Just returned from picking up my 2004 Crossfire from the dealer. It found a brand new way to scare the living sh*t out of me. Two days ago as I was making a right hand turn in town my steering wheel seized without any warning. I slammed on the brakes and stopped just inches from a parked car. At first I thought the power steering had quit, but after applying a good healthy yank on the wheel to the left, it broke loose and at the same time the airbag warning light came on!!! So there I am sitting at a 45 degree angle in the street wondering if I'm about to be punched in the face by an airbag if I move the wheel. I carefully moved the wheel through its full range and nothing happened so I decided to risk driving it to a dealer about a mile away. Dealer says "never heard of that one before", but 3 days and $350 later he informs me something called a clockspring, (because it looks like a spring in a clock), which carries the wiring to the airbag and horn broke, causing the steering column to seize. When I yanked the wheel it ripped the wires loose, freeing the steering column. I asked the dealer to report this to the NHTSA because I believed it to be a serious defect. His reply was that he couldn't find any other reports of this happening, and that I was welcome to report it if I felt it necessary. It scares me to think what the result would have been had this happened while on a twisty backroad at 60-70 MPH. As it was I was only moving about 15 MPH and almost hit another vehicle.
I would like to know if anyone else has had this type of experience?

Thanks,
Bob

 

Holy crap. No this has never occurred and I also have an' 04 coupe.
I do think you should file some kind of report regarding this safety concern though.

 

That is indeed rather scary...

Nothing like that has happened to me.

*knocks on wood*

 

I've heard of clockspring issues on other vehicles but have not heard of any recalls on any of them. I didn't realize that you could have this kind of problem if the thing failed.

 

That's really not good. First I read about a driver's side door airbag deploying for no reason and now this? Are our cars safety systems out to get us?

 

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Its not a drum, I don't force it, I don't use it for a handle, I steer the car with it. I am the original owner, it has 22,500 miles on it. The steering wheel never made any noise, no binding, it's was not loose, no horn problems. The airbag light comes on each time I start the car but then goes out, and I drive this car daily, usually without the any audio.

I do not understand what any of this has to do with a major malfunction in an automobile? I have been driving for 35 years in many different cars both domestic and foreign, new and used, and this is the first time I've had the steering lock up. I'm sure people do all of the things you mention to cars, but I'm also sure manufacturers are aware of this and design their products to withstand such abuse! No! I do not claim to be perfect, but I do know how to care for an automobile, and I know that steering lock up should not happen in any car for any reason!

If this is, as you say, "not uncommon", why then hasn't NHTSA stepped in and done something about it?

For you to imply that this is somehow my fault is the kind of reply I would expect from the service manager who tried to tell me that something I was doing caused my seat heater to fail 4 times. You can make all the assumptions you want to, but this not something "common" or normal, and I intend to find out how or why this happened.

 

It's a proven fact that 98% of all automotive accidents are caused by the NUT that holds the steering wheel!

 

THAT, my fellow forum member is VERY scary... You are the first to have reported this type of issue on this board since my membership in 2004... I have no advice, nor recommendations...

 

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As a former service technician, and someone who now works as a consultant to the automotive industry...I agree wholeheartedly with AMGLover !!!

 

+1 MY wife's crossfire is in the shop because it has a clicking coming from the steering wheel when she turns at low speeds. They are replacing the entire shaft, under warranty, this week. I did this so it didn't turn into the situation you just experienced.

Also, any car for any reason can do crazy things that may get us killed for no apparent reason. Does this warrant a call for a lawsuit or the nhtsa to step in? No. Why? Because it's a very minimal number and statistically they expect failures and as long as it's not above their standard deviation it will be overlooked. If it was a big issue as was the Audi, sudden acceleration issue, or the Ford/Bridgestone(??) tire issue. Then the safety commission would jump in. One car locking up isn't going to set off any alerts or recalls.

 

I would report this. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me if yours is the first and only time something like this happens to a Crossfire.

 

Just an FYI.

"or the Ford/Bridgestone(??) tire issue." It was Ford/Firestone (Firestone now owns Bridgestone).

 

You apparently didn't read my post carefully or your too blinded by your love of AMG junk to comprehend that I did not ask for a diagnosis of the problem, I know what happened, I asked if anyone else had experienced the same problem. You would also know the reason for my car being at the dealership was because the steering locked! Nobody except me has driven this car since March. I did not say that I didn't know what a clock spring was, I know full well what it is. I also know that while clock springs fail, they do not seize the steering column when they do! I have had 2 years technical training as an auto mechanic, and have maintained and restored autos for the last 35 years. What are your credentials pertaining to the design and engineering of this car, that you can call my reaction extreme. I reported this to the NHTSA because thats what logical intelligent people do when automobiles do things out of the ordinary. They don't follow the advise of some self proclaimed expert in a chat room! That's what the NHSTA is there for. As for this car serving me well for over 22,000 miles. Where did I say that in my post? I have owned Chrysler products for 37 years and the Crossfire has by far spent more time at the dealership in 3 years than any of them including one which I've owned for 23 years. I'd sell this car in a heartbeat if the resale value hadn't dropped like a stone balloon!

 

I completely agree with your reply to AMG-LOVER ... Please stay with this board for valuable advice but be aware of some of the NEWBIES who just throw out crap... I always throw out CRAP, but it's only just to ****-OFF the NEWBIES who pretend to know what they're talking about...

AMG has only been a member of this forum since March of this year and he is by no-means an expert on this car... And I have no idea how he got senior member status... It must be from the amount of posts he makes...



I, on the other hand am no expert on this car either, but I am a good judge of BULL SHYT when I see it... And I have been working with this car since May 2004... And I can tell you right now, AMG has probably not even figured out how to change his spark plugs...

 

 

Usually when a clock spring goes bad it is just an electrical connection problem and won't lock up the steering.
Can't do any harm to report it.

 

I know many a mechanic who once they have completed the work the car was brought in for, they of course need to test drive it. It is possible the mechanic jumped into the car to see what it would do and possibly pulled, pushed or turned the wheel hard causing this failure. I am not saying this is what happened, I am just saying it is possible, also it could be just plain old mechanical failure. The first year of almost any car has usually had more problems than the following years, plus things happen. I would talk to the service manager and if I must discuss it with whomever worked or test drove the car afterwards.

 

It is not possible a mechanic caused this, the reason for the car being in the shop was this clockspring/steering failure, nothing else. Nobody but myself has driven this car for 5 months.