The Old Clock Spring



Basically, a clock spring is the piece of hardware that goes between the steering column and the steering wheel. It makes sure that as we crank the steering wheel to one side or the other the wires going to all the buttons on the steering wheel don't twist. The people at Chrysler seem to be very proud of this device for my car because after calling three different dealerships in town the cheapest price I could find this part for was 200 dollars! And the worst part about it is no one makes an after market (cheaper) one.

One night (last week-end), I went to the theater with my honey. We saw "The Kid" with Bruce Willis (my favorite actor). Anyway, while I was parking I noticed that the regular clicking that the steering wheel normally made got much worse... it became irregular and much louder. I was worried but we watched the show and afterword we drove home. I noticed that the wheel would bind up in certain spots so I didn't want to drive it too much. When we got home, I turned off the car and the horn honked for a couple of seconds and then the airbag light came on. After that my horn didn't work, cruise control didn't work and the airbag light was on all the time. :(

First, I called a local shop and asked them if they could fix it. They asked if it had an airbag, when they found out that it did they didn't want any part of it. They told me that I would have to take it to the dealership. NO WAY! I would have to pay so much to do that! When I called my mechanic (who I try to learn everything from), he told me that he doesn't deal with airbags but his friend from work does and he gave me his number. When I called him he told me he could do it. I took it to him and he told me I needed a new clock spring. I called around and none of the parts stores carried them, dealer only they said. As I said before, I called three different dealerships and the lowest price was $200!

I got the part and went to his house, we ripped the thing apart and replaced the old clock spring. I am glad I didn't attempt to do the repair myself, we needed to use his air tools. I thought replacing it would fix the clicking but it still clicks every quarter turn, I guess it's supposed to. When I got home, I took a hammer to the old one to see what it looked like on the inside, this is what I found:

The whole thing
This is what it looks like, just a circle with three wires coming out of the top that go to the wheel (ground, cruise control, and airbag), and one fat data cable that comes out the bottom (yellow end).

Then I opened it
Then I opened it up, with a little tap from the hammer. It felt good to remember that I paid $200 for the new one when I hit the old one. It doesn't look too pretty on the inside, see below.

The inside
You can see where the problem was in this device, there is a ribbon cable that runs from the center around and around till it gets to the outside. Basically it looks like it got a little hung up inside and from me swinging the wheel back and forth it just snapped the old crusty cable in half.

It looks bad
Here it is from a side view. To get a better feel for what it looks like I pulled it out a little. Pretty messed up in there wouldn't cha say?

Snap!
From this angle you can really see what kind of abuse that little cable had to deal with, I am suprized that the steering wheel held up as long as it did. :)



Well, that's the end.

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Spikey's ClockSpring page has been hit 41 times since January 23, 2001.