Why do my wipers pop up about 2" each time the horn blows when the door is opened? They don’t pop up if the car is running and I blow the horn myself. My local Chrysler service center has attempted to fix the problem twice without success. Once by replacing the door harness and then by replacing the multifunction switch. The problem is still there and my warranty is running out! Help!
Why are you blowing the horn when you open the door?
Is this a new problem or there all along ?
It does sound like an elecrtical anomoly like in the fuse box if circuits are too near with foreign matter in there to share the charge when activated.
– see if that horn feature can be turned off of the security program.
Your warranty should not run out on a proven and documented issue occurring within the warranty period. Have them keep digging.
I saw this once on a Three Stooges episode. Apparently all is working properly. ( ;
The only thing I can think of is the horn uses quite a bit of current, and combined with the extra current used when the door is open (possibly the alarm circuitry is activated as well as interior lighting, etc), that this current is causing enough voltage drop to confuse the windshield wiper controller. It seems like if this only happens when the door is open, it’s probably not worth spending time worrying about. Any time a mechanic is monkeying around with the wiring, there’s a chance a connector will come loose or a wire will be pulled from a socket, only to cause the car to stall on the freeway. In other words, unless it’s a problem that really must be fixed, which it seems like it isn’t, the effects of the “fix” may be worse than the problem.
Bad ground connection.
I’m not sure if I’m doing this right, but here goes…
First of all, thank you for all of your comments. I’m a fish out of water when it comes to car knowledge so thank you, really.
TO KEITH: The horn blows anytime someone first opens the door after the car has been sitting still for a while. It’s a security feature which embarasses me if I open the door late at night & wake up somebody. HOWEVER if someone ELSE opens the door, I’m glad I have the feature. But why do the wipers have to pop up also???
TO KEN GREEN: We bought the car used about a year ago and didn’t notice the problem, and didn’t think much of it, until after we had the car for a while. Now it’s become a pain in the neck to have to turn the wipers on to get them to be all the way down each time you get into the car. Thanks for the reassurance re the warranty.
TO MEANEYEDCATZ: Humor always helps!
TO GEORGESANJOSE: I will pass your response on to our dealer’s service dept. It will make me sound like I know what I’m talking about. Thank you!
TO CIRCUITSMITH: Short, sweet & simple and will also make me sound like I know what I’m talking about. Thank you.
What year T&C is this and can you find a reference to this security feature in your owners manual, I have never seen or heard of this one. Is it an aftermarket security system?
This problem has been a long time Chrysler problem that dates even back to the Maxwell which was the fore runner of Chrysler products. Jack Benny, who owned a Maxwell, had the problem with the horn blowing late at night and made a film about the problem. The title of the film is “The Horn Blows at Midnight”.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist this post. I hope there are some other geezers on the bulletin board that remember Jack Benny and the Maxwell automobile. My advice to the younger set–don’t waste your time seeing the movie “The Horn Blows at Midnight”. The movie was so bad that Jack Benny, who starred in the movie, made fun of it.
Seriously, I think that there may be a bad ground connection somewhere.
I think you may be on to something Triedaq. A poor ground may feed back a positive current and trigger relays momentarily. It’s a shame that the factory warranty times and diagnosis procedures work against the customer and the mechanic.
I read the heading of this post and assumed the vehicle in question was a British Leyland product…
Yeah I had a British Morris Minor that when I made a right hand turn the horn would honk. Really got pedestrians upset downtown. A little black tape took care of it.
Correct, if an issue is discovered while under warranty and they can’t fix it, they still have to fix it even after the warranty expires. Just keep the paperwork. I’m sure they are trying but maybe need to bring someone from the region in on it.