Clock Spring

CAUTION: Disassembling the clock spring can cause injury or cause the clock spring to malfunction.

CAUTION: Over-rotating the clock spring without the steering wheel in position could damage the clock spring and result in an inoperative driver airbag leading to possible injury in the case of a collision.

There is a coil assembly in the steering which is referred to as a clock spring because of its internal resemblance to the type of spring used in a mechanical clock. The clock spring has no timekeeping function and should never be disassembled. The clock spring contains current-carrying coils. Two of the current-carrying coils maintain continuous contact within the driver deployment loop while the steering wheel is rotated. The clock spring also contains a coil that maintains continuous contact for the horn circuit.

Turning the steering wheel in one direction tightens the coil, and turning the steering wheel in the opposite direction loosens the coil. Do not turn rotate the clock spring when the steering wheel is not attached.

The clock spring also includes the wiring and the connectors for the horn circuit and the driver airbag circuit. A yellow two-way connector on the lower steering column is attached to the clock spring wiring. The airbag side of the yellow connector contains a shorting bar which connects the driver high circuit to the driver low circuit when the connector is disconnected. The shorting bar prevents current from traveling through the driver airbag module during servicing. The shorting bar is disengaged when the clock spring connector is connected.