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Old February 14th 05, 10:25 PM
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Default Horn malfunction

I need help with a horn malfunction on a 1996 SW1. This car is a base model
with only the factory cruise control option. We purchased the car new and
it now has 230,000 km. There is no history of electrical problems and the
car has not been wet or flooded, the car is not garaged.

The first indication of a problem was the horn sounding while the car was
sitting in our driveway after not being started for two days. There was no
obvious reason for the horn to sound and it stopped by itself, we did not
even think it was our car and only today do we suspect it was our car as
there were no other cars nearby. The next day my wife started the car
normally and drove about 40 miles before the horn turned on without touching
the horn buttons. The cruise control was turned off at the time. She
stopped the car and turned the ignition off but the horn continued for a
minute or so, she tried to press the horn buttons several times to no
result, the horn then ceased by itself. This behavior repeated several
times while she drove the car home.

I am a licensed mechanic, and have done the usual trouble shooting. The
horn buttons appear undamaged and feel like they are operating properly. I
could not find the location of a horn relay. Like most intermittent
electrical faults it won' t happen when a mechanic is near. I do not have
the real (expensive) Saturn shop manuals and neither the Chiltons or the
Haynes manuals have wiring diagrams that show the horn circuit properly.
They do seem to indicate that there may be a connection between the horn and
cruise circuits but I cannot verify this and I suspect that since they are
both mounted on the steering wheel that they both use slip rings in the
steering column. I cannot determine if the air bag also uses these slip
rings.

I was concerned about the possibility of fire or accidental air bag
deployment. In order to reduce the possibility of further damage I have
removed the fuses for the horn, the cruise control and the air bags.

When anything hard to diagnose happens in the winter I always suspect that
the cause is most likely to be cold or freezing related but am at a loss as
to what to do next in order to diagnose the cause of the problem.

If would appreciate anyone's similar experience with problems in the horn or
steering wheel.


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