Horn stopped working

BILLY GOLLAHER

MEMBER
2008 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER
2.4L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
68,000 MILES

I just bought this car and noticed the horn doesn't work. It does sound every now and then while driving and has started blowing at an idle once.
The battery light has flashed up for a couple of seconds once at an idle in park. Today on my way to work at 5:00 am I was in traffic for about an hour and I lost gas power a couple of times and when I came to a stop at a light the car shut down. I was only able to restart after turning the lights off and starting. Once started it acted like it was starving for gas but I was able to make it the 2 miles to work. Once at work the car shut down again. Restarted and the car idled rough.
parked the car for my 8 hour shift and started the car and drove it home 50 miles and ran fine?
Can the clock-spring effect the TPS (Throttle Control Sensor)? Does this sound like a clock-spring problem? The airbag light is not on.
Thanks for any help or advice you can give me in this matter

5 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

This is two different issues. The horn switch is the most likely cause of the horn not working. It could be the clock spring but it is more likely the switch contacts are worn and corroded. This is pretty common when the horn stops working. The way it works is, there is power always supplied to the switch and then when you press the horn it closes the contacts and it grounds the horn and it sounds.

The idle issue sounds like a possible dirty throttle body or injectors that are dirty. Try cleaning the throttle body and using an injector cleaner and see if it improves. If not we need to monitor fuel pressure when this happens.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/throttle-actuator-service

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Saturday, January 25th, 2020 AT 2:52 PM

BILLY GOLLAHER

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thank you for your quick response to my questions and really appreciate the advice you have given me in this matter. Again, Thank you and I will be advising my people to use your great site!

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Saturday, January 25th, 2020 AT 4:25 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Sounds great. Please come back and update us once you get it figured out or if you need more info.

Thanks for recommending us. We are here if you need anything. Thanks

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Saturday, January 25th, 2020 AT 5:06 PM

BILLY GOLLAHER

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Well, I was finally able to figure out the horn and gas problem. It seems that Chrysler has had issues with their TIPM Boxes. I tried removing and cleaning the throttle body and AIC, also added some injector cleaner. No Dice! So I removed the TIPM Box and checked all wire's and connection's all good. I decided to clean the circuit boards with approved cleaner, still No dice! So after thoroughly investigating the problems online I came to the conclusion that it had to be the TIPM Box, I ordered a re-manufactured TIPM Box from Maks online.
A new one was $1,100.00 from the dealer and a 2 month wait. Maks charged me $295.00 and gave me $25.00 for the old one. Great place to deal with! After replacing the TIPM Box- 7 come 11 Bam! The horn works, and the car runs as designed.
Thank you 2CarPros for all your help in this matter and will highly recommend!

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Wednesday, March 11th, 2020 AT 3:38 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Sounds great. Thanks for the update. Unfortunately the TIPM does get a bad wrap because it controls almost everything in that car so when the component that failed and wiring checks out, most likely it was the TIPM. So it gets a lot of reported failures but in general they were a pretty decent design.

I am sure this info will help others. If you feel up to it, leave a review at the link below. Talk to you next time if I pick up your questions. Thanks

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/2carpros.com