Horn not working well

The horn only sounds when I press it really hard. It sounds fine when I do. No ability to quickly "beep beep" for safety. I have to brace myself and stiff arm it. Anything I can do to make it more sensitive?

If I have to take it in, any reason to check the airbag too?

 

Pretty consistent with a failing clock spring / spiral cable. A quick search didn't show any results for a 1st gen, but I am sure there are videos or write ups available to detail the job.

 

Take off the steering shaft covers and clean the horn contacts.

 

If it is your clock spring, I found a clock spring from a 93 Corolla, off eBay, and it was an exact match for my 95 Tacoma.

Edit: If your air bag light is on and your horn isn’t working, it’s probably a bad clock spring.

 

Agree with above. Had the same issue and eventually the dashboard confirmed it. Rent a pulley to remove the steering wheel. Save yourself the struggle, it's VERY well fitted and needs to come off evenly

 

The air bag light actually comes on briefly when I start the engine. Would that indicate the clock spring?

 

All the dash lamps should turn on during start up to indicate whether or not they are workings correctly.

 

either springs or contacts. Either way not a hard fix, just gotta find parts if they're broke

 

Try this...I had the same issue with my Sienna and it turned out to be the lube in the bearings was dry, preventing the horn switch from grounding. It's a worth a try and a lot simpler than a clock spring. Here's my repair guide for the project: http://dr-fix-it.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-mechanic-repairing-2000-toyota.html

 

Ok, thanks. Once more symptom: When I press the horn, it goes down a small amount visibly and with a tactile sensation, but there's no sound unless I push a lot harder past that.

 

Does my above symptom help isolate the problem as being either clock spring or contacts?

Also, when I mentioned the airbag light is on for a moment when I start the engine, i should have clarified that the light stays on for like 3 seconds after starting, unlike the other indicator lights that are only on while starting. What kind of failure exactly does the light indicate? This airbag light symptom is new, while the horn has been unresponsive to normal pressure for years.

 

From what you described, it doesn't sound like a faulty clock spring to me. If your clock spring was bad, the horn issue would be intermittent, like may happen when turning the steering wheel, or not work at all. But since you say the horn works fine, just need to press harder/further in I would also think it's a contact issue. Clean it & relube it if needed. Won't cost you anything to try first rather than an expensive clock spring.

On my 01' the airbag light stays on longer than the oil pressure & battery light which is normal. Those 2 shut off after starting the engine, airbag light turns off a couple of seconds after. On my previous car (not a Toyota) same thing.

 

Pushing hard on the airbag pad means the contacts are worn. Carefully take the airbag off and look down in there. On most cars the contacts are just flimsy pieces of metal. They can easily bend or break

 

Great, I'll work on taking it apart sometime soon to check it out, thanks!

 

Will any of these work as lubricant on he bearings?

 

I would use the silicone grease, second choice the dieletric. The other 2 I wouldn't, maybe the brake if I had no other choice.

 

the silicone would probably work. Even a few drops of 3-in-1 oil or 30 wt oil would be okay

 

I got the plastic trim pieces off, first the one going around the hood lever and parking brake, then the two trim pieces connected around the steering column. But I'm not sure that even helps me get to it. I think I need to take the steering wheel off. I popped off a couple plastic covers behind the wheel, and there are what look like torx screws in there holding the steering wheel on. I only have up to a T20 so will be ordering a larger set up to T40 I guess. I assume T30 or T40 will work and this isn't some special size?

Also the horn presses in at just a few pounds of pressure, moving 1/4" or so. Is this normal or does that make it loose somehow? Again it doesn't blast the horn unless I press it a lot harder than that.

 

Those trim panels you removed first, shouldn't need to do any of of that or even take the steering wheel off. Should only need to take out the airbag which is what those torx screws on both sides are for, the airbag, not the steering wheel. The steering wheel is held on with just one nut behind the airbag but again no need to take it off (but I've never needed to mess with the horn switch yet, not on my truck anyway).

 

Great, I'd rather not take those panels off again. I found reference to T30 torx and have a set ordered. I'm still not totally clear what I'm looking for, but if it's that easy to remove it I might as well fiddle around in there and maybe take a video if I can't figure it out. I'll disconnect my battery negative again so hopefully I won't trip the airbag!