Horn Problem

[coversion]

Need a little help before I waste (another) day at the dealership.

My horn has stopped working. 4/5 times, when I start it up, the horn will work for a second, then stop. No response from the horn pad at all after that.

-I have swapped fuses & the horn relay.
-Horn works in panic mode.

I suspect there is a bad wire/connection somewhere between the spiral cable and the steering pad, but I'm hoping there are some things i can check out myself.

I left the dealership this morning after they said they needed it for the day to diagnose it. I'm also concerned they won't have parts, as my explanation of what's going on was ignored saying it was "probably a fuse, the horn, the relay, that the alarm uses a different horn, etc". All false.

I'd like to isolate this first and make sure they have parts before I sit around all day waiting on the repairs, since I'm under warranty. If I can trace/repair <$100, I'll do it myself.

Any ideas? Trying to decide if it's worth pulling the wheel apart myself. Thanks in advance.

 

[JET4]

I had the same problem, took it to the dealer and it was the horn pad. They had to order it. Have had no more problems since it was put on a little over two years ago.

 

[Yukon4Runner]

You only get to use your horn so many times. Have you used it a lot?

 

[philsey]

Need a little help before I waste (another) day at the dealership.

My horn has stopped working. 4/5 times, when I start it up, the horn will work for a second, then stop. No response from the horn pad at all after that.

-I have swapped fuses & the horn relay.
-Horn works in panic mode.

I suspect there is a bad wire/connection somewhere between the spiral cable and the steering pad, but I'm hoping there are some things i can check out myself.

I left the dealership this morning after they said they needed it for the day to diagnose it. I'm also concerned they won't have parts, as my explanation of what's going on was ignored saying it was "probably a fuse, the horn, the relay, that the alarm uses a different horn, etc". All false.

I'd like to isolate this first and make sure they have parts before I sit around all day waiting on the repairs, since I'm under warranty. If I can trace/repair <$100, I'll do it myself.

Any ideas? Trying to decide if it's worth pulling the wheel apart myself. Thanks in advance.

Whoever you're talking to at the dealership is an idiot. Escalate to the SM. Hopefully he/she has a minimum of deductive reasoning.

If I were under warranty, I would not go near anything with an airbag. Maybe you have mad skills, dunno. Me? I'd make them fix it.

If you eff it up, your warranty on this problem goes into the sh!tter.

 

[coversion]

If I were under warranty, I would not go near anything with an airbag.

If you eff it up, your warranty on this problem goes into the sh!tter.

Great point.

I called their parts dept to make sure they'll have the potential parts in stock when I go back in.

I'll follow up with the outcome for future searches.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I'd be a bit wary of condemning the spiral cable based on the oddly specific intermittent nature you're talking about.

If the spiral cable were failing/failed it would either not make any connection or it would be very intermittent and possibly based on steering wheel position (i.e. only at a certain angle or rotation) not time after ignition starts. The "it stops working shortly after the car starts" is a bit of an odd caveat, do you mean if you held the horn it just cuts out or if you tap it when the vehicle first starts and then do nothing (don't turn the wheel or move it, ect.) and tap it again a few moments later it doesn't work anymore?

I know this is a stupid sounding questions, but how are you pushing the horn pad?

I had a customer who "thumbs" the horn (i.e. they only pushed on the outer most edge of the horn pad with their thumb only on the right side of the pad) constantly and the plastic cover of the horn pad tweaked enough that it wouldn't push down far enough to ground the circuit and honk the horn. But if you just bumped the middle of the pad it would work perfectly fine.

This is because for the most part on Toyotas the steering wheel airbag is mounted to the spring loaded horn switch in such a way that it's ideal to push the whole pad head on rather than cant it to the side (which you get when you thumb it).

Like I said, I know it's a stupid question; but having had a customer complain about their horn not working because they couldn't be bothered to test it by bumping the center of it, I feel I need to rule it out.

 

[coversion]

I'd be a bit wary of condemning the spiral cable based on the oddly specific intermittent nature you're talking about.

I agree on the spiral cable. Turning the wheel does not affect results and none of the other controls have an issue.

do you mean if you held the horn it just cuts out or if you tap it when the vehicle first starts and then do nothing (don't turn the wheel or move it, ect.) and tap it again a few moments later it doesn't work anymore?

I know this is a stupid sounding questions, but how are you pushing the horn pad?

So here's how it goes:
-Sometimes, I start the car and the horn doesn't respond at all.
-More often, when I start it up, the horn will respond for either the first one or two times I press it, then it cuts out and will not work until the power has cycled again.
-I don't think it cuts out during a successful honk, but I'm usually so surprised when it does work, I come off it pretty quickly
-As far as how I honk, same results, but always fully depressing the pad from center, sides, etc. i.e., I've exhausted all honk "methods"

.

 

[coversion]

Just a quick update for anyone that may have the same issue...

Dealer found the spiral cable was cracked. Replaced under extended warranty.

Working fine now.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Just a quick update for anyone that may have the same issue...

Dealer found the spiral cable was cracked. Replaced under extended warranty.

Working fine now.

The actual housing or the cable? That's interesting, I wonder how it cracked...

 

[coversion]

The actual housing or the cable? That's interesting, I wonder how it cracked...

I assume housing, since he used the term "cracked", but I'm not positive. Part was ~$700 if not under warranty.

He was shocked they had it in stock, even though I told him I had parts dept order them just in case.

He also said it probably cracked from "all the off-roading I do", despite him not knowing me from any other mall crawler. Grain of salt given his knowledge base throughout this process.

 

[Heavy_GD]

4runner.org - 1 Stealership - 0

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I assume housing, since he used the term "cracked", but I'm not positive. Part was ~$700 if not under warranty.

He was shocked they had it in stock, even though I told him I had parts dept order them just in case.

He also said it probably cracked from "all the off-roading I do", despite him not knowing me from any other mall crawler. Grain of salt given his knowledge base throughout this process.

I have never seen a spiral cable housing crack; let alone from off-roading (particularly since that portion of the steering shaft is fairly supported/doesn't have enough movement in it besides rotation).

But I am glad it fixed it.

 

[LandCruiser]

The actual housing or the cable? That's interesting, I wonder how it cracked...

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I supposed that's a possibility, though there's barely any room for those guys to get under the covers there to chew on it (like practically none where the spiral cable is). Not to mention in my experience they don't bother too much with the steering column when they have tasty stuff under the dash and in the carpets.