If you have problems with your steering wheel radio controls, this info may help.

Both my '92 and '93 had steering wheel radio button problems. Both cars had switches that had to be replaced, and they're soldered to a circuit board on each side of the airbag assembly. Within a few months after I replaced several switches on my '93, they ALL stopped working at around the same time. It turned out that the little gray rubber pegs inside were becoming soft and were no longer rigid enough to push the switches when the buttons were pressed. These little pegs mate between the plastic buttons and the switches on the circuit board. I replaced all 8 of them (4 on each side) and now all switches are working again.

If you're careful, you can just pull the fuse for the horn and do the repair. Beware - if you don't pull the horn fuse (behind passenger side cover) or disconnect the battery, the horn will sound continuously once the spring-loaded electrical connection (white wire) behind the airbag assembly is removed. And the white outer nylon cylinder that holds the black spring-loaded connector sleeve is VERY WEAK (terrible design!) and may break, even if you're extremely careful not to stress it.

What did you use for replacement pegs?

I improvised and cut 8 pieces of standard round wooden toothpicks. The pieces fit in the holes nicely, with a little clearance to spare...just make sure to turn the plastic assembly upside down, then put the pegs in the holes and sandwich the circuit board against it and start to screw it back together before turning it over (right side up) again. The length turned out to be a little more than 1/4" for each wooden peg, and I backed-off the hex screws just a tad so the switches clicked firmly when pressed but had a little clearance before contact. It cost me nothing but a little creativity and about an hour of my time.

okjust did it but when done none of the buttons worked. So Ijust bought my steering air bag assembly in the house and took the toothpicks back out. I'm thinkin of maybe allowing some rubber cement to dry up on buttons instead of toothpicks, whta do u think? Anybody have any negative reponses? Or is there a way to restore these grey rubber nipples?

I wouldn't put anything sticky on the ends. You need to build up the ends with epoxy or something. Just a bit. Maybe .050" or so. Clean them with alchol first. Then before you install them, coat them with a light grease or teflon based oil. I don't think we can get those stupid things seperately, and the ones you'd find at the wrecker would be even more baked.

I'll see what kind of permanent solution we can come up with. Maybe some kind of material that would be a good replacement. I'll pull mine this weekend.

If u give me a specific product to build them up with I'll go to the store now and get it. The only thing I have here is Castrol Bearing grease. Will that work?

Never mind that was a stupid question. U said light grease. Im goin to get the epoxy now.

See if some kind of epoxy will actually stick to those. I'm thinking the big end....is it the big end that contacts the switches?

yes it is. And I just bought 30min epoxy. None of the expoxy'* said any thing about rubber so I got the cheapest 30 min xtra strong. Should my light grease be like a wd40 or the bearing type?

Bearing type. Don't use WD-40 for anything other than cleaning solvent. It'* worthless as a lubricant, as it simply evaporates. In this particular case, it'* a solvent that may eat that rubber up.

Use a teflon based oil, or simple LIGHT grease (like gun or fishing reel grease).