'98 Saturn SC2

My Saturn has 82,654miles and until recently has not given me any problems.
This year it's been one thing after the other and due to the additon of a
new baby this year I don't have the funds right now to get a diagnostic in
order to find out exactly what's wrong - unless I have no other option.
Problems listed below in order of occurence.

1) the security system got quiet and then stoppped working, my
transmitter still locks/unlocks the doors, but
my beep which indicated the system was armed is now strangely silent.

2)my horn, which was never as loud as I'd like has now gotten so soft that
it can barely be heard.

3) on really hot days once I shut the car off
it will not restart until I let it cool off about 15 minutes. I turn the
key and there's no sound
other than a slight click and I can still hear the fan running for several
minutes after I turn off the car.

I had the following work done this year (oil change, transmission & engine
flush) master cylinder & brake pads. The only other thing was at my last
oil change the mechanic told me that my a/c compressor & clutch needed to
be replaced. Since my a/c has been working great I decided I'd wait as
long as possible to have this nearly $1.000 job done. I had the battery
checked and was told there's nothing wrong with it. I'm hoping it's
something electrical (a short, or a fuse) and I'm hoping someone can shed
some light on a cheap way of checking. Please help!

 

Sounds like a bad ground. Check your battery post first then poke around
elsewhere. Good battery doesnt mean good connection.

Does your compressor make a lot of noise when it is running? If not then
dont worry about it. Check your ac system service port caps to make sure
they are still on there snug and that they have an O-ring in them.
Sometimes these caps come up missing o-rings or missing completely. I
dont know why but sometimes my paranoid mind thinks mechanics looking
for AC work remove them during another service so your system slowly
leaks down...