2001 Ford Escort Car Horn activates randomly

DH9777USA1

MEMBER
2001 FORD ESCORT
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
129,000 MILES

The car horn, which the switch is located in the air bag, starts to beep constantly at random times (the last time was at 10:00 PM one evening) which caused me to pull the fuse and go without a horn. I've been advised that with the switch being in the air bag it's going to cost a minimum of $800.00 to fix. My other option is to run a kill switch to one of the terminals of the horn so I can deactivate it when not driving the car but I can't find the horn under the hood. What is the best solution that won't break the bank and where do I find the actual horn if the kill switch idea is a good one?

7 Replies

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Hello, in my personal opinion,I 'd take it to a qualified technician and get it fixed.

In the past, where ground side of the coil for the horn relay, only affected the horn, I have used a switch in that circuit, but, not with this system. Others may have a different idea.

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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 AT 6:53 AM

DH9777USA1

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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 AT 1:01 PM

JAMES W.

MECHANIC
2,395 POSTS

Do you have a remote alarm system on this vehicle. If, yes, the problem could be in the alarm module.

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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 AT 6:35 PM

DH9777USA1

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No car alarm that causes it, before I had to take the fuse out I noticed that when I did beep the horn occasionally it would get stuck and I had to tap it again to get it to stop. Someone mentioned that the strips that contact within the airbag assembly are too close together or warped and that is causing my problem. My only hope is to install a kill switch I can toggle when I park the car for long periods so the horn won't go off.

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Friday, April 3rd, 2009 AT 5:05 AM

JAMES W.

MECHANIC
2,395 POSTS

OK, now I understand. I'll attach a simple diagram of the horn circuit. With a little "creative wiring", you could attach the feed to the horn curcuit to one that is hot only with KEY ON.