My horn is sounding by itself and staying stuck on. When I picked up my truck at the dealership about a year and a half ago I noticed the steering wheel emblem was bent, but I haven't had issues with the horn 'till recently. It was staying stuck on if I pressed a specific area of the airbag cover, and now it's difficult to get it to shut off and it is sounding without pressing the cover. I did an internet search and found something mentioned about a clock spring, but my airbag light isn't on and the cruise control works..does this sound like I need a new clock spring, or could it be another part that needs replacing?

 

Ok update on the cruise control, it's not working now. It was working after I removed the horn fuse, but the truck was still running. I shut off the ignition when I got home and started it up today, and that's when the cruise control stopped working. Like I said, the airbag light isn't on, so I don't need a clock spring right? Is nobody replying because you're all enjoying the nice weather? Has this horn issue happened to anyone else?

 

this isn't f150 or even ford specific, but i had a car where the horn buttons quit separating on their own @ about 100k. honk once stayed on an indeterminate long time. replaced all the horn switches (3), and that cured it, but sounds like with the cruise, it might be more than that.

 

sounds like a clockspring issue. apparently, from what ive heard, its common for the clock spring to get damaged on these cars. mine did that a few times (the horn staying on), i had to keep hitting the horn for it to turn off. eventually i realized the horn had stopped working, as well as the cruise control. my airbag light is on tho, and ive already checked the code and it says its high resistance on the clockspring.

for yours, id say its the clock spring as well. maybe the airbag light is burnt out? does it light up when you turn on the truck?

 

The airbag light comes on with the symbol of the person with the seat belt on and airbag circle in front for a few seconds after I turn the ignition on, then shuts off like normal. Can I buy those horn switches separately, and if so from where, and how much? I'll look behind the airbag cover tomorrow, weather permitting, and see if I can find something that doesn't look right. Is there anything I need to know first, other than disconnecting the battery?

 

The cruise control doesn't work because I removed the horn fuse, but it works with the fuse in. I opened up the airbag cover today and wasn't really sure what I was looking for, so I put it back together and the horn is till sounding on it's own. Are the contacts those metal posts under the airbag assembly?

 

I think I found the problem. I did some searching on the internet, and it turns out someone was having the same issue when he did what I did, which was remove the steering wheel emblem. When he put it back in, the tabs on the emblem "dimpled" the electronic horn pad, completing the circuit and making it sound continuously. I started having this issue not too long after I did this, so it looks like this is the problem. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement pad cheap?

 

Well I fixed my horn issue by cutting out the center section of the horn pad and placing a piece of plastic in, and taping it on with electrical tape. The dealership only sells it as part of the several hundred dollar airbag unit, it's pretty disgusting that Ford would do that to its customers.

 

My clock spring went south on my '95 Bronco a couple of years ago. I didn't have cruise so that I wasn't worried about. First came the airbag light. Next week the horn could sound randomly (and often when turning the wheel). Next day, my girl was driving it and the horn stayed on. After that you could actually move the steering wheel side-to-side!!! The clock spring was TOAST. So bad, in fact, that small pieces of copper fell out when I took off the airbag. Being a '95, I was able to find a column/wheel from a '92 F150 that fit. I did a write-up on that on a Bronco forum here. Obviously, the new column didn't have an airbag but I wasn't too concerned with that.

If you don't feel like paying Ford for a new horn cover/airbag (or paying anyone for a new clockspring, for that matter!), check you local yards. At a junk yard I go to in Denver, there are tons of 97-03 trucks and vans that have been retired from service.

 

The clock spring is fine, the steering wheel emblem tabs just put dents in the horn pad, causing it the horn to sound continuously. It works good now that I cut out the area where it was connecting. There are small rubber dots inside the horn pad that keep the two copper plates from touching until you press on the horn, but some of them got compressed by the emblem and so the plates were touching continuously, but the plastic piece I put in there fixed it.

 

this is a very easy and free fix
1. disconnect battery and wait 5min, so airbag wont go off
2. pop off the two small covers behind steering wheel, and take out the two screws (8mm)
3. pull out airbag assembly, disconnect the two wire plugs. red-horn, yellow-airbag.
4.take out the two star head bolts, and pull back the rubber.
5.take out the horn pad
6. cut the seem off on of the short end
7. now separate the two copper sheets clear to the seem on all three sides but do not split the other three seems.
8. take a paper towel fold it twice and cut a two inch hole in the middle.
9. trim the towel to fit inside the pad. put towel inside the pad.
10. tape up the end you cut with one layer of tape between the copper plates on the end you cut.
11. put back together.

I did mine in 15min and it has worked great for the last 6 months.

 

Semi good info there for a 2 year old thread. But I don't think I would trust the paper towel idea. Jus not my way of fixing things, maybe. I would just unplug the horns themselves till it could be fixed right.

Also.... extra,Extra carefulness needs to be heeded when messing around with anything airbag related (including the clockspring), or you just may end up with a Blast to the Past unexpectedly.

 

I like it.....MacGyver would be proud!

 

It's been over a year and still no more issues with horn