If your car has an airbag... BE CAREFUL!!!! That thing packs the punch of about a Claymore.

jfk

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Jay,

The 89 is pre air bag. However, removing an air bag is no big deal. I do recommend disconnecting the battery as a precaution, however that is just being a little paranoid. On the back of the steering wheel are two holes.
There are a couple of Phillips screws- twist and the bag pop out. One electrical connection later it is free from the car. Store upright on a shelf. The set up under the air bag is little different with what they call a clock spring, but other than that the air bag cars present no real problem to the average home mechanic.

As far as the horn not working there is a copper contact on the wiper stock that can wear out and cause problems. The nut behind the wheel - the real nut is 27 MM. After that the wheel just pops off. I generally set the wheels straight by driving the car a few feet before pulling the steering wheel. Since the car will probably not be going too far without the wheel this makes realignment easy.

My bet from the description is the contact on the wiper stock. Sometimes they move a bit and no longer make contact with the ring one the wheel. The stock is held in place by a circular clamp and a single screw. It can be adjusted forward a bit to make contact. Replacing the stock is simple as it just slides forward and has plugs for connectors.

Dan The Pod Guy

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Always detach battery and wait for 30 mins before working on the airbag. You don't want any contact glitch to trigger an airbag deployment...  The sensors are mounted at the firewall, and are spring loaded switches using a metall ball to make contact upon impact.

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