Horn Installation

[ellev8or]

92 PA Base

It's that time again for vehicle inspection and my horn has been blowing fuses. I had it diagnosed by the dealership and they stated the horn pad inside the steering wheel is bad. They also stated the horn pads for my model of PA has been discontinued and that I should install an aftermarket horn. If I don't have this horn installed I'll fail the inspection.

I was wondering if this was a simple job or do I have to take it in to a tech? I believe I could do it provided if you master techs could provide me directions and a place to purchase this horn.

Thanks in advance.

[Tech II]

This had better not have been a GM dealership....there is no freakin' way the horn pad can cause the fuse to blow....what the the horn pad does, is create a ground for the relay to provide power to the horn(s).....

Your problem is either the relay, the wiring to the horn is shorted, or the horn itself.....it's not the horn pad.....

[ellev8or]

It was a GM Buick dealer. Yes, sir.

The relay is good. Every time I put it back in the horn starts blaring on its own without my pressing the horn buttons on the steering wheel which the indication the fuse has been blown. So I just keep the relay out until I can get this resolved.

[Tech II]

"It's that time again for vehicle inspection and my horn has been blowing fuses. I had it diagnosed by the dealership and they stated the horn pad inside the steering wheel is bad. They also stated the horn pads for my model of PA has been discontinued and that I should install an aftermarket horn. If I don't have this horn installed I'll fail the inspection."

Based on this information, I said the GM shop was wrong.....

Then you write:

"It was a GM Buick dealer. Yes, sir.

The relay is good. Every time I put it back in the horn starts blaring on its own without my pressing the horn buttons on the steering wheel which the indication the fuse has been blown. So I just keep the relay out until I can get this resolved."

You made an assumption.......you assumed the fuse was blown......

THE FUSE IS OK.....Or else the horn wouldn't blow!


And how do you know the relay is good? Did you swap it with another relay to check the circuit? The contacts in the relay could be fused.....Did the GM shop check the relay? Exactly what did they check? Or did you just go there for information?


The GM shop was correct in the sense that there is something wrong with the circuit in the steering column.....the circuit in the steering column is grounding the relay(or the relay contacts are fused)......

So if the relay was checked out by swapping with another known good relay, then the whole circuit through the steering column has to be checked.......that means the airbag has to be removed, and disconnected from the ground in the steering wheel....then if the horn goes off, when the relay is put back in, then you have a short somewhere in the circuit of the steering column......if it doesn't go off, then hook up the ground to the air bag, and if the horn goes off, it is the switch in the air bag......

Now, since we have cleared up your misinformation on the fuse, did the shop actually do "hands on " diagnosis, or did they just give you their opinion, for free......because the only way to know for sure if it's the contacts in the air bag, is to remove the air bag.......

I don't recommend you messing with the air bag(you don't want it to go off while working on it), if you have no idea of what you are doing, because you obviously did not know how a simple horn circuit worked....