Airbag Clock Spring

AHARTLEY

MEMBER
1995 OLDSMOBILE 88
3.8L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
190,000 MILES

I had removed the steering wheel to do some work and have broken the clock spring for the airbag.
In going to replace this the ones they'd ordered for my car listed above Royale had wires on them for steering wheel controls; radio and such. Mine is plain Jane and hasn't those things.
If I am not able to access the clock spring that simply has the two yellow wires for the airbag is there a reason, I could not use one that also has the black wires on it only hooking up the yellow wires that are required for the airbag? And either cut off the black wires for steering wheel controls or just not use them? Of course, I would not want to do this and have the airbags deploy for no reason.
Thank you. :-)

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,752 POSTS

The one you have should work fine. They typically make a lower-cost version that your car has to save money on the assembly line. No need to add circuits that aren't needed. Later, when they want to provide a replacement, they save money by only having one part number in stock that covers every variation in optional equipment. The added cost per unit is only a few cents, but by the time it makes its way to the dealer the cost might be a couple of dollars higher, but not enough to worry about.

The most important detail is that the bright yellow air bag connectors are correct and fit properly. If they're different, it is not the correct clock spring for that car model.

There's little to worry about when it comes to the air bag deploying on its own. If you forget to plug in a connector in that circuit, the computer will see that, turn the system off, turn the yellow warning light on, and set a diagnostic fault code related to "Open squib" or "Open initiator circuit". Air bags can be easily set off with static electricity when there's a broken or unplugged wire, so they will always have shorting bars in those connectors. Those bars short the two wires together so the difference in voltage is always 0 volts, regardless of how much static voltage hits them. (When you see or feel a shock in winter when you touch a doorknob, which is at least 3,000 volts) It's easy to reach that when sliding across a cloth seat. Those shorting bars are moved out of the way when the plugs are connected. Every connector in the squib circuit is bright yellow and has a shorting bar on the air bag side of that connector.

Here's a link to a dandy related article:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/steering-wheel-clock-spring-removal

Be aware all new clock springs come locked in the centered orientation. The wound-up ribbon cable inside only has enough range to wind up and unwind just slightly more than necessary to match the range of the steering system from full-left to full-right. That means you must start the installation with the front wheels straight ahead. Most clock springs unlock by themselves once installed when two buttons get pressed in. There's nothing special you have to do to unlock them.

Here's the instructions for replacing the clock spring.

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