The '93 Caprice that I'll be picking up has a bum horn. The owner doesn't think its the actual horn unit or the solenoid. When I drove it and I went to "honk" it i hit the buttons and it didn't feel like anything was there, like the contacts wore out. Upon reading further, seems horns wearing out is a common problem and the only remedy is to replace the horn/ airbag unit or rig up new buttons in the unit. I looked on ebay for a replacement and it was $45 including shipping. How hard is this to swap out? I'm kinda leery about installing it as I don't want a bag blasting in my face if I screw something up.

Easy swap. Couple of torx screws on the back, pop the bag off, unplug it, plug new one in, couple torx screws, and you're done in 5.

Sweet. Anything I have to do before I start? Any fuses to pull? Disconnect battery?

Just to be safe, disconnect the battery and wait half an hour. Also make sure there is nothing plugged into your cig lighter.

Doug

I never did... But it's up to you.

Having seen airbags go off, I'd disconnect the battery too, lol.

Make sure the bag you get has the buttons in it. They ALL break from what I've seen. My 93 had 57K when I bought it and one was already broken. It still works if I push really hard, but I don't bother with it. One of the few things I hate about the car.

I hear the horn buttons from Radio Shack mod is a good fix for it...

So the bag got here. I installed it properly. Still no horn. Fuse is good, horn in the fender is getting power. Anyone have any ideas?

What color is your interior.
I have a bunch of blue airbags.
I would think it would be easier to just change the horn buttons,
I'm pretty sure i have a few of those kicking around.
1 bugle or 2 ?

Horn should have 2 wires coming off of it. One is the ground which can be grounded anywhere you choose. The other is power which should only show power at the horn when the button is pressed or the alarm is activated.

If you have power at the horn when the button is pressed then check for a loose or bad ground. If the ground is also solid then replace the horn. It's really a pretty basic system.

So the pencil sized white plastic connector (red wire) was pushed in, thru the clock spring into its mate & twisted so it remains connected right?
If thats the case, check the Relay in the convenience panel (just somewhat convenient)
Take your foot off the brake & put it to the left on the floor
Convenience panel is directly above your toe & has the silver can flashers etc on it
Check for coil sound if horn switches are functional
Go to http://shbox.com/1/horns.jpg for schematic

EDIT: Not sure if you convenience panel is in the same place (no experience)

With the airbag off
(Dont get cocky & just rip it off now, follow advise about removing power & waiting a few minutes)
look thru the 1/4" holes in the wheel.
Inside 1 hole you'll see the gold electrical mate to the pencil size connector attached to the horn buttons
Its set up like those inline fuses (except there's no fuse), where it pushes in 1 way (due to a tab on the plastic)
& when you compress the spring, it allows you to turn it clockwise a little & lock it in place

Ok. The little tab will not turn clockwise to lock and its driving me nuts lol

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=236716&highlight=steering+wheel

Are you sure the buttons that came in the bag are any good? It's pretty rare to find working ones...

In a related matter, is there a steering wheel we people doomed to hell with the 91-93 steering wheel can swap in (plug and play style) that had the good old fashioned horn where you can actually find it in an emergency and not some wimpy little button you can't find until it's too late (or you're not pissed off anymore)? I could have sworn I saw a Monte Carlo airbag wheel or something like that swapped into a Caprice or Impala before.

The only thing good about the pre-94 steering wheels is that they don't get as worn out looking.

When I worked for the cab company, it was common practice to use parts off 91-93 on 94-96 cars and vise versa. if you take the wheel and airbag, and cut and splice the pig tail from the donor car to the air bag, you can put a later year air bag in the earlier car, and vice versa. That would give you the whole air bag area to push for a horn.

We got it in, and working. Part of the little tab to lock in the wire was broken. My father in his fatherly wisdom rigged up something. It works great. Dam that thing is loud. Thanks for your help guys!

"Are you sure the buttons that came in the bag are any good? It's pretty rare to find working ones... "

That was the first thing I checked when FedEx got here today, both contacts still work