Hi,

Got a new problem - my airbag warning light has been on and I've had no horn since getting my power steering pump & rack (rack reconditioned a 2nd time as it was leaking - an ACS refurb) replaced a few weeks back. Was done by a local independent garage - car drives fine and they don't know why it's happened.

I hooked up with an ELM cable & Fiat ECUScan (default PIN setup so connected to main ECU) which showed the fault for both stages of the airbag with resistance high logged and a cryptic message about a steering ring fault - tried a reset but fault didn't go away. My guess was the steering wheel had been off for the work that was done and there was some conductive ring behind it that the horn and airbag is electrically connected to which had been disturbed. Garage claims they didn't have the steering wheel off as the work they did doesn't require it to be taken off. I gave it back to them to check out and they've said they can see the conductive ring and connections and all looks OK Current status is still at the garage with the steering wheel off, waiting for instruction from me.

Any ideas? Losing the will to live with this car. '55 1.9 8v Dynamic.

Cheers,

Brian.

I had same problem with my old stilo.clock spring coil behind steering wheel.After removal of the steering wheel it can only be put back on in one particular place otherwise damage occurs.Very cheap of ebay.

yep, seems like they turned the column while rack was off (let's put it this way it would be hard to prove they didn't!)

buster said:

I had same problem with my old stilo.clock spring coil behind steering wheel.After removal of the steering wheel it can only be put back on in one particular place otherwise damage occurs.Very cheap of ebay.

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Thanks for the info - did a search on 'clock spring coil' and the fault sounds very like this post:

https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-bra...onnection-airbag-warning-light.html?p=1441382

Any links to the part so I can order one? Also, any info on correct fitment?

Cheers,

Brian.

the new clock spring is locked so straight forward to fit.

T14086 said:

yep, seems like they turned the column while rack was off (let's put it this way it would be hard to prove they didn't!)

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Aha! That may well explain why it's happened - because they had to remove the rack for me to send it away to get re-reconditioned under warranty by ACS, they then moved it out their workshop to a space just outside so they could work on other cars inbetween completing mine when I got the rack back to them

Can't really blame them, they were being helpful - most garages seem to want the replacement part there and then or they don't want to take on the job.

Having trouble locating the right part - had a look on ePer and couldn't decipher anything that looks like the airbag clock springs for other Fiats on ebay.

Can anyone help with a part number or tell me if the same part for another Fiat will be the same?

tDR said:

Can't really blame them, they were being helpful

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but chances are they broke it...do you know how much the part costs?

tDR said:

Can anyone help with a part number or tell me if the same part for another Fiat will be the same?

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Probably comes as part of switch, £150-200 I reckon.

Any way of fixing the current clock spring or is that a non-starter?

Just phoned Fiat for a price - they couldn't decipher what part it could be on their system (as suspected after looking at ePer on here) so have asked for the part number from the old part. Can't get hold of the guy at the garage doing the work just now to get it but I'm braced for a £200 quote for the part so could do with cheaper alternatives.

There's a Croma being broken here if that's any good?

Just revisiting the replies to this post, and I am unclear on the situation. If the steering wheel was not disturbed then there should not be a problem with the 'clock spring' unless someone at the garage has 'spun' the steering wheel, but I can't see why that would be the case.

Similarly, if they had disconnected the electrical plugs further down the column then I'd assume they would have checked by now. The airbag and horn both go through the 'clock spring' but I'm puzzled as to why it should be unserviceable.

It's a bit coincidental for it to have failed when the garage were doing work on the steering; it might be worth having a look at the 'clock spring' that comes off. It might look OK on the outside but if the connections have broken on the inside then you won't be able to tell until you completely dismantle it.

Hope this helps.

I think mine cost about £140.00 of fiat,i then seen one on ebay brand new for £19.95.I wonder if their the same part(stilo) or a vauxhall part maybe.