Expert: Roland Finston - 12/27/2011

Question
Roland,

I took my car into a shop for amongst other things, the car horn.
My dad just bought the car and it came with the horn wired outside the steering wheel. So instead of pressing the middle of the steering wheel to beep the horn I had to press a button fixed to the wheel,(almost like a suicide steering knob) to beep the horn.

Anyway they said they need more time to put it together cause they cant get the correct pressure when they reassembled the horn either gets stuck in the on position or wont work. Is there a way to get authentic replacement parts for the wheel.
And how do you remove the steering wheel cover, are the fasteners Phillips Head or Allen Wrench or other?

Thank You so much! :)

Answer
Hi Melissa,
The horn switch is combined with the airbag module and exactly what is needed to correct the situation requires that that module be removed. There is either a problem with the bracket that hold this is bad then a new steering wheel could be needed, but if the problem is the contact ring for the horn grounding wire then the airbag module needs to be replaced. If whoever makes the diagnosis can get  replacement parts from a wrecking yard that would be the least expensive approach. There are about 4 pages about this in the '99 manual that I have which is applicable to your '98. If you want I can xerox copy and postal mail the pages to you.
Let me know your postal address.
Roland