97 Ford Escort Horn keeps blowing the fuse?

You have propably already fixed it by now, but here goes..
A continuously blowing fuse means you have a short. A short circuit means the positive and negative nodes of the battery are connected without any or with little resistance, bypassing the electrical device that's supposed to give the resistance. Hence the short in the circuit. This can happen two ways:
1) if you're lucky, your horn is broken or it's connections so rusted they've shorted..
2) if not, your horn wire has overheated, melted the insulation and connected with the car hull or another wire. Where? anywhere.
The horn is located on the right side of the car under the bumper. If you turn the tyres left, there's just enough space to wedge your head under the bumper so you can see the horn. You can use a jack to get the car up, but then you'll have to be damn sure it doesn't come down on your face. It's most likely to be like a flat can with a horn protruding from the side. Because of the placing, it's going to rust as soon or sooner than your reverse light switch.
If you don't have a friend to push the horn when you want to, you can wedge the horn button down with a stick or smtg. use a cloth to protect the steering wheel, it scrapes easily.
Take off the wires of the horn. Replace the fuse. Push the horn. Does the fuse burn? congratulations, you have a short in the wiring either to the horn or the emerency flashes.
If not, you have a broken horn/horn connections.
Clean and put back the wires. check them as far as you can see. push the horn. does it work? No? buy a new horn. It's pretty cheap. Put the negative wire back (it's the yellow-orange one), if the negative node of the horn is not marked it doesn't matter which one you use. take a 4-inch piece of wire and put it between the other node and the place you fasten the horn (just wind the end around the bolt and tighten). That's the ground (the positive node). Don't scrape your knucles doing it.
Notes:
-when you go under the car you're pretty vulnerable for any practical joker/bitter ex-spouse going by.
-desinfect and bandage your knuckles once you're done. rusty wounds give a nasty infection.
-whether you have a friend to push the horn or you have it wedged with a stick, fidgeting with the wires while having your ear 4 inches away from the horn can make you intensely wish you had earplugs. I've tested that.
-I'll not be responsible for any accidents, like electrical fires (while entertaining, they can be expensive), kicks on the knockers, mental damage after having someone fondling them and you don't know who, spontaneous combustions of the car or yourself et cetera.

derija
June 2006