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Horn won't stop honking: Horn/Airbag assembly question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Kevin F., Mar 11, 2015.

  1. Kevin F.

    Kevin F. New Member

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    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Recently while driving my 2005 Prius I went over a bump and it set off my horn without me touching the steering wheel column. It would not turn off unless I was able to press halfway down on my horn. Of course I cannot drive like this, and after being unable to find a solution that would alleviate the non-stop honking, I ended up having to take out the fuse responsible for the horn. I definitely feel the need to get the horn working again, so I asked a garage to take a look at the horn assembly.

    They told me something along the lines that there are a few clips holding the airbag in place that have broken, which in turn is causing the short. However, they said the only way to fix this is to purchase an entirely new airbag assembly which would cost near to $1000. My question is whether anyone has had a similar situation, and if they, or anyone else know how to fix this issue without having to buy an entirely new airbag assembly. I was not at the garage when they took a look inside the horn/airbag assembly, but I'm really hoping that I can avoid having to purchase the whole unit.
     
    #1 Kevin F., Mar 11, 2015
  2. JPhishman

    JPhishman Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    The same thing just happened to my '09 Prius yesterday. Haven't taken it to a shop, but I pulled the fuse and am searching for a way to fix this on my own. Did you ever find a solution other than replacing the whole airbag?
     
    #2 JPhishman, May 23, 2015
  3. brucebee

    brucebee Junior Member

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    Location:
    vista, ca
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    Model:
    II
    My 04 horn kept going after a swim with the smart key. Would not shut off till I took battery out of fob. Probably not your problem but easy to check
     
    #3 brucebee, May 25, 2015
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Disclaimer: I haven't been into a Gen 2 steering wheel, but if it's anything at all like my Gen 1, I'd be hugely surprised if anything to do with the horn honking required you to replace the airbag itself. Most likely, if you simply take the airbag out, you'll see behind it the whole spring-loaded bracket with contacts on it for honking the horn. The only role the airbag plays in the whole works is that you push on it, to push on the spring-loaded bracket, to honk the horn.

    If anything is simply broken back there causing the contact, you'll probably see it easily. If you don't, it's possible the problem is in your spiral cable ("clock spring") that you'll be able to partly see with the airbag removed, but won't be able to really examine or replace without also taking the steering wheel off.

    Maybe you would even see broken clips on the airbag itself, then you'd know the mechanic was right, but to my mind that would have to be a real fluke situation (in other words, to anybody else reading this thread wondering "could that be my problem too", don't assume that it is).

    Caution: before checking, please sign up on techinfo.toyota.com to view the service manual for your model, and closely read about how to remove and handle the airbag safely.

    -Chap
     
    #4 ChapmanF, May 25, 2015
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