I took 2004 xfire coupe in for inoperable horn and I'm being told that I have to get the airbag replaced because the airbag is bad. since the horn is connected to the airbag and will cost $1600 to replace.. True or False. the car has 60K miles.. No airbag lights are on also, just no horn prior to getting it fixed..

 

I would doubt that the air bag and horn are connected in any way, why would they be?
Probably a fuse in the horn circuit, I think you are being taken advantage of. The horn has one fuse under the hood which I assume is OK as the other items on the circuit are working you say.
There is also a fuse and a relay in the Relay Control Module under the hood and this is where I suspect the trouble lies.
Did it suddenly stop working? What is the story behind the problem.

 

They would be commonly connected because they are both located in the turning steering wheel.
Since both are wired through the clock spring module, I would be looking there.

 

I forgot all about that, but there is no air bag light and I would expect a light in this system for sure. It is a safety system and surely it would exhibit a problem more readily than any other.

 

Before you disconnect any airbag wiring disconnect the battery first. And remember to reconnect airbag before battery. This may prevent the airbag light from coming on.

 

Yea, I'm wondering why he was told the airbag was bad, since he states no air bag light.

 

Cha-ching that's why. :-)

 

.?????????..........

 

The stealership owner has to go on his fishing trip, or his mistress, or make his car payment.

 

Now I get the context of your reply.

 

Thanks for the reply so anyway of fixing DIY? Or am I out of luck?

 

They said they fixed then it works for a day then it does not. It started about two weeks ago was working then failed. Took it to the dealership they fixed they said had some corrosion on the contacts for the horn. Worked for a day as I staed above, took it back a week or sao ago that's when they said it was the airbag.

 

In a previous post the clock spring was mentioned, the clock spring could be the problem I guess but not the air bag as the dealer says.
Anyhow, have you looked at the Relay Control Module (RCM)?
There is a relay and a fuse in there that operates the horn. Maybe the contacts on the relay are burnt or damage somehow. Maybe the horn relay needs replacing, if the contacts on that are damaged they only get worse.
They say corrosion on the horn, what do they mean? Contacts on the wires, amazing how the air bag is not mentioned or did they play with that?
Do you use your horn a lot? I doubt if I have used mine more than a dozen times in four years.

Some of the numbers I assign to the fuses may be wrong. I'll have to fix it some time.

 

Well living in South FL, causes us to use it more

 

It was the contacts on the wire since they had to disconnect the airbag to repair on the steering wheel. No have not look at the RCM but will plan to do that tomorrow and will give an update on what I find.

 

Ha Ha, you got to watch them snow birds like a hawk. They will suddenly cut across four lanes in the blink of an eye.

 

Yeap and gives you the finger because you blow the horn

 

According to an old 60 Minutes program there are a lot of retired people living in Florida that are driving while practically blind. The reason being that there are enough of them to have enough significant power at the polling booth to vote against mandatory testing. It being political suicide to even mention it.
They had one guy on there who had cataracts who had killed two people and was still allowed to drive. Here in Ontario you have to take a test when you reach 80, they test your eyes as well as your ability to handle the car. You fail and your license is revoked.
Mind you there are still people driving here who should not be and they are often much younger.

 

They are a large voting block and hopefully they will institute this at some time. Licenses are renewed for 10years so I can see folks being tested at that age every 1 year.

 

Ok, finally had some time to take out the RCM and take a look at it. Please see the attached pictures. I don't see anything that looks pitted or fried but I'll leave that up to you kind folks on the forum to see if I missed anything.. As always thanks for your assistance as it is greatly appreciated.