I was driving on the highway last night and some jerk almost merged into me. I laid on the horn pretty hard. In fact, I punched my wheel as I swerved out of the way. To my surprise my horn stayed on even though I let go of the button. I had to push the center of the steering wheel pretty hard a few times to un-jam the switch. And the horn would intermittently blow a couple times on my way home without me touching anything (pissing off my neighbor as I pulled into my driveway.)

Then, this morning, I tried to push the center of the steering wheel to see if the horn was working, but no sound! I've tried pushing all areas of the steering wheel and can't get the horn to blow. I think I broke the damn switch :[

I know from experience with previous vehicles, that replacing the horn, button, or anything having to do with the inside of the steering wheel is usually very expensive and a huge PITA because of the ignition and the air bag. I would like to just add a remote button so that I can blow the horn in an emergency, even if it means I have to reach to my dash to do it.

Has anyone ever done this before? What parts did you buy and how did you splice it in? Or, is it possible to replace the horn button on my model truck relatively inexpensively?

 

How can a test to make sure it’s not the horn itself that’s broken? What wires would I jump?

 

You probably damaged the clockspring when you slammed the horn pad. Clockspring controls the horn. You could run a wire to the horns and put a switch on the dash and bypass the CS. New CS's are starting at $66 on RockAuto.

 

Is it possible to replace the clockspring without pulling the entire steering wheel? Do you need any special tools?

 

You pull the steering wheel and plastic covers under it (simple). Then disconnect the 2 plugs under the dash, and you can pull it up thru the column. You reinstall the same way. You do not want to turn the middle section from the outer before installing if they aren't retained. Other than that, it's fairly easy. Motors and Chilton both show 1.1 hours to remove and replace.

 

If you don't want to fix it how about something like this?
First one I found to show you. There are better ones on the market.
It will get their attention.
Did you give him the Jersey salute?

 

So, from what I’m reading it sounds like it might not be the clockspring. The switch is actually housed within the airbag module. How do I determine where the fault is? How do I rule out the airbag?