Horn in 2000 Lincoln LS

JRAGON21

MEMBER
2000 LINCOLN LS
6 CYL
2WD

I have an issue with my horn on my 2000 Lincoln Ls. There was a freak rain storm and I left my windows cracked. When I returned to my vehicle my horn was blaring constantly but the funny thing is that if I turned on my headlights it would stop but as soon as I put the headlight automatic switch back in the auto it would start again. I tried to troubleshoot it by seeing if the horn blowing was due to the security horn (not), then I sought to see if it was because of wet contacts (no because I let them dry). I replaced the horn relay (no). My horn is still blaring and I have to disconnect the battery to stop the horn and I am still no closer to fixing it than when I started. Any guidance would be extremely appreciated.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,871 POSTS

You gotta love the engineers at Ford for this one. In normal cars, the horn switch turns on a five-dollar relay which sends current to the horns. In your car, the horn switch sends a voltage to the most intelligent computer on the car, the instrument cluster. The cluster interprets that as a request for the horn to blow, so it sends a digital signal to the FEM, (Front Electronic Module), which interprets that signal and turns on the relay to send current to the horn. That's right; two computers involved in blowing the horn!

The most common problem is a dead horn and the typical repair cost is almost $800.00. Your best bet is the dealer. They will most likely have a new FEM in stock. If the problem is in the instrument cluster, yours will typically be sent out for repair, or a new one will be ordered with the correct mileage programmed in already.