Repairing the clockspring. Ick.

[the roadie]

I hope NOBODY needs to do this EVER, but I was both curious and cheap, so I spent five hours fixing a broken clockspring today to save $180. Pretty good hourly rate. But I was a dumb butt for breaking it in the first place by accidentally spinning my steering wheel while it was disconnected from the rack. After three rotations, the flex cable assemblies shear off and the airbag and steering wheel buttons are dead.

Some folks might find the pics useful for doing other things inside the steering column, though.

Taking out the airbag. Two holes to press a pin punch into. Disconnect battery FIRST!!!!!



Airbag down:



Removing locking plastic clips from airbag connectors.



Pinch connectors and remove



Turn horn wiring spring post 90 degrees and remove



Remove 21 mm nut



Pull on wheel and wiggle. It might come off with no need for a puller.



Clockspring



Circlip holding it on



Snap ring pliers in use



Shaft without clockspring assy.

[the roadie]

Removing clockspring cover



Busted guts



Broken off end of flex cable



Vehicle end connectors. 6 pin one for airbag, 8 pin for steering wheel buttons



Sheared off connector end



Flex cable under retention clip, showing cold ultrasonic weld connection



More detail



Closeup of weld



Cut off damaged part - new flex cable end



Besides the two flex cables, there is a flat nylon ribbon for cable guidance and slipperiness in the spool. It has its own slot to fit in.





Cables and ribbon arranged in the spool, ready to be reconnected.

[the roadie]

End of cables prepared by using Dremel with sandpaper flapwheel to remove plastic coating but leave the copper conductors.



Conductors tinned and connectors prepared and arranged nearby. Flex cable substrate is extremely sensitive to heat - have to solder quickly and get off .



Jump wires added. Whew. This was the crappy part. Needed my magnifying binocular hood, since I'm no longer at the job with access to microelectronic soldering stations.



Full CCW test



Full CW test



Full CCW to CW is six 360 degree rotations. Three each way from centered. Rack and pinion steering gear required only TWO rotations each way from centered.

Cover on



Surgical field



I ohmed all the pins out, did a test run of the connectors plugged in with the steering wheel off, worked fine, put it all back together, and voila! Saved $180.

[MajesticLT03]

All I can say is F that!!! I will get one from the junkyard when I do my DIC swap this winter

[NickNorie]

I saw it and it looked like a TON of work/ Congrats on doing it right Roadie!

[MAY03LT]

Originally Posted by the roadie

I ohmed all the pins out, did a test run of the connectors plugged in with the steering wheel off, worked fine, put it all back together, and voila! Saved $180.

Awesome!

[Zero]

so the clock spring is the mechanism that holds all the connections for the air bag and switches on the steering wheel???


if my truck did not come with a DIC, and I want to add one. 1st i would need a new steering wheels with buttons......then I would need to buy a new clock spring that has the extra connections.......and then get a new cluster that has the DIC option......is this correct?

also if my steering wheel is getting really squeaky, is it because the clock spring is failing? i have read some posts about guys trimming some rubber on the steering shaft, or taking off the steering wheel and throwing some grease in there. but they dont seem like long term fixes, nor do they address the failed part specifically or how it failed.

any help you guys could give would be great.

[the roadie]

Originally Posted by Zero

any help you guys could give would be great.

The clockspring is the mechanism that allows the airbag and buttons to stay electrically connected to the vehicle as the steering wheel rotates from stop to stop.

I can't see a way for the clockspring to become a source of noise. There are a lot other rubber/shaft places in there for that. Gotta get your ear down there and localize it better.

There is an "Adding a DIC" Article already written. You must have missed it, noob.

[Zero]

hahaha ya i read it. but it involved splicing and adding wires, i thought that maybe if i got the clock spring that came on a vehicle that had these options would mean i wouldnt have to do that.

[06 Envoy]

Zero

your in Toronto if you want to do that mod let me know

Jason