[dstrains]

Hi All,
An ultra newbie here. I just put a new battery in my 71 Nova a couple weeks ago. It died a week later after sitting for 2 days. Died completely - no lights or anything would come on. I jumped it and ran it to Autozone and they said the battery is good, but somethings definitely draining in constantly. The idle voltage hovers around 12volts. They said there was a something like a 6amp constant drain. I hooked up a test light and pulled all the fuses, but the light stays on. Also, when disconnecting the negative cable to hook up the test light, there was a clicking noise whenever I touched the wrench to the cable in the front left of the car, near where the horn is. I'd also like to disconnect the horn relay to see if that kills the drain, also because the horn has been giving me problems in the past.

Here's the question: Where is the horn relay located in a 71 Nova? And once located, what do I need to do to disconnect it? Remove green wire from horn? Finally, what does the relay look like?

Very newbish questions I know, but you gotta start somewhere.

Thanks!

- Derek

 

[tnblkc230wz]

The horn relay is located on the left hand side of the core support. It is a small squareish device with a couple of red wires screwed to it and one two wire plug. It has one bolt holding it to the core support and it is very easy to get to.

 

[dstrains]

The horn relay is located on the left hand side of the core support. It is a small squareish device with a couple of red wires screwed to it and one two wire plug. It has one bolt holding it to the core support and it is very easy to get to.

Thanks for the tip. I've looked everywhere along the core support and both sides of the front fenders and don't see anything remotely close to that description. However, in the location you described I see what appears to be a spot where something once was mounted - 2 screw holes about an inch or two apart and a dark spot ~3" square-ish. I wonder if the horn relay was there but moved elsewhere at some point?

 

[3504speed]

Going by the size, that sounds more like the voltage regulator rather that the horn relay. Did someone move the voltage regulator also, or has it been converted to an internal regulator? Also check behind the washer fluid tank for the horn relay.

 

[dstrains]

Going by the size, that sounds more like the voltage regulator rather that the horn relay. Did someone move the voltage regulator also, or has it been converted to an internal regulator? Also check behind the washer fluid tank for the horn relay.

To tell you the truth I'm not sure if the alternator has been replaced with one with an internal voltage regulator. I'll check on that when I get home. I pulled the washer fluid tank out and only see the horn mounted in that area. The green wire from the horn disappears into a blob of electrical tape behind it and I haven't determined yet where it goes from there.

 

[tnblkc230wz]

The regulator and horn relay are next to each other. The regulator is larger and will have one plug with four wires coming out of it, brown, white, blue and large red.