Fiamm horns on eBay for $16.00 shipped.  The guy 
had many sets, and I think I was the only bidder at the time.  Do a search 
for "Fiamm" and I'll bet he's still got lots left.    He also had Fiamm air 
horns, but the OEM type are plenty loud, at least when they're not 27 years 
old!  The new horns also came with a new 5-terminal Fiamm relay, which I 
used to replace the old, OEM starter relay (plug and play, no jumpers 
needed).  Any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Regards,

Dean W. Cains
dwc@domain.elided

'74 Spider Veloce
Lutz, FL

At 02:47 PM 10/22/2001, you wrote:
>Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 11:42:15 -0700 (PDT)
>From: "Luke M. Kowalski" <interfaces@domain.elided>
>Subject: horn relay problem, 5 prong to 3 prong?
>
>Argh....The horn is gone. I suspect it is the relay (I hear clicking
>from it when I press the horn, and the fuses are OK). It went out when
>I tried to make this woman in an Exploder realize that she was merging
>into me on the San Mateo bridge.
>This is in a 74 Spider. The horn relay is on the driver side of the
>firewall, and it has 3 terminals. When I called my kind suppliers at
>Alfa Parts in Berkeley (recommended, albeit the city council of theirs
>bothers me) and ordered the relay, they said that Alfa now specifies a
>Bosch replacement (the FAMM is NLA).
>This Bosh relay has 5 terminals. I tired matching the little numbers on
>the diagrams when hooking things up (36 to 36, 85 to 85), but no luck.
>
>How do I figure out which of the 5 terminals used to be the 3 on the
>old one?
>I have a wiring diagram for my car, and I am a member of AROC and ARA,
>should any of these give me good karma.
>
>thx in advance
>luke, Belmont, CA
>
>74 Spider (mute)
>90 Porsche 911, 98 Audi A6 Q
>Ferrari 250 GTE (after my wife finishes the MBA)
>Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.

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