Mother's '92 Protege horn sounds by itself and gets stuck ON

[mothershelper]

My mother in Minnesota has a Mazda Protege (c. 1992) with a horn problem characterized by the horn occasionally going off by itself when she's not in the car and staying on until she bangs on the horn button on the steeering wheel. She lives in Minnesota and the weather there has been getting colder lately (of course), if that means anything. She has an appointment with a mechanic tomorrow and she's concerned that she may not know it if the mechanic tries to charge for all manner of unnecessary work. Can anyone specify the most likely causes and solutions of this horn problem, if I've provided enough information, and provide any useful information so she'll be informed enough to not be taken advantage of, please?

By the way, I did see a post (http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80569) in these forums about a horn issue where the horn would go off while the girl was driving, but that didn't seem like my mom's problem.

[ChopstickHero]

replace horn to see if that solves the problem.

[SybrFreq]

could be a bad button or horn pad, the horn works so I doubt that's it

[MazKid]

My mother in Minnesota has a Mazda Protege (c. 1992) with a horn problem characterized by the horn occasionally going off by itself when she's not in the car and staying on until she bangs on the horn button on the steeering wheel. She lives in Minnesota and the weather there has been getting colder lately (of course), if that means anything. She has an appointment with a mechanic tomorrow and she's concerned that she may not know it if the mechanic tries to charge for all manner of unnecessary work. Can anyone specify the most likely causes and solutions of this horn problem, if I've provided enough information, and provide any useful information so she'll be informed enough to not be taken advantage of, please?

By the way, I did see a post (http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80569) in these forums about a horn issue where the horn would go off while the girl was driving, but that didn't seem like my mom's problem.

This is a VERY VERY common problem. It is caused by the Protege's steering wheel horn pad deforming...the foam wears out and causes contact and the horn to go off.

This is easily fixed. There's 3 screws on the back of the steering wheel spokes(don't even have to take the wheel off!), remove them, then pull the center of the steering wheel off. You'll see a connector, disconnect and you won't have the horn going off(or a horn at all for that matter).

What you can do to repair the problem - go to a junkyard and get another Protege wheel center. Or! You can get a MX-3 steering wheel center and never ever have the problem again because the MX-3's is better designed to prevent this from happening. However with the MX-3 center you'll need to remove the wheel and take the plastic piece from the back of the wheel. It's still easy. Then just put on your wheel and connect it up.

Thanks and glad to be of assistence in this 1st gen help-lacking forum.

Ryan

[Bill#2]

Or....she can go to the dealer, buy the part herself(no more than $15), and have a mechanically inclined friend/relative install it. It is a very easy install. Make sure she specifies whether it is an Lx or Dx, and if it has factory cruise. I have probably replaced 4-5 of them, my whole family drives Mazdas, and we currently have 4 Proteges.

[MazKid]

LX/DX doesn't matter, cruise control does though. The part from the dealer should be more than $15, that's for sure.