My Steering Wheel Horn Cover keeps falling out!

[DOCTORBILL]

I have a '93 Metro 3 cyl 5 speed two door hatchback.

The central cover on my Steering Horn switch keeps coming out.

I threw my old one away because it fell out OFTEN....then I got another one from
our local "Pull-n-Save" and it worked fine for about a year.

Now it falls out periodically.

The two pegs with hooks in them don't stay plugged into the hole they fit into!

Has anyone figured out how to fix this damned problem.

I could put Silicone Glue on them, but then I might not be able to get the cover
off if I needed to !

DoctorBill

[Johnny Mullet]

You think a little silicone will stop you from removing that

[DOCTORBILL]

I suppose I could force it off later on.

I went out and looked at it.

In order to use the horn pad, when you push down on it, the pegs have to slide
back and forth thru the holes.

So, it looks like Silicone Caulk would keep you from pushing the horn down once
it sets up.

The design of the horn pad switch is bogus - those "tabs" on the end of the
plastic pegs aren't wide enough and with time they bend toward the
center of the peg and allow the pad to pop out.

I suppose two long, decent looking screws down thru the plastic pegs and into
a bit of tapered wood dowel would spread the peg flaps open and prevent the pad from
popping off - yet allow the pegs to go in and out when you press on the horn pad.

Kind of like those plastic Drywall Lug spreaders that spread wider as you screw
in a wood screw to hold pictures in a Plasterboard wall.

If I make something like that, I'll put pictures here in this post.

DoctorBill

[idmetro]

DOC;

What about taking a bit of JB Weld and "rebuilding" your old horn cover so it will quit popping out. Perhaps you could overdo it and then file or sand the JBWeld back done to the appropriate size.

[DOCTORBILL]

Whatever I would "rebuild" it with would have to be flexible yet stiff...

Hmmmm....

Bad design, huh?

Happens on hot summer days when the plastic gets too soft.

I just thought that this was probably a universal Geo Metro problem that
almost everyone has solved but me.

It usually pops off when I turn the steering wheel on tight turns - the
steering wheel seems to push the cover off the pegs....

DoctorBill

[Johnny Mullet]

Why not replace that steering wheel with one from a Suzuki Swift. They are much sportier and fit perfectly!

You can go from this...............



To this.................



I think after all the fuel that car has been saving you, a nice new steering wheel would be cool for "The Phoenix"

[redpepe]

you've diagnosed the issue well i think. you might try reforming the plastic fitting ends with heat. for starters, try a soldering iron to make the ends larger than the worn size and possibly even 'larger' than what may have been the original size .... or a different shape entirely that you think might hold better. the reformation needs to be done at the 'latching' spot only. often it only takes a small deformation to make a large difference in holding power. if you now have 2 covers you can practice on the worst one.

[gatoratoy227]

duck tape the quick fix for every thing