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Old 05-27-2011, 07:10 AM   #1
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Overactive horn

A few weeks ago during an auto cross, I noticed that my horn would 'flutter' during heavy braking.
It got worse at the event 2 weekends ago where it would honk every time I hit the brakes...got some 'you ****************************' looks followed by laughter when I explained what was going on.
Pulled the horn fuse for last weekend's auto cross.

Yesterday, it started doing it on the street. Every time I hit a pothole or am hard on the brakes the horn goes off. It seems to be temperature dependent.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Any ideas on fixes?

I am hesitant to pull the airbag off to inspect it b/c I don't want to damage the airbag assy.

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Old 05-27-2011, 07:19 AM   #2
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There is these plastic mounts (gotta love how almost these plasitc mounts are the source of most replacement parts on the porsche) that hold the airbag cover from the horn sensor which tends to degrade over time. After heavy braking or downhill slopes, the momentum of the vehicle is enough to engage the horn by accident, which is very dangerous and annoying. If you come from a place with a lot of road rage, unintentional honking is something to stay away from.

Temporary Solution: Stick a thin card board or pieces of paper between the airbag cover and the steering wheel. There should be a small crease for you to insert something. The steering wheel mount, and I'm assuming yours is a 4 spoke as this problem seems to be most abundant in that model, goes for 3-400 dollars, I'd just save up and upgrade to a 3 spoke steering wheel.

FYI, you should see my steering wheel, I've got cardboard jammed in every possible crease of the steering wheel. (I hide it neatly with some black masking tape, LOL) Unintentional honking where I live is VERY dangerous and could result very bad confrontations. I'm still waiting to upgrade to a 3 spoke one of these days.
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Old 05-27-2011, 12:01 PM   #3
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the rubber bushings in the horn/airbag frame are worn

Do this:

Advanced Search: http://986forum.com/forums/search.php
Search Key Word: Horn
Search By User name: kabel
^ threads that explain the problem and how to DIY it you want to go that rout
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Old 05-27-2011, 12:14 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rui725
There is these plastic mounts (gotta love how almost these plasitc mounts are the source of most replacement parts on the porsche) that hold the airbag cover from the horn sensor which tends to degrade over time. After heavy braking or downhill slopes, the momentum of the vehicle is enough to engage the horn by accident, which is very dangerous and annoying. If you come from a place with a lot of road rage, unintentional honking is something to stay away from.

Temporary Solution: Stick a thin card board or pieces of paper between the airbag cover and the steering wheel. There should be a small crease for you to insert something. The steering wheel mount, and I'm assuming yours is a 4 spoke as this problem seems to be most abundant in that model, goes for 3-400 dollars, I'd just save up and upgrade to a 3 spoke steering wheel.

FYI, you should see my steering wheel, I've got cardboard jammed in every possible crease of the steering wheel. (I hide it neatly with some black masking tape, LOL) Unintentional honking where I live is VERY dangerous and could result very bad confrontations. I'm still waiting to upgrade to a 3 spoke one of these days.

The placing of the card in the crease of the steering wheel between the air bag works. I tried it by folding a business card twice and covering it with black duct tape. It works very well and will cause you to push harder to honk. ( I found the idea on this site but can't remember who its from).
Theres a lot of threads on the DIY fix for this if you do a search. I think the replacement bracket is for right around $50. Hope this helps.
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Old 05-27-2011, 02:52 PM   #5
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Thanks, Kabel.
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Old 05-28-2011, 02:58 AM   #6
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Pulling off the air bag and bracket is rather easy. The hard part was finding the t30 torx screw driver to unscrew it. You can't use the t30 bit on a changeable driver. The hole in the backside of the steering wheel is too small (at least for the set I had).

First thing is to disconnect the battery for about an hour before you start, to allow the air bag to loose its charge.

good luck.

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