part failure

[Viper]

had my first total part failure with a viper since owning from 1996 which shows the bullet-proof-ness of these cars

shunting the car in the car park on the sunday morning of the northern run I heard a strange noise that lasted for about 4 seconds which sounded like metal on plastic coming from the steering column. Thought it was a really odd noise so tried turning the steering wheel both ways, no problems. The airbag warning light came on and its stayed on and hasnt gone off (probably another 6 start ups)

after a bit of research searching old posts on the VCA, i found others had this problem and pointed to the clockspring, which is attached to the ECU to throw the light on

you can plug the DRB in at a dealership and confirm this part has failed, but i aint bovered, so a new one on the way soon hopefully

$200 spent on broken parts in 10.5 years ain't bad at all !

Edited by Viper on Thursday 9th August 21:15

[AndyBe]

That's very good !!

Better than my cracked control arm.

[Viper_Larry]

Hmmmm... let me see...

"Strange noise, something broken, what shall I do? I know, get Leigh to drive it today "

Nice work Neil - no point putting yourself in danger

[Viper]

Leigh spotted the warning light but thought it was because i'd turned the passenger bag off, for when Nicki was in the car the previous day

[ViperDave]

I guess leigh will be fitting it then. Have you seen how many warnings there are in the service manual when it comes to airbags. There is more warning text than instructions.


Good luck and be carefull with it.

Edited by ViperDave on Thursday 9th August 21:51

[mattstead]

Just disconnect the bettery for an hour before working on / aound the airbag, and leave disconnected whilst working on it. (20 mins disconnect absolute minimum before working on it)

good luck.

Edited by mattstead on Thursday 9th August 22:34

[Viper]

thanks Matt, ill have to check the manual to,
Mich is going to get his hands a little dirty on this one

[Viper]

finally got it sorted this afternoon, Spud expertly took it all apart removing the steering wheel airbag and steering wheel and fitted the new clockspring (it fits underneath the wheel)

worked a treat the airbag warning light has gone to,
thanks Spud !!! and to Chuck to for getting the part over quickly as usual, only to sit in the garage for a few months

Edited by Viper on Saturday 20th October 22:24

[GTS]

That Spud is THE MAN!!!!

[Viper]

here's a few pics for anyone interested


airbag off, clock spring behind the wheel


back of airbag


wheel off, old clockspring, the yellow plstic fastener attaches to the back of the airbag


new clockspring

Edited by Viper on Wednesday 24th October 21:29