Howdy, first time on The Car Talk MB.
I have a 2001 Chevy Prizm(I believe it was made by toyota, hehe). The problem with my is my horn, it won’t stop honking. I’d drive down a bumpy road and it would beep every bump, or I would close my door and the horn would go off. I finally was able to unplug it, but now I don’t have a horn. And when I went to plug it back in, I got shocked and the horn went off.
I called the mechanic and they it would cost about 100 bucks, because they would have to take apart the steering wheel.
Any suggestions on how I could fix this myself? Or do I need to bite the bullet and fork up the cash.
Cheers!
Here is a cheap way out. I think auto parts stores sell horn buttons that mount on the side of the steering column. You can bypass the wires and horn switch in the column. The button connects the relay to the chassis so that when you push the button, the contacts in the relay are pulled closed and the horn honks. I did this years ago on my 1950 Chevrolet pick-up truck. The owner/driver of my school bus did the same thing–he wore out the horn button tooting the horn for kids who were late to the bus.
I don’t know if this system will pass inspection in your state or not. It also won’t look like the original equipment. On the other hand, I bought my son a 1983 Mercury Marquis and the horn operated by pushing in the turn signal lever–this was the way the car was built at the factory. I assume that the law states that you have to have an operating horn. I don’t know that it requires the button to be in the center of the steering wheel.