1993 Mazda Protege Horn problem

FALLIS3

MEMBER
1993 MAZDA PROTEGE
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
80,000 MILES

One day my horn got stuck while my car was sitting in the carport. I noticed that it stopped when I pushed on the top of the steering wheel, so I took the steering wheel cover off to find the cruise control and a copper plate. I checked all the fuses and the horn would not stop, so I disconnected the wires going to the cruise control and to the horn. I miss them both and want them back. What is the copper plate called? Does this need to be replaced or should I be looking at something else?

Thanks,
Robin

1 Reply

BILLYLIAR

MEMBER
1 POST

Your question didn't mention if your carport was a cold (or perhaps even hot) place. My '93 Mazda experienced an episode of involuntary horn sounding in very cold weather. The research I've done suggests that the problem is a foam pad in the steering wheel which, when depressed (as in honking the horn) allows the electrical contacts to close the circuit and sound the horn. Age deteriorates the foam, cold weather further shrinks it, the contacts close, and the horn sounds. Solutions:
1) Replace the foam pad.
2) Reconnect the wires that you disconnected, forget about replacing the foam pad, but snip the horn wire (you won't have a horn anymore, but you probably don't need it anyway unless you think of it as an emotion-conveying device, in which case someone else should disable it for you anyway.) That's what I did, and it cost nothing.