Cadillac Repair: stuck horn, turn signal switch, cadillac deville


Question
QUESTION: My 1989 Cadillac Deville 4.5 liter engine the horn blows by itself and i'm not even touching the horn then it just got stuck and now blows constantly i had to remove the fuse.How to repair because now  i have no radio.

ANSWER: Hello,

Tilt and telescopic horn set ups can be very complicated compared to the tilt no tele.

Now, if you don't use your horn and if it is the most common problem we ran across, I can make it simple to disable the horn.
The horn pad foam would separate putting stress on the contact on the pad.

Pay very much attention to what I have to say so you don't break
anything.

On the back side of the steering wheel there are 2 holes. In those holes you will find a 7 mm or 9/32 (same size) screw.  Remove the screws and lift the pad up slowly. You will see a yellow wire. One end attached to horn pad. The other inside the steering wheel. You will see a small black piece in front of the other end. Take your thumb and pointing finger and push down lightly on black piece. Turn counter clockwise until wire end pops out of steering wheel.

Tape horn wire to bottom of horn pad leaving wire disconnected from steering wheel. Put the screws back into pad.

If pad is bad, horn should't go on anymore but you do not have a working horn either.

If you still have the horn going off, contact me at robo14@aol.com.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Your answer was'nt much help i already did that much and i do need my horn.i hooked the horn pad back up pressed it and can hear the relay clicking behind the glove box also everytime i turn the steering wheel in any direction the relay still clicks is this problem repairable

Answer
Hello,

You do have a problem because very few know how to take the T%26T apart, much less put it back together. Many parts are no longer available because 1989 was the last year for tilt and tele. In 1990, they went to using an air bag.


The possibilities of the problem are many. Could be a bad turn signal switch, a bad cancel cam and even the plastic insulator that the steering wheel spring sits on. They get old and brittle and break. Even disassembly, this piece will break and they are no longer available. The part was only about $7 bucks, but they don't make them anymore.

I kid you not, even with the experience of rebuilding hundreds of these columns, they are frustrating to me.

Your best bet is to try to locate parts first. T.S. shouldn't be a problem. You will need to go to a Caddy dealer to see if a blow up of the column is available. The part not made anymore is serrated with about 5 little legs. It fits on top of the lock plate and the "C" clip that holds the upper half and the lower half of the column together.

Then you could see if by some chance some dealer has one laying around. You will need this piece no matter what. If you would think I would know what the piece was called, I haven't had to buy one for 25 years. In fact, I remember stocking about 6 of them and threw the new ones out in 2000 when I closed our shop.

If you are going to get someone to work on the column, make sure they are familiar with the T%26T if you want it back together.

Going used is not the answer either because these columns were notorious for loosining up and need to be taken fully apart to fix them.