My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation

tk_chatt

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Tom
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Chattanooga, TN
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2020 Civic Touring
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Well, it seems like one of the more common topics here is replacing the "meep - meep" horn on the Civic. I've done horn upgrades on the last two I've owned, and recently finished one on my new '20 Touring sedan.

Here's a pic of the completed installation.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7074


I used Accord horns that I bought on eBay for $27.
High Tone: 38150-SDB-A02
Low Tone: 38100-SDB-A02

I fabricated a mounting bracket for the second horn from 1" x 1/16" aluminum angle. Because I originally used 3/4" angle, I had to shorten one side to 3/4".
The bracket is about 2" long and attached with two 6mm bolts and nuts.

You can see below that the new bracket is placed as close as possible to the factory weld. This is necessary in order to gain the clearance for the fog lights.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7069


Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7075


Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7076


The factory horn connector is a Sumitomo HX-060 (1.5mm), two pin female. I was able to find a mating HX-060 two pin male connector so I could attach the new horns without cutting the factory harness. ( The adapter from College Hills Honda will also work, but you'd need to lengthen the wires. )
If you're interested in getting any of the connectors in this project, PM me and I'll pass the information along.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation HX-060 Connector


As you can see in the pic below, I attached my grounds to the bumper structure near the high horn mounting bracket. There are two ground wires in the wire lug. One ground terminates at the HX-060 connector pictured above, the other goes to the factory horn mounting bracket.
The positive side of the horn circuit also comes from the HX-060 connector via the white wire. ( the positive wire was green on my '16 Civic sedan, but the ground wire has always been black. )

Be SURE that you observe polarity when wiring your connector. Failure to do so could cause a short circuit and result in potential damage to your horn wiring.!! There is a schematic later in the post that may help to illustrate the connections required.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7067


I rerouted the factory harness to bring it close to the new bracket & sub-harness. To neaten things up, I wrapped the 1/4" wire loom that I used with harness tape, tie-wrapped the new sub-harness to the factory harness and then attached it to the factory mounting holes.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation IMG_7071


Please note that the factory mounting bracket is NOT grounded, and will require adequate grounding for your horn to operate.

You can see the factory bracket in the pic below, and where I drilled to attach the ground wire. I used another 6mm bolt with a star lockwasher on the electrical lug side, and a serrated, flanged nut so it'd "bite" into the bracket and ensure a good ground point.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation 9 - Low Ground


The horn connectors that plug into the new Accord horns are also Sumitomo brand. They're a single pin HX-090 (2.3mm) connector. Although I was able to source the connectors separately, Honda does make the connectors & pigtails available as repair parts.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation HX-090 Connector



The two horns must be paralleled so both will honk when you blow the horn. I soldered the positive white wires together inside the sub-harness, and used waterproof heat shrink to seal & protect the connection.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation Horn SubHarness



Finally, you need to be sure that the low tone horn itself is grounded to the factory horn bracket. You can use an external tooth lockwasher, or an 8mm factory ground bolt ( Honda p/n 90150-S84-003 ). The ground bolt has dimples on it to cut through the paint.
Honda Civic 10th gen My Civic Sedan Dual Horn Installation 7 - Low Horn


The two horns are rated at 4 amps each for an expected current draw of 8 amps. The vehicle wiring is fused at 10 amps.
I made a similar modification to a '16 Civic Touring sedan, and it worked perfectly for the 4 years that I owned it. Based on that experience, I'll say that buffering this horn circuit with a relay & separate power source is not required.

A couple of final notes:
The wire I used is 20 gauge TXL automotive wire except for an 18 gauge wire between the main ground and the factory horn bracket.
It's not a requirement, but I both crimped and soldered the ground lug connections, then covered the connection with heat shrink.

The new Accord horn tones sound great, and are plenty loud now without sounding wimpy or obnoxious.!!
:):thumbsup::):thumbsup::)


 
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