[MizzouFan]

I bought a new 2002 GLS in October and I am very happy with it with one major exception. The horn will honk randomly from time to time. I haven't been able to trace any specific cause to this, and was wondering if anyone else had this problem. My dealer said they couldn't do anything about it as they couldn't duplicate the problem. It is very intermittent.
I've had just about enough of this. Last night, I'm driving through a residential area in town and the horn is randomly going off. It's happened at a stop light when I'm behind someone too. I'm gonna have a real problem if it happens when I'm behind the wrong person.
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[SAEDave]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

On most cars this is because of a pinched/abraded-insulation wire in the steering column. Turn the wheel back and forth to try to get it to sound; if it does, tell the dealer to fix the steering column! The dealer probably already knows this, but does not wish to spend the labor time for disassembly.

 

[gwfink]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (SAEDave)

lol...that is a pretty funny problem.

 

[VWGUY4EVER]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (gwfink)

Ignition switch......

 

[pass-variant]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (VWGUY4EVER)

I haven't experienced the random horn thing, but something similar in my GF's 01 Jetta.
We were driving from Milwaukee back to St. Paul... in the middle of nowhere, and the horn just turned itself on.. no beeping, just one long tone.
Well, it was raining, and we were on the freeqay, so I decided to wait till we hit an off ramp/ overpass, and do it there, dry, and safe. Well the next exit wasn't for a while... within 5 minutes the lower pitch horn gave out, and about 2 minutes after that the higher one did... so problem solved. The whole wile I was trying to convince her that I hadn't done anything to her car, andthat hand motion she kept refering to was just me adjusting the vent

...
They replaced the horn, and the harness that supplies it, and she hasn't hada problem since... not of much help, but some evidence.
You have a good point about this being a safety issue. Either by putting you in danger, from an angry motorist, or distracting needlessly those around you.

 

[moonturban]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (pass-variant)

Sounds like it's grounding out. My GTI had that happen once, funny story.

 

[BBear]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

Are you sure it's the car horn and not the alarm horn?
I've heard a dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat, then nothing at random times, but then again, I think it's my neighbors Toyota. But can't quite tell for certain. I hate that.

 

[MizzouFan]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (BBear)

I'm sure it's the horn and not the alarm. Any help is appreciated...

 

[sameero]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (BBear)

Thats a good question. The Alarm horn is also like a regular horn but loacted in the rear of the car. If you know where the sound is comming from then I guess you can figure out if its the Car Horn and not the alarm horn

 

[jdibb]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

Hi,
I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. The steering wheel must be replaced. No more problem. (Colonial VW in Westboro, MA did the work)
My dealer tried to fix the steering wheel a few times but it always got worse, rather than better.
You could pull the horn fuse until the dealer fixes it. Mine got to the point where it was basically always doing it.


[Modified by jdibb, 8:29 AM 2-15-2002]

 

[CanVolks]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

Do you have a 3 spokes leather steering wheel or the 4 spokes with Radio Control, I know that the one with Radio Control have some wiring problems...
Good Luck

 

[jdibb]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (CanVolks)

I have the 4 spoke wheel with radio controls.

 

[VWGUY4EVER]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (CanVolks)

15 months & 32K,never a problem with my steering wheel controls. Does the horn ever sound when you turn the ignition or only when you turn it ??

 

[jdibb]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (VWGUY4EVER)

In my case it was not linked to the ignition.
Drive fast, slow, forward, backward, straight ahead, around in circles ... didn't matter. The horn honked when it wanted to.
Usually very short honks, sometimes longer.
In my opinion, it is probably not a widespread problem, and my new steering wheel is fine.


[Modified by jdibb, 11:42 AM 2-15-2002]

 

[sfr]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

Have them give you a new steering wheel/column. If they tell you it would take some time to order a new one, tell them to do it today; take one out of a car they have on the lot. That wouldn't be their first choice, and they might try to tell you it's not their policy to do this, but this is a safety issue, and they should do whatever they could to get this fixed ASAP.
My 2001.5 was delivered to me with three non-functional steering wheel items: horn, cruise-control, and radio controls. It took the dealer a while to decide what the root cause was. At first they tried to tell my the horns were just "broken" and needed to be replaced (yah, right, on a car with <100 miles on it!) but later they agreed to replace the steering wheel and column. Problem solved!
The strange thing was that during the two weeks when I was hornless, the cruise and radio buttons would sometimes work, but the horn never worked. I'm sure the horn worked when the car left Germany, so somehow it developed a problem in transit.

 

[MizzouFan]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (sfr)

I took the car into Don Jacobs VW in Lexington, KY, and got the usual "we can't duplicate the problem". I talked to the service manager, and he gave me the "song and dance" about how they can't just go replacing parts guessing at the problem. He actually told me customers don't like that when they are paying for service, and they don't do that to VW. I quickly pointed out that VW built the car defective, and they need to do whatever they could to fix it. The service manager told me he is going to call VW to see what we can do.
This is my first VW, and I'm really beginning to think my decision was a mistake. I should've stuck with BMW and Acura. I've owned both in the past and gotten exceptional service out of them....especially Acura. My decision was between the Acura TL-S and the Passat. The Passat is nice, but this horn thing (and the service) and the gas mileage are major disappointments.
We'll see what they come back with, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[jdibb]

Re: Random horn honking on new Passat (MizzouFan)

Start banging on the horn whenever you get the chance. If you can break it more and more, soon they'll be able to reproduce it. It will get worse and worse over time, the more you use it, the worse it gets... in my experience.
Initially, mine was totally random and very infrequent, like once every two weeks. It got to the point of once every time I drove the car, then every few minutes. At that point, pull the fuse if they haven't gotten your new wheel in yet.