Alarm horn activates on its own

[GTS13DBW]

Hi all; new to posting questions on this forum, but have followed and been impressed by the wise counsel provided by members over the years.

Anyway, I have a 2015 GTS, 17000mi now. Love the car.

My recent issue: Over the last 2 days, the alarm horn has activated unprompted 3 times. This started yesterday after I parked and locked the car (with my fob) following a nice 40-mi drive. Odder still, each time the activation occurred, the horn blared steadily, not like a normal alarm trip where the horn pulses between beep and silence as the lights flash. Using the fob to disengage (pressing lock/unlock, panic, etc) does not appear to work. Eventually, after about a minute, the continuous horn blare and flashing lights stopped, on its own. First occasion yesterday, twice so far today (with car untouched). Any ideas?

 

[GMVIP]

I have the same issue in my 2013, pressed the horn while driving and wouldn't go off, other times just goes off being parked in garage.

 

[GTS-R 001]

it is because you have a composite hood, if you drive and the composite gets hot or any reason that can make it hot (sitting in the sun) the plunger that tells the alarm that the hood is closed slowly pushed up and the hood bends or lifts a tiny bit, then the car thinks someone opened the hood, see if you can open the hood and either adjust the plunger up, (or superglue a spacer onto the top of it) or adjust the hood down a smidge

this should fix your issues

 

[GTS13DBW]

Thank you very much; interesting. Will try this.

 

[GTS-R 001]

used to be and still is a problem with Seibon and Anderson Composites hoods on Gen 3/4 cars, heat soak, composite material. relaxes due to heat and lunger [pushes its way up to set off alarm.

you can try zip tying the plunger down and see if it still happens

 

[Jeflufa]

I think I had the same issue; see his thread as it should help determine if it’s the same issue.

Post in thread 'Viper Tech, happy to help'
https://www.viperclub.org/vca/threads/viper-tech-happy-to-help.678273/post-3305817

 

[Jeflufa]

The issue was with the clock spring / horn switch, which is inside the air bag assembly; so the entire air bag assembly needed to be replaced.

I tried a new fuse, new horn relay, new key fob battery, and new trunk battery; but none of those fixed the issue. The only thing that worked was to pull the horn relay, but that meant driving without the use of the horn.

This is also a common issue on other Dodges based on a Google search.

In my case it required replacing the Air Bag assembly, which was part # 6KE771X9AB for a Gen 5 Launch Edition.

Unfortunately there is a national back-order currently with no expected time of arrival, but I was able to find the last one (specifically for the Launch Edition) in the country; the only difference was the color of the Viper emblem.

The part for non-Launch Editions may be readily available, but not sure.

BTW; all the “MOPAR Parts” online stores that claimed to have them in stock would ultimately cancel the order when they realized they were on national back-order. The dealer SRP was approx. $600.

Since I have the original (inoperable) part, I am now looking for somewhere for it to be repaired to keep as a spare just in case the new one fails in the future? It has been 3 months since I installed the new one and it has fixed the issue and has been working fine.

Hope this helps; took me over 13 months to search/investigate/trial and error; but ultimately had to resolve on my own as the dealers were clueless. This detailed response is intentional for you to hopefully avoid wasted time, money, and frustration.

 

[GMVIP]

Super helpful and saves me a lot time and money, now to find the air bag.
Thank you!

 

[Badsnek]

I have a Gen 3 that had this problem. My horn button would not work. My steering wheel was sticky, later found out the fuse was pulled for the horn. Put the fuse in and the horn worked randomly with pushing. But then randomly the horn would just start blaring and there was nothing I could do but pull the fuse. Got worse over time until it did it essentially immediately after putting the fuse back in. For my car I found out the airbag had delaminated which is why my steering wheel was sticky and simply switching the whole airbag assembly/clock spring solved my problem. I did not have any flashing lights with this though. Just simply horn stuck on.

