Random Horn Honking, Will Disconnecting Battery Fix It?

I need to reset my battery. The horn keeps going off after I had the oil changed. I also can't find a negative or plus. The battery is very dirty. I am 73. I could ask for help but I'd like to understand how this works. Thank you

Teresa Maciel wrote:I need to reset my battery. The horn keeps going off after I had the oil changed. I also can't find a negative or plus. The battery is very dirty. I am 73. I could ask for help but I'd like to understand how this works. Thank you

Welcome, Teresa!

Hmm, interesting problem. Do you mean the horn just starts blowing at random? Or is it the car alarm going off?

Either way, an oil change shouldn't cause that unless they bumped some wiring somewhere.

To answer your question: If you want to cut off all power to the car and see if *something* resets itself:
- Turn the engine off.
- Loosen and remove the wire connector from either battery post (whichever seems easier to work on).
- Be careful not to let the loose battery cable touch anything (short circuits are bad, big sparks).
- Wait about a minute or so and reconnect. (You'll lose all the preset stations on your radio, just so you know.)

It might work. Still, I sort of suspect something else is going on. There's nothing wrong with asking someone you trust to help you with this.

Ideally remove the negative cable first when working with an automotive battery. Though slight the negative battery post is smaller in diameter.

Teresa Maciel wrote:I need to reset my battery. The horn keeps going off after I had the oil changed. I also can't find a negative or plus. The battery is very dirty. I am 73. I could ask for help but I'd like to understand how this works. Thank you

Teresa, welcome.  A few notes.  It the battery is dirty baking soda and vinegar will make a paste that will clean dirt and corrosion off the terminals.  If it is 'grimmy' then dawn detergent and water will cut the crud.  An old toothbrush is quite safe.  (Avoid metal handles.)  If the battery is going bad it may be setting the alarm.  Some alarms are designed to go off when there is an interruption to power.   Most alarms can be reset by turning the key to the on position while reconnecting the battery.  A painful lesson I learn when I bought a used truck some years ago.  

I suspect you are not getting a good connection between the posts and connectors.  When the oil was changed somone may have bumped the battery and made a loose wire worse.  Get this checked soon.  A bad connection will drain your battery even when parked.  

There is good information in this thread on how to identify positive and negative.  If the battery is a 'top post' like in the picture, then the slightly larger post is your positive.  If it is a side post, then you will feel directly underneath the connection a + or - embossed on the case.  

Year/make/model? Also when exactly does it happen? Randomly? At regular intervals? When you get in or out? One honk or multiple?  The more info about the issue, the better. You can try disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, it won't hurt anything, but likely won't fix the issue. As others said, clean the battery with a baking soda/water mix, and hose it off well after. If you have access to a pressure washer, that's your best choice for cleaning a battery and terminals, just go to town on it l, it'll blast the battery clean and the terminals down to bare copper, completely removing any corrosion.

You could remove the horn fuse and or relay to stop an errant honk. Year make and model would help comments in case it has something to do with an onboard security system.  Our 1974 VW van (Beatrice) developed a horn honk on left turns due to a bad horn button. The wife and I would wave wildly on left turns making new friends until I replaced it. Sadly, Beatrice sits in the garage and is only taken out on special excursions.

Teresa Maciel wrote:I need to reset my battery. The horn keeps going off after I had the oil changed. I also can't find a negative or plus. The battery is very dirty. I am 73. I could ask for help but I'd like to understand how this works. Thank you

Teresa, generally you should start by identifying the year and model of the car. Many vehicles have built in alarms that can be reset using odd key turning routines. Sometimes a horn module goes bad leading to intermittent horn honking.  For an oil change nothing like that should have happened unless the company routinely disconnects a battery. So, year and model first then maybe some online research. Nothing wrong with cleaning connection and maybe changing a battery as required as mentioned above.
cheers,  David