Horn Not Working on PPV, My Diagnosis Thus Far (Actual Horn Unit Works)

[2011SSVHOE]

You guys are great, thank you!

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Hey Spanky did you hook up your special flashing lights ? put 12v to green/red tracer wire in that blue connector it's a lot of fun trust me !!!!!

 

[04BUCKET]

Above posters are correct. i install police equipment all day long. This is called a horn ring wire. It is usually tapped so that the officer can set his siren to handsfree and use the horn button on the steering wheel to activate the siren without actually touching his equipment. Look under the dash and under radio. Most likely it was cut and not connected when they removed the equipment.

My horn works, but my reverse lights don't work. Similar issue? 08 stock PPV

 

[Spanky]

Ruben, have you checked for power at the reverse sockets? I don't think that would be related.

 

[Joeyhosmanole]

Great thread all, thank you very much. I picked up a 2011 SSV Tahoe in November and this has been bugging me since.

I poked around for the brown wire and sure enough it was cut, just spliced it back together and now the horn works.

Interestingly, the horn works only while the key is in accessory or while ignition is on. Good enough for me.

 

[kbuskill]

Interestingly, the horn works only while the key is in accessory or while ignition is on. Good enough for me.

That's normal for all these trucks.

The brake lights will also not illuminate by touching the brake pedal with out the key on.

 

[Joeyhosmanole]

That's normal for all these trucks.

The brake lights will also not illuminate by touching the brake pedal with out the key on.

True, same with the brake lights. Only when key is in accessory or on position.

BUT, suddenly the horn is now working even when the key is out.

Screwy, but whatever.

 

[The_Burban]

True, same with the brake lights. Only when key is in accessory or on position.

BUT, suddenly the horn is now working even when the key is out.

Screwy, but whatever.

These horn pads operate different features for sirens. So running priority, a hit if the horn pads changes siren tone (Yelp,party). Going further, to prevent the jumping out of the car and every vehicle on scene obnoxiously running a siren while parked or with key off, they are wired to cut off.

When you get your ppv/spv.. they rip out some of the parts and creates these gaps, problems.

 

[Cherry5000]

View attachment 70301 Hope this helps, brown plug on the bcm pin 18 should be direct from the clock spring connection.

Upon this reply was a schematic. When I clicked on the schematic it tells me that I need to be a member. I signed up and when I returned the schematic now is inaccessible. What happened?

 

[kbuskill]

Upon this reply was a schematic. When I clicked on the schematic it tells me that I need to be a member. I signed up and when I returned the schematic now is inaccessible. What happened?

Not sure... link works for me so here you go...

 

[Bigcrow74]

Alright boys and gals, I have a 2013 Police Tahoe (PPV). Great ride, but horn doesn't and has never worked. I am in LE and have owned a few personal PPVs, so it is very very common for the horn to not work when you press the steering wheel in, as the wires often get cut in police equipment removal; sometimes they are disabled right from the get go when police equipment is installed.

At this point in time, I have determined the following:

The horn itself is good. Used a wire to jump power straight from the battery to fuse 29 (HORN), and the horn sounds off.

From what I understand, the sequence of events is as follows: Press horn, horn switch > wire > BCM > wire > under hood fuse box > wire > horn sounds.

The signal is NOT reaching the fuse box. When I use a multimeter and ground it, and place the positive probe on the fuse and press the horn, no power is registered at the fuse. When I do this on my Suburban, which has the same setup, power registers on the multimeter (and the horn sounds off). So to me, there is an issue between the horn switch (steering wheel) and the fuse box.

If I am correct, the issue can only be one of these:

Horn switch (steering wheel), or something related to it, clockspring, etc.

Wire cut between horn switch and BCM, or between BCM and fuse box.

BCM itself.

So...how can I test these and eliminate? I wanted to manually jump the wire running from the horn switch/clockspring assembly straight to the fuse box to see if that makes the horn sound off. To be honest, if it does, I will just leave it like that, and my problem is fixed, since I never use the horn ever anyways. I am just preparing to sell the truck, and while 99% of people don't test the horn on a test drive, I don't want to sell it to an unsuspecting buyer without a horn.

Something that will help me achieve that is a diagram or wire labeling that tells me which wire leaving the steering wheel is for the horn trigger. I have read on other years on other forums that it is a tan wire. When I get my head in the impossible position to look up back towards the wheel from under the dash, there are multiple tan wires.


Any help is appreciated, thank you.

I know is

Alright boys and gals, I have a 2013 Police Tahoe (PPV). Great ride, but horn doesn't and has never worked. I am in LE and have owned a few personal PPVs, so it is very very common for the horn to not work when you press the steering wheel in, as the wires often get cut in police equipment removal; sometimes they are disabled right from the get go when police equipment is installed.

At this point in time, I have determined the following:

The horn itself is good. Used a wire to jump power straight from the battery to fuse 29 (HORN), and the horn sounds off.

From what I understand, the sequence of events is as follows: Press horn, horn switch > wire > BCM > wire > under hood fuse box > wire > horn sounds.

The signal is NOT reaching the fuse box. When I use a multimeter and ground it, and place the positive probe on the fuse and press the horn, no power is registered at the fuse. When I do this on my Suburban, which has the same setup, power registers on the multimeter (and the horn sounds off). So to me, there is an issue between the horn switch (steering wheel) and the fuse box.

