Honks when I brake...

[Peer]

Well, here's something crazy weird -- once in a while when I brake, the horn goes off. Although it's an intermittent problem (can be gone for days) it's quite annoying when it happens, (was even followed by a cop who thought I was honking at him). Anyone knows what this might be, and how to fix it? Btw, is there a fuse for the horn that I can pull until it's fixed, if so, where is it? Mine is a '98 Box.

Any help appreciated,

-- peer

[Bob O]

If I rememer correctly, there was an issue with the horn springs (?) getting weak over time (usage) and causing your problem. Search the archives and I'm pretty sure you'll find an answer. (I did a quick search using "horn problems" (ok, i know) and got six or seven threads directly related to your issue. Sounds like it might be the bushings in the horn mechanism. )

Bob

[racer_d]

Yes it can be fixed. In fact, there is at least one other active thread with the same issue. I am sure someone will chime in with specifics. Short of that, try the search feature! Enjoy!

[boxster7614]

I once ran a wire from my friends brake light to his horn on his old GMC truck...so that every time he steped on the brakes his horn would honk.

[rick3000]

Try doing a search here and on RennTech. I have heard of this happening before, I think it was caused by the wire in the steering wheel coming loose over time. It isn't to hard of a DIY.

[dcporsche99]

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1728

I thought this was the same thread, but I guess not.

You can thank Toolpants for this link as I have saved it in my favorites file!

Hope this helps!

[Lil bastard]

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16317

[renzop]

If you are fat, maybe it's your belly hitting the horn button :-)

While I know its not your problem, here's an amusing little story:
I once had a car that had the ignition on the steering column. I also had just a few keys on a plain keyring. Every once and a while the other keys on the ring would flip over the top of the ring under hard braking. If they flipped just right one key would flick into a gap in the plastic around the steering column. It would then short out the horn button and the horn would come on and stay on. The first time this happened it took me about ten minutes to figure out why the horn was going off :-(

[fatmike]

Since you've already gotten a bunch of good advice, I'll offer some less than helpful advice:


Don't brake...







/

[juan986]

I believe its the horn bracket on your steering wheel
, you can get it pretty cheap at pelican parts.

[Peer]

Since I don't have the code for my radio, I didn't wanna do this fix... especially since it includes air-bag removal, which to me is quite scary. So I just removed the horn fuse.

However, now when realizing how useful a horn actually is, I wonder if there might be some other way to install a horn... like like a air-horn that I can perhaps control remotely so I don't need to pull wires and stuff...
...or any other suggestion appreciated.

-- peer

[Sammy]

Originally Posted by fatmike

Since you've already gotten a bunch of good advice, I'll offer some less than helpful advice:


Don't brake...







/

Or he could just put a "Horn" label on the brake pedal and call it a day?

I used to be into wakeboarding and read about a guy who had a boat that whenever he hit the horn the engine would actually increase speed/power. Evidently there was some sort of electrical draw on the engine with the horn circuit. He fixed the problem by putting a "Turbo" label on the horn.

[FTD]

That's funny. Made me giggle.
I hope it is an easy fix for you.

[RandallNeighbour]

This was the first repair I had to make on my boxster. Everyone in front of me thought I was a prick driving a porsche and thought I should be the only guy on the road. Grrr.

You will definitely need to take your car and proof of ownership to a dealership to retrieve your radio code if you repair this yourself, and you should not pay anyone to repair it. It's too easy.

The horn pad plate can be purchased through Sunset Porsche in Oregon for near cost. Disconnect your battery's negative post, drink a couple of beers and kill a half hour, and then remove the horn pad.

You'll need a T15 torx screwdriver (or thereabouts in size) to remove it, and there's two screws behind the wheel. The horn pad comes right off when you remove them.

You'll see a squarish metal bracket with four black rubber seals on it that have worn out and are causing inertia-induced contact between the horn pad and the base of the wheel.

You can either replace that bracket or cut some garden hose and replace the black discs with it and put it back together... that would be the cheap fix and a lot of guys do it.

Buy a Bentley Boxster repair manual asap. You'll be referring to it a lot if you keep your boxster for any length of time.

I was never mechanically inclined but after a couple of trips to the dealer for service, I decided to learn how to do stuff on the car. Just rebuilt a caliper, swapped out a warped rotor, and bled the brake system. No big deal really. Just a learning curve and a new experience.

