I replaced the clockspring in my 00 ls v6..everything is working fine..airbag light is off..the only thing now is that I can hear the ribbon of the clockspring rubbing back and forth when i go to the extreme right or extreme left..I put it in perfect..the ribbon was centered when i completed the job..I torqued the steering wheel down to 28lbs. The wheel turns smooth and is even....but i still hear the rubbing of the ribbon against the plastic of its outer case...Whats with that and is there a fix? Could I have tightened down the steering wheel to much to cause this? The part was brand new and OEM from a lincoln dealership (even though it felt and looked cheap and plastic). Thank you for the help....
clockspring
- Thread starter Irp1977
- Start date
jhargarage
Well-Known LVC Member
I would pull it again just to make sure. Woukd not want to take the chance of having it go off in a turn and break your arm or jaw or both............
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I COULD DO IN THE RE-INSTALL THAT WOULD FIX THIS..IS THERE A WAY I COULD CHECK TO SEE THAT THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN AFTER I PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER? I WOULD NEED TO TURN THE WHEEL BOTH WAYS WITH THE POWER STEERING OFF BECAUSE THE BATTERY WOULD BE DISCONNECTED TO FIND OUT. COULD I RECONNECT THE WHEEL AND NOT PLUG IN THE HARNESS TO THE AIRBAG AND RADIO CONTROLS...BOLT ON THE WHEEL...REHOOK THE BATTERY..TEST THE CLOCKSPRING RIBBON NOISE..THEN UNHOOK THE BATTERY ONCE AGAIN..LET IT SIT THEN..HOOK THE HARNESS'S BACK UP..FINISH THE REINSTALL...REHOOK THE BATTERY AND HOPE ALL IS WELL??..ALSO, WILL IT DAMAGE THE CPU OR ANY OF THE OTHER COMPONETS BY DOING THIS..ie STARTING THE CAR WITH THE HARNESS'S NOT CONNECTED?? SORRY FOR THE LONG WIND BUT I RATHER BE SAFE THEN SORRY...PLUS I WORK IN THE OPERATING ROOM AND BROKEN JAWS AND ARMS SUCK!!!
jhargarage
Well-Known LVC Member
best thing to do as you dismantle is to pay close attention to everything as to what might be rubbing ,if you jack the front up it will be easier to turn the wheel. Just give it a good going over I have done alot of clocksprings but never had an issue like you are describie
. Hopefully you might notice something else when you take it apart.
. Hopefully you might notice something else when you take it apart.
Thanks for the advice..I looked at the old clockspring, compared it to the new one and guess what??? The new one had the ribbon unravelled inside..I played with the old one first as a tester, winding it around the spool first to see how everything fit..there are little tracks on the inside of the clockspring where they need to go in for a perfect fit or they will crush the ribbon...also the top of the clockspring has a very small cut out that fits around the harness housing..so that has to be perfect also before you reassemble..I opened the new clockspring and the whole thing was a wonderful mess..Thank you FORD..I reassembeled it....placed it back in and everything was golden..I used a white out to mark the half way point between right and left to find the center position and also marked the positon to the plastic pieces to make it easier to realign..Thank god I kept the other one...The steering wheel is back to normal and to all you buying or replacing the clockspring for the first time, check that it doesnt make any noise when it rotates before installing it...easy fix but could of been a disaster is that thing broke off inside..god knows what could of happen..A big thanks to Jhargarage for the help with this...I will be fixing the abs wheel sensors in the morning...left and right..any suggestions before I start??? Good night to all
jhargarage
Well-Known LVC Member
That is what we are all here for to help glad you found it, the ABS is pretty straight forward. Good luck....................................
How nice...Less than a week later the clockspring sprang loose again...I called the dealership and they said the will take it back if it defective and has no damage..Like I would intentionally break it so I can just spend another hour re fixing everything again..Gonna pull in on Friday and bring it back in..I can hear the ribbon once again and now the cruise and horn are out of power..gotta love those ford parts...
jhargarage
Well-Known LVC Member
I've had that with GM too. Went thru 3 before I got a good one.
Oh how wonderful...lmao...I dont mind fixing it again...just dont like the attitude from the dealership....they think we are all stupid and cant handle fixing minor things...I do complicated surgery all day long...this is a cake walk...thanks for the reply
Got the new clockspring from the dealership today..This one seem much better...Took about 10 minutes to put it in..again...I can do that job in the dark now because I did it about six times..lol..Let hope that it will not give me any trouble..
jhargarage
Well-Known LVC Member
Hopefully a little luck will come with this one.