Horn Upgrade --- DIY

It'll fit, my issue was that Amazon would ship one to Hawaii, and not the other. Another Wth moment, I ended up getting equivalent horns from a local NAPA auto parts store.

 

Thanks for all the info!

I swapped out the horns last week and got to "use" it! Huge difference!

 

Which horns exactly did you buy, and which Prius model did they fit?
Thanks!

 

I put in a set of Tundra horns




iPhone ?

 

72102 FIAMM Freeway Blaster Horn High Tone and
72112 FIAMM Freeway Blaster Horn Low Tone.

Easy swap on my 2011.

 

FIAMM horns ordered and arriving tomorrow. Can't wait to get rid of the weak stock horns!!!

 

OK, now the BIG question -- do I NEED a better horn?

I really need to know! I'm on a budget.

So, yeah, at first I kinda hated the Prius' horn. It sounds like an annoying gnat poking at me.
Any I can't tell if it's that loud. Might be kinda quiet? But then again, it's high and chirpy, so it's annoying and probably cuts through...

To whit - is anyone actually having problems being heard ?

Another way to look at it - Anyone noticing better driving with the after-market horns?

Or is it just....'get the hell out of my way' stuff ?

Maybe I can keep the old and add the new..best of both worlds if it's a help.

Thanks,
PNB

 

Great instructions. I found this post and did this myself a few weeks ago. The only issue I ran into was the new horn closest to the driver side positions differently than the facory and the power connecting clip was short by about an inch due to length of factory wire. I took the bracket off of one of the old horns and used it to extend the bracket that came with the new horn by using a nut and bolt that I had laying around. Much much better sound than the factory meep meep.

 

Thanks so much for this post! I upgraded my horns to the FIAMM 74100 El Grande horns. I bought them off Amazon Prime for $20. Such a steal! Anyhow, I followed the directions and notes in this thread and I couldn't be happier. No more useless meep-meep and onto getting people's attention. Thanks so much!

 

Like the OP said, this job takes no more than 10 minutes, could seriously be done in 5 since I didn't need to remove my front grill emblem due to my skinny arms and I'm used to wrenching in tight places.
I used the 74100 Fiamm El Grande from Amazon only needed a 10mm wrench to take the OEM units off and to put the new ones on with their new nuts. You also need something sharp to pull the body clips out with. I suggest a ratcheting flex head 10mm wrench for speed. They sound great, a vast improvement over stock.

 

This morning I installed the 74100 Fiamm El Grande kit, ordered from Amazon. After installing them they didn't work, but I ran out of time (I had to get to work) so I had to button the car back up with the non-working Fiamm horns still in there.

Now I've looked at pictures others posted here and on Amazon. The horns I received are dark colored (under the red cover) and have two spade connectors, but it seems that the El Grande horns are supposed to be a silver color (under the red cover) and only have one electrical spade connector. Can those who have the El Grande (and remember the details) verify please?

Maybe the horns in the package were the wrong ones (a return from some other customer, for example)? I'll have to pull the horns out and look for markings. Boooo.

 

Did you hook up a battery and test them first to make sure they worked?
Since the OEM's worked(right?) I would "guess" they are getting power. Something you can test with a test light.
I have the same horns but just have not gotten around to installing them yet.

 

I did not test them with direct battery connection. The OEM horns work. I've since swapped the OEM horns back in.

I believe the Fiamm horns wouldn't have worked (assuming they are functional) because the horns have two spades and the instructions show one is to be attached to the factory wire but the other needs to be attached to a jumper wire, and there were no jumper wires included in the kit.

My concern right now is whether the wrong horns were in the package from Amazon. They don't look like any of the pictures of the El Grande horns that I've been able to find thus far. I'll try to attach a picture of the ones I received.

Both horns have markings stating: "AM80SX e3 7042" and "A046495 002407/2012". Could you indicate please what markings are on your horns, and whether they look like the ones I received?