[vath2001]

I went to start the Boxster and it had a dead battery. It had been sitting for about 2 weeks (maybe 3). I put on the charger and the battery took the charge and starts.

Today I decided to tackle the dead horn (went to the Renntech to see how). I checked the fuse, its OK. I played with the air bag and I hear a click click as I push/pull the air bag. If I pushed in the airbag.. click, then pull out the airbag.. click. This tells me that the bushing/springs are bad in the steering wheel. But the horn never sounds.

So I conclude that the air bag may have been stuck in, causing the horn relay to stay shut. This could be enough of a draw to run the battery down in a couple of weeks. I pulled the fuse and played with the air bag, no clicks.

So I think I elminated a battery draw, but I still have a dead horn. I'll disconnect the battery charger and check again in a couple of weeks. Next I need to find the horn, test it and get a T30 screw driver to remove the airbag.

[Burg Boxster]

Horn failure is common and they are extremely easy to replace. To access though, you'll need to pull the front bumper skin which will take ~ 25-30min. The horns goes b/c one is angled to ingest water and subsequently rusts/corrodes. That being said, it's not uncommon for both to go out - especially if the relay was stuck on... You can replace them w/ OEM or others have replaced w/ some aftermarket super blasters.

Below is a link on how to remove the bumper skin (for radiator cleaning which you might as well do while you're in there ). Know that if you have some short sockets w/ philips and torx bits, you can forgo putting the front up on jackstands and also forgo removing the wheels. It is helpful though to drive the front wheels up onto 2x6s for some extra clearance. Subsequently, if you don't put the front up on jackstands, you also don't have to pull the whole fender liner - just the 2 anchor pins . You also don't need to pull the similar anchor pins (from wheel well liner) on the body panel underneath. Once you loosen the 7 bolts/screws (they changed based on MY) it will be free on the bottom.

In total, to remove the bumper skin it's:

4 pin/anchors (2 in each wheel well liner - to access hidden screw behind side marker)
4 screws (2 each behind the side marker lights - one visible one from behind)
2 screws topside below plastic panel by hood release
7 screws/bolts on the bottom (longest one in center, 2 mid-way out, 2 on each side outboard - one is tucked up in ~ 1/2")

Directions Here

[vath2001]

Thanks for the info and the link. I won't be driving until the spring anyways. We just got 2 inches of white stuff. Not enought to justify the snow blower.

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by FTD

That's funny. Made me giggle.
I hope it is an easy fix for you.

Me too FTD. My last DD car had a similiar issue, the horn would honk ever so briefly while making a slight turn, happened once every month or so. After a few occurences, I just started waiving if anyone noticed. I never bothered to get it fixed since I came to find it amusing, great way to make new friends.

[jotoole]

BURG BOXSTER

Quote "Know that if you have some short sockets w/ philips and torx bits, you can forgo putting the front up on jackstands and also forgo removing the wheels. It is helpful though to drive the front wheels up onto 2x6s for some extra clearance. Subsequently, if you don't put the front up on jackstands, you also don't have to pull the whole fender liner - just the 2 anchor pins . You also don't need to pull the similar anchor pins (from wheel well liner) on the body panel underneath. Once you loosen the 7 bolts/screws (they changed based on MY) it will be free on the bottom."

Super DYI!

Have 2000 2.7 base, short sockets w/philips and torx bits and ramps. Before I start, how can I tell if I can do job the easier way referred to above? I checked my BENTLEY Boxster 1997 thru 2004 service manual, it only detailed the whole 9 yard route. Thanks for any info and have a great NEW YEAR!

[Burg Boxster]

it's not my DIY but yes it's very thorough. If you have a Boxster, you can do the shortcut method above The only time it get's a little snug is if you have 19" wheels (it's tight w/ 18's too but not unmanageable). For reference, at the BRBS (Blue Ridge Boxster Summit) in 2007, owners with the assistance of myself and a few others were able to remove the bumper skins, clean the radiators and reinstall the bumper skins on 15 or so cars in well under 2 hours - all were first time bumper skin pullers too. Oh, did I mention we did it while all the cars were lined up perpendicular to the slope



(as you can see we used bricks or pieces of wood lying around to get a few more inches of clearance)