Air Bag Light

[chris_kucia]

So last night I decide to try the pipe clamp over the steering column bushing trick to see if I can get the sloppy feel out of the steering (I replaced the intermediate steering shaft a few years ago with no real change).

 

Figured that if it worked, I wouldn't want to mess with the intermediate shaft, so I pulled it too and greased it a bit.

 

While the shaft was off, I put the clamp on the bushing and tighened it until the slack was gone. I also turned the wheel to make sure I didn't overtighten and bind the steering. Big mistake.

 

Put it all back together and took it for a test drive. It felt great! Its like a different truck - it has never felt this tight since I bought it.

 

Unfortunately, the airbag light is now on. From what I've gathered from the manual, turning the wheel has caused the SIR system to flag the event as a crash event. It gets written to the eprom and now there's no way to clear without a GM scan tool or waiting for 255 ignition cycles. I figure that will take me until about October.

 

 

I don't suppose there's any way to clear this code without going to a dealer? I was going to try and disconnect the battery overnight, but I figured that the odometer is probably stored in the PCM and that wouldn't be cleared by disconnecting the battery. A crash event would be nearly as important to make persistent.

[dlstewart01]

You do NOT ever turn the steering wheel with the intermediate shaft disconected. You have probably damaged the clock spring or sir coil. You will more than likely have to replace the coil.

 

AS we have discussed so many times. The mileage in a full size truck is only kept in the cluster not the PCM.

 

Don

[chris_kucia]

You do NOT ever turn the steering wheel with the intermediate shaft disconected. You have probably damaged the clock spring or sir coil. You will more than likely have to replace the coil.

 

AS we have discussed so many times. The mileage in a full size truck is only kept in the cluster not the PCM.

 

Don

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm kind of curious how I would have damaged anything. Its not like I spun the wheel around several times, just moved it back and forth to insure there was no binding. Is it that fragile?

[chris_kucia]

Did a search.

 

Don't know how I missed all those posts on the clockspring and SIR coil. Thought I had read every one on the intermediate shaft.

 

Argh!

[mkelly]

You do NOT ever turn the steering wheel with the intermediate shaft disconected. You have probably damaged the clock spring or sir coil. You will more than likely have to replace the coil.

 

AS we have discussed so many times. The mileage in a full size truck is only kept in the cluster not the PCM.

 

Don

 

Just out of curiosity how would that damage the clock spring or sir coil?

[chris_kucia]

You do NOT ever turn the steering wheel with the intermediate shaft disconected. You have probably damaged the clock spring or sir coil. You will more than likely have to replace the coil.

 

AS we have discussed so many times. The mileage in a full size truck is only kept in the cluster not the PCM.

 

Don

 

Just out of curiosity how would that damage the clock spring or sir coil?

 

 

I did a search on SIR Coil or clockspring.

 

Apparently, if the wheel gets put back 360 degrees out of rotation, or the wheel gets turned while disconnected from the shaft, there's a wire on a retraction assembly (clockspring) that wraps around something and it will be too tight and pull itself out of the SIR coil.

[mkelly]

ahhh,

 

Thant makes sense. I figured that just turning the wheel wouldnt damage anything.

[chris_kucia]

ahhh,

 

Thant makes sense. I figured that just turning the wheel wouldnt damage anything.

 

I don't remember feeling any resistance, so its possible I just have it uncentered.

 

The steering wheel is weighted - when you let go it "falls" to a equilibrium position. Its possible that while I was under the dash, I turned the wheel past a certain point and it "fell" too far past center and made me one turn out of alignment.

 

I'll have to take it apart and see what I've done.

 

Doesn't look like any ebayers have this part either, dealer price is about $125. Guess I'll be putting new shocks off for a few months...

[chris_kucia]

ahhh,

 

Thant makes sense. I figured that just turning the wheel wouldnt damage anything.

 

I don't remember feeling any resistance, so its possible I just have it uncentered.

 

The steering wheel is weighted - when you let go it "falls" to a equilibrium position. Its possible that while I was under the dash, I turned the wheel past a certain point and it "fell" too far past center and made me one turn out of alignment.

 

I'll have to take it apart and see what I've done.

 

Doesn't look like any ebayers have this part either, dealer price is about $125. Guess I'll be putting new shocks off for a few months...

 

 

I managed to fix this myself last night.

 

Takes awhile to get to the "clockspring" - airbags have to be disabled and removed and the steering wheel needs to be pulled.

 

The clockspring or SIR coil is nothing but a bunch of plastic and some plastic tape that has two copper tape leads in it.

 

The outside of the plastic housing stays fixed to the steering column, and the plastic tape is anchored.

 

The white plastic center has the other end of the tape wound around it and it stays fixed in relation to the steering wheel.

 

There's a ring with about six wheels that interfaces with the two to essentially guide the tape on and off the center. There aren't any springs in there.

 

Essentially, the plastic tape with the copper tape leads pulled out of where it was anchored. To be honest, GM didn't do the greatest job of fastening - very tiny copper "welds". I little bit of light soldering and I had the tape back on its anchor. As this is slipped in behind a plastic slot, I felt comfortable that there was no danger in making this repair. There's no possibility of shorting or kinking the tape behind its mount, and worse case, I'll just be back where I am now.

 

"Centering" is just making sure that you're in the middle of the tape run, so when you turn the wheel either way, you don't either yank the tape out of the mount on the outer housing, or yank it out of the mount on the inner hub.

 

In any event, I'm underwhelmed at what you get for $125 in this device. If it weren't for the possibility of lawsuits, the aftermarket would likely crank these out for about $5/each and still make a profit.

 

 

I'm not an electronics guy, but I've been soldering for years. This isn't a job for a giant iron - you need one with a small tip and it's delicate work. Someone with electronics experience could do it without a problem. If you've never soldered before, this wouldn't be a good first attempt since everything around what's being soldered is plastic.

 

Disclaimer:

I'm not a GM tech, and this is a critical and dangerous safety system, so you're on your own if you follow what I did. The best solution is to cough up the $125 to GM or take it to a dealer.

 

Disclaimer 2:

The above is not exhaustive. If you don't have a factory service manual, then don't attempt. The SIR system has to be disabled and the airbag must be removed carefully and protected when detached. You could be seriously hurt if you trigger the air bag while your face is in there and even without injury, they aren't cheap to replace.