For what it's worth, the H (High note, I presume) horn has a date stamp of "08/17/15 09:26:33 6" and the L (Low note, I presume) "06/10/17 13:35:03 A". Seems a bit odd to me also that the two horns would be nearly two years different in age but in the same packaging.

 

Not sure if u got the right or wrong horns but to get them to work, the oem connector goes on 1 of the spade terminals. The other terminal on the horn need to go to a body ground (the both that the horn bracket bolts to) & they will then work.


aka Masta S
https://www.facebook.com/100004124476496 https://www.instagram.com/sfv41901/ Sean D (@sfv41901) on Twitter

 

It's been a few years since I did this mod, but I'm pretty sure the horns in your picture are the same ones I have.

 

Don't have the horns with me right now, but they do look like the same ones.
I believe you need to ground the horns as sfv41901 said.

 

Thanks, guys. I tested them and they worked when grounding the 2nd spade. Since they work I went ahead and installed them, in spite of my earlier-expressed concerns about the seemingly different appearance & number of spade connectors than others who got the El Grande horns.

They do sound much better (and louder) to me. I made a sound file comparing the factory horns to the Fiamm horns, and made it a YouTube video...

 

Crap! Now I have to install mine! Thanks!

 

FIRST, thanks to the mod who started this thread !!! you are awesome !!!
I wanted to post my steps for a 2015 Prius Model 2...

OK... I'm a pretty good DYI'er as others stated.. I read all 19 pages in this thread.. Went out and tried to install, and couldn't do it..
Re-read again, printed out some pic's / written instructions and DID IT !!! YEAH.
.
So, 2015 Prius Model 2..... FIAAM El Grande pair of horns..Each horn only had one "spade" lug to attach the removed plug from the OEM horns. I DID NOT HAVE A SECOND SPADE LUG to attach a ground wire, so as stated, the nut/stud on the side of the FIAAM is used as a ground to the frame.

1) removed the first small plastic shroud with 3 plastic pop up clips
2) removed the 2 bolts and several other pop up clips on the top of the next shroud/bumper to give about 3-5 inches of room to get my arm in.
3) removed the Toyota emblem with 2 screws
These 3 steps literally takes no more than 5 minutes.. just do it, to give you extra room.
4) layed a piece of carboard in front of the radiator in case I dropped something into them....Oh, remember to remove it before buttoning everything up at the end.. yes I forgot about it !!!!!! LOL
5) wedged a piece of 4inch x 4inch cardboard under the top shroud/bumper and frame so I didn't have to use a hand to keep pulling it out.
6) removed the bolt on both horns (and some other sensor that was next to the passenger horn) to remove OEM horns.
7) installed FIAAM provided bracket onto new horns with provided nut, and added a lock washer (as someone else stated) at work bench. Also removed the red cover as it was facing the wrong way to see from the front of the car and it layed up against the radiator.
So the "black" side of both horns face the front of the car. They would not fit having the red cover side face the front or the radiator side of the car.
8) popped out the cable clamp on the power cord to the passenger horn from the frame to give more length, as the new horns will have one of them facing the wrong way. Seemed easier to do on the passenger side instead of the driver side.
9) bolted in both horns, and plugged in power cords directly to the new horns that have a spade lug. Bolted back the sensor on the passenger side. The passenger side was more difficult to get started than the driver side.. oh well..
OH, I dropped one bolt, and was able to reach it thru the opening where I took out the TOYOTA emblem.
10) TESTED THE HORNS NOW BEFORE BUTTONING EVERYTHING BACK UP.
11) should remove the piece of cardboard placed in front of the radiator at this point..
12) replaced the TOYOTA emblem
13) reinstalled the 2 screws and pop up plugs to the bumper/shroud
14) reinstalled the small shroud with the 3 pop up plugs and.............

TADA... sorry, but this all took me about 45 minutes..
Again, just wanted to update the procedure for my make/model/year vehicle to re-assure those that have read this thread..

cheers,
don