2002 envoy horn not working

[littleblazer]

Hello again guys, my dad is the proud owner of a new to him 2002 envoy with 120,xxx miles. upon driving it off the lot, we noticed that the horn did not work, first thing was first I checked the relay, after that checked out I realized that the horn operates when locking and unlocking the vehicle. so i'm going to assume the switch in the wheel correct? also while inspecting the under carriage I noticed a broken ground strap on the filler neck, a simple 14 gauge wire to the frame would suffice correct? thanks guys, didn't really know where to throw this being as I guessed the horn kind of fits under appearance, but thought it would fit better here. thanks again.

 

[The_Roadie]

Hi! You're right - any wire like that will do.

And you're right about the horn button. Take off the steering wheel and check the red wire you can see me fiddle with needlenose pliers in my Clockspring Article:
http://gmtnation.com/forums/topic/1940-repairing-your-own-clockspring-not-easy-but-satisfying/

 

[littleblazer]

Thanks roadie, just wanted to be sure so that next time its filled flames don't shooting out of the tank

 

[littleblazer]

So an update, I can make the horn work by jumping a ground to the switch. So I'm going to reground the switch, any ideas?

 

[littleblazer]

Heres what I'm looking at.

 

[littleblazer]

So by playing with it it now seems to work, I guess I'll find out later if it doesn't, at one point it was doing it as I turned so.... time will tell.

 

[littleblazer]

Well the spring is messed up on the button, i.e. the horn only works in a strait line... is a replacement switch even available?

 

[The_Roadie]

Steering column parts should all be available, but it's much more likely to be oxidation/gunk on the contact where the end of the spring plunger touches. I'd put some emery cloth or thin fabric on the end of a long thin pokey stick, and put it down the spring plunger hole and turn the wheel and try to clean up the contact surface.

Or are you saying you have a problem on the removable plunger that includes the spring? I think that's GM #16821883 and they're on Ebay and Amazon and the usual vendors.

 

[littleblazer]

Steering column parts should all be available, but it's much more likely to be oxidation/gunk on the contact where the end of the spring plunger touches. I'd put some emery cloth or thin fabric on the end of a long thin pokey stick, and put it down the spring plunger hole and turn the wheel and try to clean up the contact surface.

Or are you saying you have a problem on the removable plunger that includes the spring? I think that's GM #16821883 and they're on Ebay and Amazon and the usual vendors.

The plunger and spring itself are bent, mangled and messed up. but I will also clean the surface with emery, I didn't realize the contact point wasn't fixed into the wheel assembly, oh well, everyone over looks something.

 

[littleblazer]

Really digging up a grave here... But I just thought I would post up the actual fix for this problem as I only got around to it a couple of weeks ago. The switch (part that holds airbag in place with the wires that hold the plunger.) Was not the problem albeit it was a little messed up. the problem was behind the wheel. There is a copper ring that rides along another fixed spring pre-loader. That ring was bent up so it would only contact in certain wheel positions. The only way to fix it was to remove the wheel....

Shown above, the back of that plastic plate is the copper ring, the culprit for the erratic operation.

Shown above, the plate is removed and you can see the pin it rides on.

The fix: Once you get that plastic plate off, there are three (4?) tabs that bend and hold the ring to it, you can see them in the first picture. So you bend those back and slide the ring off and use something to space it off the plastic a bit. I used a bead of hot glue and spaced it off about 1/8th inch, the glue holds the ring until it hardens then bend the tabs back in place. Since there would be more pressure I put some dielectric grease on the ring to help it glide over the contact. Then you just re-install everything the way it was and you're good to go.