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Horn not working, but buttons on wheel still work...Clockspring or something else?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by gradyoactive, May 22, 2020.

  1. gradyoactive

    gradyoactive Junior Member

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    So the horn on my 2010 Prius stopped working several months ago. At first I could get it to honk by turning it more than 90 degrees to the left, so I assumed it had a faulty clockspring. I bought one of the cheap eBay replacements, but haven't installed it yet. I've been procrastinating, but since my inspection is now well expired, I plan to try to fix the horn this weekend to be able to pass.

    Now I can't get the horn to work in any wheel position. But my steering wheel buttons all still work perfectly. Wouldn't those stop working as well if the clockspring was broken? I just don't want to risk putting a cheap clockspring in there if it might not even solve the problem (I also can't afford to mess up and have my car not be driveable, since I drive every day for work). Could it be a blown fuse? Something else entirely?

    Thanks,
    Grady
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the clockspring doesn't necessarily fail altogether. you would have to do some testing to be 100% positive, but it sounds like the clock spring to me, since turning the whhel affected performance.

    don't use a cheapo clockspring, they fail quickly
     
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  3. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Check the horn itself.
    The technology used in making horns dates back to about 1900.
     
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  4. gradyoactive

    gradyoactive Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I just tested the panic button alarm, and it works fine. Does that mean the horn itself still works, or are there 2 separate horns?

    bisco, how quickly do the cheap clocksprings break? Because I already have 205k on this puppy, and I don't expect it to last more than 240k, which for me is only about 1.5 years. Even if I need to replace the clockspring again before then, I'll have save a lot of money by avoiding springing for the OEM part.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    then you're probably better off with the chinese knockoff. unless you can find a cheaper oem salvage. there's no data on how long they last, just what i've read here about reliability
     
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  6. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Yeah I'd roll the dice on the ebay part-alike if the remaining service expectation is that low.

    Good luck!
     
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  7. jcny33

    jcny33 Junior Member

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    I had problem with the horn - must hit it hard to work and sometime doesn't work at all. I tried replacing the spiral cable, but that's not the problem. It was the blue wire connection problem at the steering wheel, not at the airbag end. After I make sure it is tight, it works again without any problem again.
     
  8. blaze001

    blaze001 New Member

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    any update on how this was resolved? Facing similar issue.
     
  9. Trevor Gunderman

    Trevor Gunderman New Member

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    Im having the same issue. All of the buttons on the steering wheel work great although the lighting for the buttons is extremely dim. I had a shop replace the clock spring for me as I didn't want to mess with the air bag but the horn still only works when turning the wheel slightly. Where do I go next?
     
  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    BACK to the shop that did the spring.
    And tell them WHAT you want fixed, not HOW to fix it.
    Those lights are really dim on many models.
     
  11. Trevor Gunderman

    Trevor Gunderman New Member

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    I haven't gotten back to the shop yet unfortunately. Today, however, the horn started to randomly blow on its own. Just a quick beep here and there. During this I was able to beep the horn with my steering wheel once, but now it's not working at all anymore. Could this be a simple relay replacement? Any idea where the horn relay is on a 2011?