2001 Chevy Tracker, No Horn

[dhe]

I'm not sure when the horn stopped working, as I try to never honk at people. 

I noticed a popping / clicking sound when turning the steering wheel fully clockwise or counter clockwise and took it to my local mechanic.

He said he recommended replacing the clock spring, but couldn't find the part. But put everything back together and the clicking stopped.

As luck would have it the day after I picked the Tracker up, I had an urgent need to use the horn, and no horn. 

I took it back, and he tested the horn (works) when shorted, but not from steering wheel. He said he did a number of test that point to clock spring. 

For a 2001 Chevy Tracker - what would be the correct part number for the clock spring? Is there a source?

I found a long thread from a '96 model, but not sure that applies to the '01.

Thanks for any guidance!

[fixkick]

check rockauto yet
check SMP ?

standard motor products USA.

[dhe]

It looks like the clock spring is part of this monster:

Part Number: CBS-1264 ; UPC: 707390926360 ; Weight: 2.22 lbs.
https://www.importapart.com/product/99-0...itch-0855/
https://www.airbagcenter.com/2001-chevro...ing-repair

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/smp-cbs1264

While the clock spring repair looks interesting, I would be very hesitant to send of this part, as basically the whole truck becomes useless without....

[fixkick]

be happy it is not a new car with huge complex clock springs for
air bag
radio controls
dash cluster controls
steering angle brain dead.
and more.
a dash mounted horn switch for $1 passes the state safety inspection here. they only listen to you, (solution #1)

this old car suzuki does not have most parts now for it. car is too old. (and supply chain bull)

send /spend
there are 2 choices here
the mod. or
3rd party stores, even ask napa for help walk in.

2001 Chevy Tracker

GM does not sell it, I guess, you asked them?, most of their web sites now show Chevy the word tracker now missing the whole car is dead at GM ... dang.
sold my 04 when the hand writing on the wall, flagged me.
also
my jeep , here is the story of my perfect in all ways 2008 Jeep wangler with 50k miles
a recall popped
for you guessed it the silly clock spring
if it rains top down (duh) the spring contacts fail. <<< how'd have known?
so I took it in (my bad)
they fixed it and now it fails at every step, so they never test drove the car. and handed it to me CEL glowing, ( I told them and got only blank stares)
repeat this 2 more times!!!
then I did the job my self. (air bags defeated first by the book)
SOLVED !
and they forgot to plug in one connector fully. on the CLOCK spring,
Jeep dealers stink.
there fix is it has newer water proof seal.

ok back on topic.

so that leaves 3rd party sellers.
summit is a top seller here
or rockauto.

the best seller is one you can walk into.
so all car stores in town. that way you can take it back easy if it dont fit/work.

also the horn can fail most times due to the horn base ground is rusty, seen it like endless times. rust is normal.
push the horn button and listen for the relay to click , it must first. (dead horn)_

let me say good luck to you and thanks for sharing any problems with suzuk or track/kicks etc.
even jeeps I can do. have 3 here. and from 1988 to now. all are welcome here ,no porn.

[dhe]

Towards a much better understanding of clock springs.

My clock spring problem started when my mechanic said he had to take apart the frontend, in order to replace a leaking oil pan gasket. 

I found this nugget of wisdom at airbag central: 

"Second - if you've ever had any type of rack and pinion work or anything to do with your steering assembly it is possible that during the repairs, if the steering wheel was allowed to spin freely, that the clock spring was damaged. Most clock spring are allowed to spin two and half times in each direction. If they were not careful, going any further will break the connections inside. In this scenario you will need to buy a new clock spring or find a used one at a local salvage yard."

It sounds like my clock spring, got clocked during the work on the frontend. 

But that led me to look at:  Steering Ratio.

Every since the repair, it seems that it takes more turns to get the same steerage - looser.

On a ZR-2 - 4WD, can front end work change the steering ration?

[fixkick]

the word clock spring is not clear it is really more like an DC motor commutator.
the horn is in full contract there in all turns of the wheel regardless of counted turns.
new cars have wires there, for RADIO controls, and more.
Air bags.
id never buy and used Clock spring.
yes some so called springs are only so long
but take my 2010 jeep, huge complex spring but step one is the steering angle sensor must be set first to 100% front. perfectly
if they did the wrong work there, up front then the springs are now snapped

the horn there are 5 things to fail, fuse, horn , horn relay, clockspring blue/black wire and the horn switch
besides #6 the wires.
the horn ground is first to fail it rusts , endless common fail.



if horn hot wire test works
if horn relay is good
the remove the steering airbag horn button off the wheel.
and hot wire the blue/black wire to ground the horn must honk.

do not mess with yellow connectors(bags) unless battery is pulled
the 2nd connector his the horn there.

the steering gear , must be match marked before putting in a new gearbox.
at step 20 in the chapter FSM.

install step 5

If you are replacing the steering gear, measure the locations of the match marks on the pinion shaft and on the steering gear housing. Make corresponding marks on the replacement steering gear in order to set the rack in the straight ahead position.

Using paint, place match marks (2,4) on the pinion shaft (3) and on the steering gear housing (1).

Verify the steering wheel and the front wheels are in the straight ahead position.!!!!

Install the 2 insulators to the steering gear (3).

Install the 2 brackets to the 2 insulators.

NOTE

Important

DO NOT tighten the bracket bolts before tightening the lower steering shaft clamp bolt.

Install the steering gear and the 4 bolts (1) to the vehicle.


Align the match mark (2) on the pinion shaft with the match mark (4) on the steering gear housing.
this is all in the book FSM.

my guess is car drives straight with wheel sat 0 degrees the shop did the job correctly.

a new clocks spring comes with instructions or has locking pin that says do not pull me until installed fully and wheels are dead front fully.
if this is done wrong,
there are videos for most cars showing how to reset the clock-spring in hand. if the pin was pulled too soon

on some cars (ours) the clock spring may only do BAGS
and the horn is wired in the legacy way with its own dedicated brass rotatory, horn like seen on 1989 sidekicks /trackers.
I have see this done, the manual I am reading calls the spring a BAG only spring.
but it may be wrong,