Broken clock spring/spiral cable?

2014 Tacoma TRD Off-Road - 43K Miles

I recently had to disconnect the intermediary steering shaft to pull and test my starter. During removal, the alignment of the upper and lower parts of the shaft became misaligned. So I did a lock-to-lock turning of the steering wheel to find center while the shaft was disconnected and the engine was off. I then realigned the upper and lower shaft before reconnecting the steering column.

Now, the horn doesn't work and the airbag warning light is on. Also, the steering wheel makes a clicking/crackling sound at points when turning the steering wheel while driving. Odd thing is that the audio controls still work on the wheel... just the horn and airbag are having issues.

I opened the steering wheel to inspect the connections as shown here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2nd-gen-clockspring-replacement-how-to.106114/ All of the connections were plugged in correctly, but there was a bit of play between the steering wheel frame and the actual spring/cable body.

Is it possible to break the spiral cable by turning the steering wheel while the engine is off or when the intermediate steering shaft is disconnected? I did not notice any excessive force used when doing the shaft alignment, but it took a lot of force to turn the wheel when loading the truck on the flatbed as it would not start at that point.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

UPDATE:
Here's how I did it...
https://youtu.be/waz57sUB4wE

 

Haven't personally seen/done it but in planning to replace mine soon I've gone through several videos how tos etc and yes it is possible to break the clock spring by turning the wheel/shaft excessively.

Several people and guides suggest locking wheel before taking the steering wheel nut off and marking the position on the steering wheel and spline before removing from the spline.

Your clock spring may have weak/soon to fail prior to working on it. They aren't exactly well made. Think 12 foot of what is basically 6 pin old style hard drive idea cable wrapped in a coil/roll being turned and flexed all the time.

 

Yep you broke the clock spring... as far as doing a “lock to lock” turning of the steering wheel to find the center, the part that actually physically stops the wheel from turning is the steering knuckles/rack, not something in the steering column. So when you turned your steering wheel all the way until it stopped with the intermediate shaft disconnected, likely the only thing that stopped the wheel from continuously turning was the clock spring itself, which is a very sensitive component, and has obviously failed.

 

Yup, been there done that.

 

These new clock springs are pretty junk. A lot of the Toyota's have issues with them even outside of the Tacoma, but yes you broke yours, note, it was going to break in short order anyways though.

My horn stopped working on mine long ago, I said screw it and have been dealing with it since.

 

"Yep you broke the clock spring... as far as doing a “lock to lock” turning of the steering wheel to find the center, the part that actually physically stops the wheel from turning is the steering knuckles/rack, not something in the steering column. "

Well... bummer. Honestly, I have been having a bad luck streak lately... aka... breaking more stuff while fixing something else. Do you guys think that replacing the clock spring will fix both the airbag disconnect and the horn?

 

Yes.

 

$240... ouch!

Since the OEM clockspring is kind of a POS, I am going to try this aftermarket part before dropping $240 on a new OEM unit.

https://www.partsgeek.com/ss/?i=1&ssq=84306-0E010&x=17&y=19 $40 with 1-year warranty. [UPDATE: This part is working so far. Just installed and tested. It fits and all of my steering wheel audio controls, cruise, horn and airbag are good.]


Thanks all for the feedback.

 

Well I put a new rack and pinion in my '07 last weekend and guess what? The cruise quit working, the airbag light is on, and the horn doesn't work. So I Guess I broke mine as well. It looks like a fairly easy replacement so I believe I will try a cheap Chinese clock spring first. Unless someone thinks that's a big mistake. Also, it looks like I'm a spline off on my steering wheel. Can I make that up by putting my steering wheel back on straight, or do I need to be sure to get the when back on the same position on the shaft?

 

Did you get the truck aligned after you did the rack? If so, your steering wheel should be straight. If not, get it done ASAP. You may have misaligned the steering wheel to the splines but you need to have the wheels aligned regardless.

 

Inside the plastic box, there are TWO ribbon cables, and they are a slightly different length. I know this because I lost my horn a couple of years ago and took it apart to repair it (successfully). It is certainly possible that you broke (ripped out) one of them, and not the other.

 

I checked my toe in which is the only thing that the rack and pinion will effect, and it is spot on. I realize that I can adjust both tie rod ends one direction and center the wheel without changing the toe in. But if I am going to have the wheel off anyway, it would be much easier to just put the wheel back on straight. But if there is something on the shaft that registers the clock spring mechanism, this will not work. That is my question.

 

Thanks @96carboard for clearing that up l hadn't had mine apart didn't realize there were two. I was more or less giving a general idea of how fragile and cheaply these things are made and telling him yup it probably broke.

 

Just a heads up for those looking for parts... there are two different parts available... one for a vehicle with steering wheel controls [aka: audio, cruise, etc] and one without steering wheel controls.

I have audio controls and cruise, so the part # is 84306-0E010 for the clockspring with controls.

 

Yep, you need the one with 2 ribbon cables, not the one with just 1 ribbon cable (which doesn't have enough conductors).

 

One thing the tutorial did not mention is that you have to remove and reuse the steering angle sensor. It is attached to the old OEM clockspring housing. Remove it carefully as it costs $450 at the dealership. Will post pix and video soon.

Sucks that I broke the clockspring, but it was a good learning experience and was very easy to replace.

 

Pix and video would be great - my horn died today!

 

Fresh off the press...

https://youtu.be/waz57sUB4wE

 

Very well done! A real contribution to the forum - thank you.

 

Thank you!... could not have done it without the good folks on this forum setting me on the right path.