blh1960

Just purchased my 99 2500. I do not know how it passed a state inspection...because the horn did not work. I'm asuming it could be a problem in the steering column. I checked the fuse (ok). I also noticed a relay in the circuit. I suppose that could be bad. Any ideas?

phox_mulder

Could be any number of things.<br><br>Connections on the horn itself.<br><br>Connection on the relay, or the relay itself.<br><br>Switch in the steering wheel.<br><br>Or, maybe more commonly, the &quot;Clockspring&quot; in the steering wheel.<br>(It's what allows the wheel to turn, but still have electrical connections that work no matter where the wheel is, and more importantly, allow the air bag to work at any wheel position)<br><br>Bunch of stuff runs through this connection including the cruise control, of so equipped, which makes checking it easy as trying the cruise and if it doesn't work it's probably the culprit.<br><br>And, as luck would have it, it is a recall item, and probably will be forever more since the airbag runs through it.<br><br>I'd start with the connections at the relay and the horn, since cleaning them will be the most painless.<br><br><br>phox

Mexstan

Personally I would start by making sure the horn itself works. Run a temporary wire directly from the battery and touch the end on the ungrounded side of the horn. If the horn then blows your ear off you can start working backwards. If the horn does not work first check for a bad ground. Clean the ground and repeat step one.<br>From there go to the relay and check that it is receiving power. Then check that the relay is passing this power thru when somebody presses the horn button. If there is power at the relay but it is not being passed thru then of course you have a bad relay.<br>If there is power at the relay but when the horn button is pressed nothing happens then temporarily bypass the relay and see if the horn blows if you don't want to just buy a new relay. <br>If the horn button does not pull the relay in and the relay is good then you may have to dig into the sterring wheel junk. That is another story. If you need any further help just ask.

blh1960

All of these are great ideas. I think there are more than one relay that is the same in the fuse box. Swapping may help solve the problem. If it comes down to getting in the steering column...will Dodge take care of that TSB on the clockspring.<br>I see that it is numbered 08-010-01 (Airbag/Clockspring) Service. Will they do these for free?

Junk Yard Dog

I had the same problem on a 96. The problem was a ground wire where the column is bolted up under the dash.