I went to drive my truck last night and when I started it up somehow the horn got stuck on. The Ford emblem in the steering wheel has come off before and I think some of the tabs that hold the emblem in place are floating around behind the horn cover. How do I take it apart and short term, where do I find the horn under the hood to disconnect it?

 

Quick and easy would be to pull the fuse that runs it. At least afford you some peace and quiet to find the horn itself.

Personally I wouldnt go go anywhere near trying to take the steering wheel apart, not with that airbag just chilling in there. I've seen the YouTube videos of what those damn things can do, lol.

 

I had this happen before in the middle of the night. Had to just pull the fuse out to shut it up. Bought a new horn a few days later. You got two horns and they should be behind the passenger fender. Pain in the *** to get to. I say disconnect the old and install and wire up new horns.

 

for mine I think it might actually be something stuck in the steering wheel but how would I test the horn?

 

Soooooo.... leave the old bad wiring that has issues and can possibly cause problems with the airbag and just toss new horns on there? Totally disagree. This isn't a Smart car, let's do this right shall we? Take the negative battery cable off and leave it off for a half hour to an hour. Then take the airbag out, there are no threats once the power is gone. FIX the issue, then enjoy the Ex the way it's supposed to be



EDIT: Just looked this up to make it a little easier for you

 

Do these twice a day, the film in the horn switch breaks down and the contacts stick, you can pull fuse 35 out from the underdash fuse box, Take out the air bag assembly, remove the 2 caps on back side of steering wheel, use an 8mm socket and remove the airbag, horn assembly the horn is the black and blue wire, undo the connector, the air bag connector is yellow as usual. remove the 2 torxs bolts and you can get the pad out. Ford doesnt just sell that horn pad it comes complete with the air bag and all, around $400 bucks, I have heard guy's that have separated the two halfs of the brown liner and spaced it with pinstripping to keep the 2 contacts separated and then reinstalled it. there is also a black connector under the dash with 3 wire's going into it. that is were the horn makes its connection If your afraid to take the air bag out you can unplug that connector and the horn will stop as well, and if you just want to put a universal horn button in tie it into that connector, black wire and the blue wire, it closes the relay with a ground, so its easy to do but then you got a cheesy horn button on your dash,out of 30 fords only 2 horns work, boss wont spring for the whole setup, so when when a truck is due for inspection, we swap the good ones, pass inspection than swap out the assembly till the next time, as long as you have the key off it wont set a air bag code when you unplug the horn and airbag. someone has to come out with a replacement contact assembly, so you dont have to change the whole airbag.

 

Thanks for the in depth explanation! I pulled the horn fuse out and I was a little surprised to find out my cruise control does not work now. It must be on the same fuse as the horn, just not listed as such in the fuse diagram.

If I leave the fuse out until I have time to deal with the horn, does this deactivate the air bag as well?

 

Airbag does NOT run off of a fuse you can easily get to, that would be a very bad design Also if it makes you feel better I disable the airbags on EVERY vehicle I own. I always have and always will. Seatbelts have saved more lives than can be counted, airbags have done more damage than good. I don't trust them at all... I wear my seatbelt, always have and always will.

 

Just getting around to tackle this this weekend. What precautions should I take to make sure the airbag does not deploy?

 

If airbags worked wouldn't they be in racecars?

 

Reps sent...... damnit, need to spread them around some more

 

After getting the airbag/ horn bad off, I see on my 2003 I have 2 torx bolts at the top and 3 rivets at the bottom holding the rubber cover on. Can I unbolt the two top torx bolts and peel it back without causing any damage or the airbag to come unpacked? Even with the power disconnected, is there still a chance of somehow triggering the airbag? Oh, and any help to locate the horn wires under the dash would be great!

 

If you're worried about the airbag just disconnect the battery and wait an hour

 

ALL the airbag systems I have worked on DO HAVE A FUSE!

But the book does say pull negative cable!

There has to be a fuse for the airbag module. If there is step 1) pull the POSITIVE cables. If you leave the Positive connected you have multiple grounds to complete the circuit. 2) pull the fuse for the airbag module. Wait about 10 mins and proceed.


Airbags do work.....The early versions were pretty brutal! When they worked!

 

I am looking at getting an airbag/ horn assembly on ebay. Does the assembly from a 2002 excursion work for my 2003? The pictures look identical.