 

[SRT BILL]

I also found this post helpful, the idea of trying a repair could be the key to success with this horn air bag unit. Someone posted a while back that he had the horn wires in the unit re-routed the one on the radio toggle switches one the back of the steering wheel and that worked fine for him. Interesting idea for sure. I would consider doing this if I had more info on how to proceed.

 

[Goggles Pizano]

@SRT BILL not hard but just moving wires over as they are low power to trigger a relay. Problem becomes when you need to use the horn and you hit the horn and it doesn't work because you moved it to a switch that is not what you are used to with other cars. Remember the horn is usually used in emergencies and you react with what you know. Hitting the airbag location. Non emergencies not a big deal.

Had this happen in driver ed. Was a ford product driving down an empty side street, went to hit the horn didn't work, instructor put the brakes on, asked the the others in the back if they saw what I did and gave them a little shit that they were supposed to be observing. He say the horn on in the turn stock and to push it in. I said W T F stupid thing is this?

 

[SRT BILL]

Goggles thanks for the reply. I would rather replace the air bag unit or do a repair if possible. I'll continue my search for a new unit, if anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

 

[Goggles Pizano]

Remember that the controls on the steering wheel go through the clock spring too. Not just the horn. So that some of those controls should not work or start not working too.

If I had one available, I would look to see if I could repair it or how easy it would be to disassemble the clock spring without blowing my hands off with the airbag. A blown airbag would be ideal.

I found it odd that the clock spring was part of the airbag assembly as to save cost and engineering, certification, etc they use OTS parts from other models when they can and found this showing it is not:

2013-2023 Mopar Clock Spring 68528300AA | Mopar Parts Canada

Clock Spring - 68528300aa. Genuine Mopar® Parts & Accessories. Manufacturer Warranty. From the Dealership to your Door.

www.moparpartscanada.ca

68110739AE - Genuine Mopar Air Bag Clockspring

MoparPartsGiant.com offers the great deal for genuine Mopar parts, 68110739AE. Air Bag Clockspring for $458.28. All parts are backed by the Mopar's warranty.

www.moparpartsgiant.com

68110739AD - Genuine Mopar Air Bag Clockspring

MoparPartsGiant.com offers the great deal for genuine Mopar parts, 68110739AD. Air Bag Clockspring for $458.28. All parts are backed by the Mopar's warranty.

www.moparpartsgiant.com

 

[SRT BILL]

I click on the link in each of the examples you posted that says check to see if this part fits my vehicle and it comes up does not fit your vehicle. So the clock spring must be in the air bag unit.

 

[Goggles Pizano]

I click on the link in each of the examples you posted that says check to see if this part fits my vehicle and it comes up does not fit your vehicle. So the clock spring must be in the air bag unit.

68110739AB - Genuine Mopar Air Bag Clockspring

MoparPartsGiant.com offers the great deal for genuine Mopar parts, 68110739AB. Air Bag Clockspring for $458.28. All parts are backed by the Mopar's warranty.

www.moparpartsgiant.com

That states they have been replaced by:

2013-2022 Mopar Steering Column Control Module Clock Spring 68528300AA | Mopar eStore

2013-2022 Mopar Steering Column Control Module Clock Spring 68528300AA

store.mopar.com

68528300AA - Mopar Parts Giant

www.moparpartsgiant.com

But check with your locate dealers for part numbers. I would call 2 or 3 so you can see if they tell you the samething number.

This is just what I found online. I don't have a Gen5 nor have I removed one from one (junkyard or in someone's garage) so I cannot tell you if it is or isn't part of the airbag assembly just my involvement in auto manufacturing industry questions it plus the links I found. Unless for some reason they designed it with the horn switch in the airbag assembly.

 

[GTS13DBW]

Belated reply, but thanks all for your comments and insights on this issue, esp. Jeflufa, Badsnek and Goggles. I was out driving again today, hit the horn as a test, but to no immediate effect. Then a few minutes later the horn sounded continuously for about 20 seconds as I tried to disengage it. The ideas & details offered above are helpful. This appears to be a horn issue, not the alarm issue I originally suspected. Consistent with experiences above.