Unusual Horn/Steering Wheel Issue

[stevenjj71]

I've been struggling with an occasionally working horn in my 2000 LX470 for months, and it finally got to where it never works. I read all the horn threads I could find in the forum last night and went out to try and isolate the problem, i.e. check fuse, horn relay, etc...

Before even doing that I discovered the following, that the horn works fine when the key is not in the ignition!
Digging further, the horn works at all times (even with the key in and running) except when the steering wheel is zoomed out.

i.e. tilting the steering wheel up or down does not cause any problems...but unless it is zoomed all the way in it does not work. If I pull the lever/knob to extend the steering wheel even a quarter inch towards me the horn no longer works. If I return the steering wheel to the closest point to the dash the horn works again.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be here?

 

[pavieSD]

Sounds like a grounding issue. The horn is always on, even with no key in the ignition. You could check the FSM for the circuit routing. You may need to disassemble the steering wheel to really see if the column is the culprit. Most likely there is a wire inside the column that has been chaffed or rubbed open inside the column that is causing a bad ground. Moving the steering column in and out is probably causing the wire to rub/not rub something that it shouldn't. That would be my guess.