1998 Chevrolet S-10 etended cab pickup horn intermitently will go off and the last time in April. 2003 stayed on until I pulled the fuse under the hood. I now have no horn for use.

- Swisher, IA, USA

Note: This is a supplement to my earlier ODI report # 713057, filed via the internet two days ago on 10/09/99 regarding a safety problem with the extreme difficulty blowing the horn on certain 1998 Chevrolet S10 pickup trucks. The service rep at sullivan Chevrolet in roseville, ca, had previously suggested that the problem was unrepairable because of a design defect. There is indeed a serious design defect. But after taking the vehicle back to the same dealer a second time -- and after filing a complaint with NHTSA two days earlier -- the dealer's quality control expert, robert potter, was finally able to partially repair the problem by removing the driver's side airbag and horn assembly on my one-year-old vehicle and using a crowbar to bend the horn assembly and air bag mounting bracket outward to allow more "play" between the horn ring and the steering wheel. The design defect turns out to be too little play between the horn ring and the steering wheel, so that when you press the horn ring, it bumps against the steering wheel instead of making contact with the electrical connections to the horn -- thus requiring an enormous amount of thumb pressure to force the horn ring past the obstruction to make electrical contact to blow the horn in a sudden emergency. The local service rep said they have had a number of other complaints that the 1998 Chevy S10 horn is much harder to blow on one side of the steering wheel than the other side. The manufacturer should issue an immediate recall to have the horn assemblies adjusted to safe tolerance levels to prevent serious accidents.

- Loomis, CA, USA

Horn failed.

- Temecula, CA, USA