98 i30

The horn(s?) started sounding off by themselves “all of a sudden”. It seemed like I had 60% success in pressing/releasing the airbag cover/steering wheel to disengage the faulty horn.

Then (maybe 24 hours later): drove it next day, horn started to mis-fire…but now I couldnt get it to disengage. Horn blew for maybe two minutes - and now has ceased operation entirely.

“Whats the Secret Peter?”

 

Any dash lights or DTCs?

When the horn sounded, did it seem to be associated with turns of the steering wheel?

Has your car’s airbag ever deployed?

Sounds like it might be a clock-spring issue.

 

Plastic guide tabs under the airbag cover Crumbling?

 

No lights.

The horn happened both straight and turning.

No airbag deployment ever.

 

Is the next step to remove the airbag cover then ?

- “How?” Just pull it straight out? Trim remover ? TECHNIQUE is what Im looking for, Please and Thank You

Should I pull the battery and wait 20 mins before proceeding ?

BrianA
PlanetHouston

 

I never had to remove it so I can't advise.

SEARCH... There's some good details in here somewhere.

 

You need a T50H security torx bit. Pop the covers off the left and right side of the wheel to expose the bolts.

Beforehand, disconnect the battery. Let car sit for an hour to be safe.
Optional step:
You can also touch the negative and positive battery cables together which will help discharge any small amount of power that may be left in the systems before removing airbag.

If you plan on removing steering wheel as well, you will need a 19mm socket.

 

Before you do any dismantling, check your battery charge alternator performance.

Check battery voltage (1) with the car off, (2) with the car running and (3) with the car running and under full load (i.e. lights on and AC on).

 

Naturally I'd say it's the wine?

 

The above was the only truly acceptable answer, Thank You

 

The deep Check Your Head pull above notwithstanding, this below was actually my problem:

The horn was in a constant "ON" state as a result...until the 10A fuse (in the block next to the battery) blew.

THIS POST omg:

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...-resolved.html

THIS is the sh*t. I followed the instructions (I didn't have a 8-32 tap as I had thought, so I used red LocTite instead - still within the instructions) and it seems like I'm back in business. The modifications necessary to the store-bought items ("grind the head to 7/16", "cut the bolts to specified length", "cut the nylon spacers to 1/4") are time consuming, but effective. Two hours to drive to three different Home Depot stores and the same ~4 hours of bench time as quoted was necessary.

THANK YOU, BEVY !