Hella superhorn.... Is a relay needed for a brand new car?

[mizuno]

Greetings! My uncle just purchased a brand new camry a few weeks ago. He had a hella superhorn (yung pula) installed at toyota. But they installed it without the enclosed relay. Acoording to the Toyota technician, the camry already has a factory relay so there is no need to place the relay that came with the horn. But according to other car accessories dealers i have asked, the relay should still be installed. For me, iba yung tunog ng horn niya as compared to the same horn installed (with the relay) in my honda civic. My questions are:
1. Should a relay still be installed even if its a brand new "modern" car with a factory relay?
2. Will it change or affect the sound of the horn?
3. What is the function of the relay?
Thanks in advance!

[bender]

Had a similar problem with my aftermarket horns on my vios. the built in relay can only support the low powered OEM horn. our company's motorpool added a relay to provide enough power to the horn.

[OTEP]

The simple answer is YES.

There is a built in relay? Where? In the technician's imagination?

Using the stock wiring is the lazy method. Perfect if you delight in blowing the horn fuse of your stock wiring system. Even dumber are installers who just slap on a higher rated fuse which essentially defeats the purpose of the fuse (which is to act as the weakest link).

The correct way is to lay down a new power wire (from the battery or fuse block), new ground wire, and new wires leading to the horns. The stock horn wire will now be just used as a 'trigger' wire to trip the relay and complete the circuit to fire the horn.

This way, it will be impossible to overload the stock wiring.

[gonzo]

The simple answer is YES.

There is a built in relay? Where? In the technician's imagination?

Using the stock wiring is the lazy method. Perfect if you delight in blowing the horn fuse of your stock wiring system. Even dumber are installers who just slap on a higher rated fuse which essentially defeats the purpose of the fuse (which is to act as the weakest link).

The correct way is to lay down a new power wire (from the battery or fuse block), new ground wire, and new wires leading to the horns. The stock horn wire will now be just used as a 'trigger' wire to trip the relay and complete the circuit to fire the horn.

This way, it will be impossible to overload the stock wiring.

Well explained...

And by doing this it can deliver the required power to your Hella horn.. and brings out the max potential sound.

[mizuno]

Thanks for the advice guys... that's what I suspected all along. I relayed it to my uncle so he went to a car accessory store in Davao (he is from Davao) and was told that he may need 2 relays for the horn. How many relays are needed for this horn model? I believe that 1 relay will already do.

[OTEP]

One relay will do. That's why the box only has one relay in it.

[badbadtz.carlo]

The correct way is to lay down a new power wire (from the battery or fuse block), new ground wire, and new wires leading to the horns. The stock horn wire will now be just used as a 'trigger' wire to trip the relay and complete the circuit to fire the horn.

This way, it will be impossible to overload the stock wiring.

hi sir OTEP,
is this the standard way of installing horns? can you recommend a shop who does this as standard, hopefully somewhere near makati, ortigas or pasig area? i'm going to get myself a set of new horns by next week, and i fear that they may not do it the ideal way.

TIA

[non-vtec]

when i installed a denso horn in my car, it was a simple plug and play. the sound was enough. had it for two years and never had a problem.

[OTEP]

I don't know the shops in your area. I have mine installed in Kamias at Glenn's shop (92 Kamias road QC). Just look for Ronald. They are open 7am to 7pm M-S and 7am-3pm Sundays and Holidays.