Horn problems.

On to the next issue.

Where are the horns in my '96

Driver side, front corner, between fender and inner fender.

Tom

So I guess I need to take that fender liner out? Good thing I got practice with the passenger liner doing the antenna repair.




96 Roadmaster Wagon

VT Wagon wrote:

So I guess I need to take that fender liner out?  Good thing I got  practice with the passenger liner doing the  antenna repair.
96 Roadmaster Wagon

No, open the hood, remove the air filter housing, you should be able to see the horns. Held on by one bolt each.

Tom

Not everything is designed to be difficult. The horns are usually not the problem. Check them before removing them. There is a connector with a green wire that you can connect to the battery positive terminal to test the horns.

Is it possible to access the buttons inside the air bag?
I like this article, but the pictures are missing.
http://badass-of-ne.forumotion.com/t1888-replacement-of-crappy-1991-93-factory-hornbuttons-with-doorbellspics

I repaired some of the OEM horn buttons with some 1/8 inch brass tubing, and JB Weld. I heated the end of the tube, and carefully melted a "socket" on the inside of the push buttons for 4 tubes (two each where the original plastic post/clips were. I then roughed up the surface around the sockets. I made a tool from a jeweler's screw driver, and a short piece of tubing to insert 1/2 inch long tubes in the sockets. I put JB Weld on the surface just below the depth of the sides of the button at the tube sockets. I aligned and taped the button to the base, and inserted the tubes into the JB Weld and made sure they were wet. Do not allow the JB Weld extend above the edge of the button, or it will interfere with the travel of the switch. Properly placed sockets will align the button with the base when the tubes are installed. I tried the buttons and they work and look like they are original. Only time will tell how sturdy the repair is. The design is pretty bad. You could put a small push-on, release-off switch on the base, but it will be difficult to keep the buttons aligned without the guides (brass tubes), unless you can attach the button to the switch. JB Weld may work for other designs.

So your problems are the horns don't work? I had an issue with the horn staying on. Had one of the two horn buttons sticking. Disconnected the one side and good to go

71novaguy wrote:

So your problems are the horns don't work? I had an issue with the horn staying on. Had one of the two horn buttons sticking. Disconnected the one side and good to go

Brilliant fix, but absolutely useless in this situation.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

I repaired some of the OEM horn buttons with some 1/8 inch brass tubing, and JB Weld. I heated the end of the tube, and carefully melted a "socket" on the inside of the push buttons for 4 tubes (two each where the original plastic post/clips were. I then roughed up the surface around the sockets. I made a tool from a jeweler's screw driver, and a short piece of tubing to insert 1/2 inch long tubes in the sockets. I put JB Weld on the surface just below the depth of the sides of the button at the tube sockets. I aligned and taped the button to the base, and inserted the tubes into the JB Weld and made sure they were wet. Do not allow the JB Weld extend above the edge of the button, or it will interfere with the travel of the switch. Properly placed sockets will align the button with the base when the tubes are installed. I tried the buttons and they work and look like they are original. Only time will tell how sturdy the repair is. The design is pretty bad. You could put a small push-on, release-off switch on the base, but it will be difficult to keep the buttons aligned without the guides (brass tubes), unless you can attach the button to the switch. JB Weld may work for other designs.

I'm still not clear on the issue. What am I pushing on and how do I get to it?
I have a red spring loaded contact that goes down into the wheel, also a black ground wire that clips into the wheel. When I jump these I would think the horn should sound. It doesn't. There is some sort of plastic circuit board between the vinyl and the air bag.

Ok, so I went deep on the horn repair. Turns out one horn is burned out and causing a high resistance and blowing the fuse.

Down to one horn, but it works. Off to buy some tug boats.

Huh? Burned out should mean lower resistance. Meaning no resistance as it could not pass thru.

I think Fred is talking about the 91-93 style horn buttons (actual separate buttons on either side of the air bag) and VTwagon is dealing with a 94-96 style (a membrane switch squeezed between the vinyl cover and the air bag itself).

The latter seem most likely to fail closed -- so the dang horn gets real sensitive or won't shut off. Probably because the vinyl shrinks with age.

VT Wagon wrote:

Ok, so I went deep on the horn repair.  Turns out one horn is burned out and causing a high resistance and blowing the fuse.

Down to one horn, but it works.  Off to buy some tug boats.  

71novaguy wrote:

Huh? Burned out should mean lower resistance. Meaning no resistance as it could not pass thru.

Burned out can mean that the coil wire is severed by heat or mechanical action. This would lead to an open or a reading of infinity, not "no" or "0" resistance which would be a short. Burned out can also mean a short if the unit is fused, or bypassed, and that would blow a fuse. Either description can be valid, and the horn will still not work. 

In this case it is a short "no resistance or 0", because it blew the fuse, not high resistance where the fuse would not blow. Knowing that the fuse was blown would have provided the information to make a much easier diagnosis to the "no horns" issue.

Well, I'm learning everyday about this car. I removed the dead horn and no more fuse popping.

buickwagon wrote:

I think Fred is talking about the 91-93 style horn buttons (actual separate buttons on either side of the air bag) and VTwagon is dealing with a 94-96 style (a membrane switch squeezed between the vinyl cover and the air bag itself).

The latter seem most likely to fail closed -- so the dang horn gets real sensitive or won't shut off. Probably because the vinyl shrinks with age.

How hard is this to fix?

Thanks,

Russ

Assuming you are asking about the 94-96 membrane switch, the official fix is to replace the air bag module. Pricey.

However, some of the Corvette guys have been fixing theirs. Here's a couple of links to look at:

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-tech/1739923-horn-membrane-fix.html

http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2012/05/c5-horn-switch-fix/

And here is the replacement switch that they are using:

http://www.amazon.com/Corvette-Central-1997-2004-Horn-Contact/dp/B00399DXWG

I have not (yet) had to repair mine, so I have no idea if that switch could be made to fit our B-bodies. I suspect it's a different shape.

VT Wagon wrote:

Well, I'm learning everyday about this car.  I removed the dead horn and no more fuse popping.

Take the dead horn,. submerge it in some diesel for a day or so,.
hit it sharply with a hammer a few times,. use a set of booster cables and try jumping it,..

it just might 'come back to life'

buickwagon wrote:

Assuming you are asking about the 94-96 membrane switch, the official fix is to replace the air bag module. Pricey.

However, some of the Corvette guys have been fixing theirs. Here's a couple of links to look at:

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-tech/1739923-horn-membrane-fix.html

http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2012/05/c5-horn-switch-fix/

And here is the replacement switch that they are using:

http://www.amazon.com/Corvette-Central-1997-2004-Horn-Contact/dp/B00399DXWG

I have not (yet) had to repair mine, so I have no idea if that switch could be made to fit our B-bodies. I suspect it's a different shape.

Hi Buickwagon,

I removed the airbag from a 1996 Roadmaster sedan. Could I simply exchange it and fix the problem? It is blue while the wagon one is tan but I don't mind.

Thanks,

Russ

I don't know of any difference between the sedan and wagon airbags. If it's the same size then colour doesn't matter to function. Maybe you could even match the colour with a spray bomb of vinyl paint.

buickwagon wrote:

Assuming you are asking about the 94-96 membrane switch, the official fix is to replace the air bag module. Pricey.

However, some of the Corvette guys have been fixing theirs. Here's a couple of links to look at:

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-tech/1739923-horn-membrane-fix.html

That's cool. Way better pictures. Unfortunately instead of melted plastic retainers the Buick is riveted together.
I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole so I just unplugged the side that wouldn't shut off.