Electrical issue 2011 Tacoma

So I took my Tacoma in for service to local garage. The local Toyota service center wasn’t an option 2 month back log, WTF! Anyway when I picked my Tacoma up the passenger air bag sign on dash won’t go off even after they reset it, and now I found the horn doesn’t work either. I’m assuming related issues? Any guidance here would be appreciated. Please and Thank You.

 

Fuse for horn is a 10a one in fuse box by battery. Did you check it?

For the air bag, I'm not sure, but I think my light is always on too...i can't recall

 

I might suspect the spiral cable in the steering wheel based on symptoms.

What work was done to the truck?

 

Steering arm was replaced. I checked Horn fuse and relay both are good

 

I'm not totally sure what the "steering arm" refers to... these trucks have racks and tie rods, not arms. But... since I heard the word "steering," I'll double down on my suspicion that your problem is the spiral cable in the steering wheel. This is sometimes called the clock spring FYI.

These tend to wear out and break over time on their own, so it could just be that. Or, if the steering shaft disconnected for any reason (such as when replacing the rack), you can wind up breaking the spiral cable if it's put together wrong. Basically the steering wheel will turn too far for the cable and break it. Your can find more details by searching the forum.

If the shop disconnected the steering shaft, for example to replace or service the rack, I would take it up with them as they likely didn't index the steering wheel correctly to the new rack.

If they didn't remove the rack (or otherwise disconnect the shaft), then the part probably just wore out. It's a bit suspicious that both signals broke at the same time... usually when these wear out, they stop working one by one, but who knows.


I replaced mine once (in my case, to fix my cruise control). It is not a bad job, with two caveats:

1. You have to be careful working with the airbag, but that is very easy if you follow the instructions for how to do that.

2. You have to buy a super-overpriced OEM spiral cable, from a Toyota dealership, even though there are tons of "OEM" parts that look identical on Amazon and eBay. They have the same part number, and some even have fake Toyota packaging, but they are fake and will break immediately. Like, in a week. Trust me, do not waste money on fake spiral cables from the internet.


I'm not certain this is your problem, it's just a guess. If your steering wheel has any more buttons, like cruise or radio controls, do they work?