If I am correct, the issue can only be one of these:

Horn switch (steering wheel), or something related to it, clockspring, etc.

Wire cut between horn switch and BCM, or between BCM and fuse box.

BCM itself.

So...how can I test these and eliminate? I wanted to manually jump the wire running from the horn switch/clockspring assembly straight to the fuse box to see if that makes the horn sound off. To be honest, if it does, I will just leave it like that, and my problem is fixed, since I never use the horn ever anyways. I am just preparing to sell the truck, and while 99% of people don't test the horn on a test drive, I don't want to sell it to an unsuspecting buyer without a horn.

Something that will help me achieve that is a diagram or wire labeling that tells me which wire leaving the steering wheel is for the horn trigger. I have read on other years on other forums that it is a tan wire. When I get my head in the impossible position to look up back towards the wheel from under the dash, there are multiple tan wires.


Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Bigcrow74]

I know it’s been 3 years since your horn issue write up but I’ve recently acquired a 2012 Tahoe PPV with same exact issue. What did you end of doing to resolve yours?

 

[Joeyhosmanole]

I know it’s been 3 years since your horn issue write up but I’ve recently acquired a 2012 Tahoe PPV with same exact issue. What did you end of doing to resolve yours?

Been awhile since I checked in here. You've probably already found a few similar issues and maybe some solutions.

But in case this is still eating at you or any one else; before these ppv/ssv trucks go into service they arrive at an upfitter from the factory where a whole bunch of splicing and rewiring occurs.

It is pretty simple in many cases to resolve issues like the horn, reverse lights, brake lights, rear door locks not working by locating where the upfitter spliced the wiring and restoring it back to the factory configuration by removing the splice.

Of course you'll want to check related fuses before getting tangled in wiring. If the fuse is bad, replace it first and try again. If the fuse is good, high likelihood that whatever function is inop was modified by the upfitter.

In the case of the horn, take a peek under the dash and gently poke around above the gas pedal for a brown wire, it may have some length to it and may be tucked away deep inside the dash or near where the center console would meet the dash. Some other members posted some helpful photos in this same thread to help with the horn.

Once you find it, simply follow the wire in each direction until you find where it has been spliced. It should appear obvious as if an after market splice was applied. Cut out the after market wiring and restore the factory wiring by reconnecting the 2 ends of the brown wires.

The same method may help you with the brake lights and reverse lights. Check the BCM which is to the left of the brake pedal. If you see any wires that appear as if an after market splice has been applied, cut out the splice and restore the original wiring by reconnecting the remaining ends. Just make sure that the colors match.

For the rear door locks, remove the door panels and find a spliced wire near where the speaker cavity is. Restore the factory wiring by cutting out the after market splice and reconnecting the remaining ends. Viola your locks work again.

As always please take proper precautions by disconnecting battery, etc. before tinkering with wiring.

 

[Darrius]

I found the horn wires. You said to get the reverse lights working it’s the same process but what color are the reverse light wires. Any idea why both my center and rear dome light are not working.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sparksalot]

You guys are great, thank you!

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This was super helpful. Mine wasn’t cut but, the tan and black (horn ring?) have identical connectors and were plugged in crossed. Switch them back and horn works now.

 

[hobstexas]

I am experiencing the same issue!

 

[WheelsOfSteel]

Even though this is an older thread I figured this would still be a good place to post. I have a 2012 Chevy Tahoe PPV and have been trying to sort out the horn not working. After reading through this thread I believe I found how to fix it but would like an opinion on this. I located the 6J4 Inline Connector as shown in the booklet photo under the center console. The two tan wires look alike and I believe it was cut and each one end was crimped into a black wire and a black and white striped wire as shown. I want to cut and reattach both tan wires but I am a bit apprehensive.

 

[WheelsOfSteel]

Even though this is an older thread I figured this would still be a good place to post. I have a 2012 Chevy Tahoe PPV and have been trying to sort out the horn not working. After reading through this thread I believe I found how to fix it but would like an opinion on this. I located the 6J4 Inline Connector as shown in the booklet photo under the center console. The two tan wires look alike and I believe it was cut and each one end was crimped into a black wire and a black and white striped wire as shown. I want to cut and reattach both tan wires but I am a bit apprehensive.

So I got over being chicken and cut the wires. As you can see I cut on the black wire sides in order to leave myself some extra wire length and stripped enough to test. I tested for continuity and power and only had power to one tan wire, and the other tan wire showed no continuity or power. I held each end together and pushed the horn and it worked. I then crimped the wires together with the blue connector. Hope this might help someone else.

 

[1lowhoe04]

Man you guys are awesome! Great info !!!!! It was the damn two wires under the radio !

 

[JoeBlobs]

Even though this is an older thread I figured this would still be a good place to post. I have a 2012 Chevy Tahoe PPV and have been trying to sort out the horn not working. After reading through this thread I believe I found how to fix it but would like an opinion on this. I located the 6J4 Inline Connector as shown in the booklet photo under the center console. The two tan wires look alike and I believe it was cut and each one end was crimped into a black wire and a black and white striped wire as shown. I want to cut and reattach both tan wires but I am a bit apprehensive.

You found it! Here is the technical information from the Chevrolet upfitter guide for the SSV in case it might help someone.

 

[SkoobyJ]

Brown wires were cut in mine too, thanks!