Hey guys, I started looking my car over to get inspected today only to find out the horn doesn't work. Turns out the wire in my steering colum wasn't connected to anything. None of my local parts shops carry the button so I'll have to make a run to the junkyard but I need to know if I can use any old GM horn button or if there is some specific button for third gens. Also I looked through the Hayne's manual but I can't find any information about how the darned thing should mount, I can figure out where it should go by the post on the steering wheel cap but how does it mount to the steering column?

Lastly the steering wheel cover cap fell off more or less immediately after I removed the steering wheel, how is this thing supposed to attach? It seemed to have only been glued on and I assume it didn't come fromt the factory like that.

Thanks for your help, guys.

 

It should have a stamped steel plate with a couple of clips on the back of the horn button. However, they typically break off. Good luck finding one that's not broken or never has been broken.

The horn wire clips onto the stamped steel plate on the back of the horn button and when you push the button, the two steel pieces contact, grounding the horn relay and activating the horn. Before searching the yards for a good horn button, try grounding the horn wire to the spindle in the center of the steering wheel. If the horn works, it'll blow. If not there's a fuse, a relay, and the horns themselves that all go bad frequently.

 

Here's a pic of the back of the horn button showing the 3 metal tabs on the upper metal plate (the darker one) that simply snap into the face of the steering wheel. This plate uses the steering wheel as an electrical ground.

It also shows another tab where a (white?) wire connects. This provides the positive current to the horn cap's lower metal plate (the shinier one).

The two plates are normally held apart. When you press on the horn, the two plates contact each other completing the circuit and the horns goes off.





As for looking for a replacement horn, any GM S-15 (Jimmy or truck) or Chevy S-10 (Blazer or truck) from the 80's and early 90's uses the same type of steering column and horn button. They just pry off by hand and only one wire needs to be pulled off. If possible, grab one from an Chevy so the horn's button matches your make of car.

 

Thanks for your help Iroctopless, my horn button doesn't have that white plate so it looks like I'll be searching for one of them too.

 

Now, if you're skilled with a dremel and have a broken horn button and the plates (I acquired some broken ones in various levels of broken through here and ebay) I used the second to smallest dremel drill bit, and drilled down the center of those little posts, and used the smallest screws I could find to fasten the plates onto the horn button. I messed up two of the posts, but I spent $15 total. And it's a helluva lot sturdier than it used to be.

 

Or just put a drop of epoxy on each of the studs, drop the horn ring in place, and apply another drop of epoxy on the top of the ring, and let it set up.

Drilling and screwing weakens the posts, by using epoxy, the ring is rebonded to the posts just as it came from GM.