Steve-l

Last winter the horn went off on its own. I disconnected the fuse to stop the horn. After quick troubleshooting, I discovered the horn switch behind the driver side airbag was shorted. I disconnected the horn wire and reinstalled the airbag assembly. I anticipated the airbag assembly to be replaced on this recall, but my VIN is still not on the recall list and it should be, but that is another story well documented here on another thread. I need to have the truck pass a safety inspection and the horn must work of course. The horn switch is included in the air bag assembly. A new one costs more than $300 and they are often not available, because of the recall parts need world-wide. So, I need to remove the air bag assembly, including the igniter from the steering wheel hub. This is not usually done as the horn by itself is not a serviceable part. Does anyone know how to separate the air bag assembly from the wheel hub without destroying things? The assembly is already on my bench not in the truck.

pmtg

Does the horn need to activate via the stock switch/steering wheel pad? Can you trace the horn wires out of the clockspring to somewhere under the dash, then add a switch for a temporary solution? Maybe a push button somewhere?

If you dig into the airbag to access the switch, you may void your ability to get the recall.

BigIron70

Here is the recall may help

Steve-l

BigIron,
That is exactly what I was looking for. My problem was caused by excessive condensation collecting under the cover and on the horn switch. Once the unit dries out, the short disappears. This condensation was not visible in the interior. The same fault occurred with my Chevy S10 when I had that years ago.

Steve-l

I successfully disassembled the steering wheel hub and removed the Takata airbag module without problems. I then placed the wheel hub and horn switch on a radiator for two days. Horn switch worked fine. I then reinstalled everything without incident and the horn worked as new. One week later, with fog now every morning, the horn switch again shorted out with condensation. Obviously, I now have a "FOG HORN". On a more serious note, has anyone else had this issue? I will now attempt to do this again, but this time I will try to seal the edges of this membrane against the ingress of condensation. I am very reluctant to buy a new hub assembly with a price of $300. I will try to seal this thing with RTV, but I am open to suggestions from others though.