What might be going on with my Plymouth Voyager and it s horn/airbag system?

Question

I have a 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager, 3.8 liter engine. The horn has stopped working and the Airbag warning light stays on and dings at me all the time(Im only guessing that there is a connection between the two items). I have checked the fuse on the horn, and all looks well. I have done nothing else, but fussing about this.

My wife once had this same issue on her Plymouth Voyager, as well. She says she just let it be and never found out its problem, before selling it.

What would you suggest as the problem and solution?

Answer 1

The airbag clockspring has broken.

It allows the wheel to turn and still allow an electrical contact to be kept at all times. The wires inside it have broken, so it has lost the electrical contact.

This means the airbag no longer has electrical contact, so it will not deploy in an accident, and the horn switch will not work since the connection is lost (as well as any other steering wheel mounted controls such as radio controls or cruise control).

There was a recall on 1999 minivans, so yours is probably covered by the recall, which covers the clockspring for the lifetime of the vehicle. You can take it to any Chrysler or Dodge dealer to get it repaired under the recall (they will verify that it's under the recall first, of course) and it should not cost you anything.

Answer 2

I like Mark's answer, but if that doesn't work, I'd register with the www.allpar.com website and ask their esperts in the miniivan forum.  this is one huge website and very excellent.

Good luck