john2k

I'm new here. I have a 2012 Cayenne and recently my horn on the steering started to stay pressed in. I had to use a suction grabbing tool just to suck it back out. Has anyone experienced this issue and is there a fix?

Thank you

deilenberger

Hi John,

A question - has anyone removed and replaced your steering wheel airbag recently? The usual cause of sticking is the airbag not being installed correctly.

I'd suggest you post a photo of your wheel so we know which one we're talking about. There are some differences depending on the options the original owner selected.

Welcome to Rennlist!

john2k

Thanks for your reply. No it's never been removed and I've owned the car for 4+ years. I don't have the car with me at the moment to take pic but it's the round cycle airbag/horn

twodollardoug

The airbag /horn cable rides in a channel that is probably 3 to 4 inches long. You need to pay special attention when installing the airbag that the cable stays in that channel or it will get wedged between the horn/airbag and the steering wheel itself. Does your horn/airbag seem stiff when you press it? Like it's binding? It should be smooth easy press when the cable is in the channel.

john2k

It's not smooth, I press it and it just stays in horning away. I haven't had the airbag removed and refitted at all in the 4 years I've had the car. Is it possible for the wire to come out of the channel if it was already in the channel all these years? Any pictures of this channel in particular?

Thanks

twodollardoug

I think RAudi did a DIY on a steering wheel swap. The first part would pertain to you. It's super easy to do. On the bottom of the steering wheel about where you would think the base of the air bag would be, there is a small hole. If you put a flat skinny screw driver up that hole you will feel a little bar just push on the bar and the bag/horn should pop up. The assembly is spring loaded so it should pop out on its own. If yours is in a bind you may have to coax it out.

On a side note. If you look under the steering wheel and see a hole that means someone has had the airbag out before. If you don't find a hole then it has never been out before. If you don't see the hole, feel around with your finger until you feel the indentation. You will have to cut a tiny slit in the fabric with an xacto knife or a razor blade. Just cut enough to get your screwdriver in the hole.

It doesn't have to be a screwdriver either. Something that is long and small enough to fit in the hole. What ever you use it needs to be strong enough to push the bar.

deilenberger

Somewhere there is a rather longish post I made that shows the guide on the back of the airbag that will automatically keep the cable in the channel. I have never seen this mentioned in any DIY or YouTube video. Put it in the guide and it will slide in like butter on a hot griddle, no problems with binding. Not in the guide - about a 50% chance it will be out of the channel and you'll have to pry the airbag out to get it in right.

Let me see if I can find the photo for the guide..


There it is. Put the flat cable through that guide and the world will be good for you again.

twodollardoug

If I can remember, I will pop my airbag out tomorrow to show John2k what to look for. I'm curious if John2k's steering wheel is still a virgin.

Don, in circled area in you picture you posted, is that a little tab or a hook? I think I slipped my cable under it. It looked like that's what it was for so I did it.

deilenberger

It's a hook shaped tab, folded up metal from the base... the wire goes through the hook. Take some photos while you have yours out.

john2k

Thanks for the replies. I had a look under the steering wheel and the hole is still covered by the original upholstery material. So that means it hasn't been out before right? So what is the chance of that wire coming out of the guide/channel if it's never been touched since factory fitting?

To remove the airbag, I need to disconnect the battery right because of risks of airbag deployment? How easy is it to access the battery and where is it 🥺

twodollardoug

You are correct, I don't know of any way of getting the airbag out without making a hole. My guess is that it has never been out. Can the cable work it's way out? My guess would be no but who knows... Maybe a spring broke? But I seem to remember there being 3 of them. So it's unlikely all 3 broke not allowing the airbag to spring back into position.

There is only one way to find out what's going on. Your going to have to remove the airbag from the wheel. You asked if you should disconnect the battery if you are working on the airbag. You should... That being said I have had my airbag out probably six or seven times and not disconnected the battery once. I am comfortable with my skill set.

You are just on a recon mission, so you will not have to disconnect the electrical connectors from the airbag. The wires are long enough for you to separate the airbag from the wheel to investigate.

Alexchrisro

Ok, so this was truly unbelievable. Last night i was reading this topic about your problem and i was thinking.... what a stupid problem this gotta be. Well... what do you know, today, stuck in traffic, i wanted to push the horn to give a little heads up on another guy and the damn thing got stuck. It was so embarrassing, I managed to pull the car on a street where i turned it off because the damn think was honking like crazy. So here was me looking like an imbecile... and what to do. I managed to pull de horn to stop honking and then i arrived home and see how i can fix this.
The fix is pretty easy but in my case a little bit weird. To be honest, i do not know what made the horn to get stuck. i pulled the airbag out and everything seemed to look ok. The black ribbon was in place, nobody ever pulled the airbag off(the little hole in the back of steering wheel was sealed) but i could not understand what made it stuck, i cleaned it well, nothing was sticky, nothing was getting in the way but it was still getting stuck.
Eventually i pulled the airbag for the fourth time out, i pulled out the springs that are pushing the airbag back when you are using the horn, I lengthened and streched the springs and put them back. Now it works like new or even better.
The operation is simple, i did not disconnect the battery since you do not need to pull the plugs out of the airbag.
Here is the link on how to get the airbag off:

twodollardoug

I love this forum. What a great community.

deilenberger

Interesting - if you look carefully you can see the wiring is correctly guided through the guide on the back of the airbag assembly - the one most people never realize is there.

Farmer Michael

This forum just keeps giving, I had only given the horn a try because I hadn't used it since I had the car and it stuck in. Fortunately I was at home. Following the above instructions I got the airbag unit out, I had to cut the hole so it had never been out before, and found that either something had been spilt or an excess of cleaning fluid had been used gumming up sliding part. I wiped round inside the wheel and the outside of the airbag unit with some paper towel wetted with WD40 and took the opportunity to stretch the return springs a little and now the horn works as expected.