When the Clock Spring fails, is damaged or if the driver
Air Bag has deployed, it should be replaced and cannot be repaired. First, isolate the battery negative cable which disables the air bags and then allow two minutes to let the air bag system capacitor get drained. Rotate the
Steering Wheel so that the front tires are in line with where you're headed. Take out the driver air bag from the steering wheel, unplug the Clock Spring wires from the speed control and remote radio switches and undo the nut holding the steering wheel armature to the shaft of the steering column. Before proceeding, use Special Tool C-3428-B to pull the steering wheel from the upper shaft spline and take out the steering column cover from the instrument panel. If you have a tilt steering column with a lever, first unscrew that lever and then remove the upper and lower outer shrouds, as well as the lower inner shroud. Separate the rear wire connector from the Clock Spring and the wireless connector from the lower Clock Spring. Gently remove the Clock Spring assembly from the housing on the steering column. If you are going to reuse the removed Clock Spring, temporarily center the rotor to keep the Clock Spring proper positioned. Pre-centered Clock Springs are available and the tape on the auto-locking tabs should not be removed before mounting. To fit, line up the Clock Spring with the upper steering shaft and gently lower it, connect both pigtail wires and the instrument panel wire harness and the job is done. Populate the lower shrouds, placing the inner one outside and the outer one inside, so the lower Clock Spring wire is inside all the time. Install the steering wheel once more, so it aligns with the Clock Spring hub and use 61 Nm (45 ft. lbs.) of torque to tighten the mounting nut, with care not to pinch the pigtail wires. If the car has them, reconnect the wire connectors in the upper Clock Spring and fit the driver air bag back onto the wheel.