Stockli
TJ Enthusiast
Hey guys!
I have been following this thread as I had the same issues with the clock spring. Jeep was out in the rain overnight a week ago with just the sun shade top on. In the morning I noticed the air bag light stayed on for a while but then went out. Later in the day my wife said the Jeep was running like crap and would stall when coming to stops. My search began online for reasons why this would happen and led me to this thread.
I first tried replacing the TPS and had the same symptoms. I then noticed while troubleshooting, that my cruise would not work and each time I pressed the cruise On/Off button the idle would dip and if I did this when driving the Jeep would buck. So this led me to suspecting the clock spring.
We live in Hawaii, and parts are not readily available here. Shipping is expensive too. So before I just ordered a clock spring I decided to pull the current one and inspect it. After much effort, I finally got the steering wheel off. What an ordeal that was since I could not find the correct puller anywhere on island. I removed the clock spring and tested the idle, worked perfect. I actually opened the clock spring unit and noticed the connector going from the ribbon to the terminal contacts had quite a bit of corrosion. I did happen to have terminal cleaner and conditioner from working on an old console stereo a couple years ago. I cleaned and conditioned the contacts till they looked like new. Put it all back together, carefully mind you, and hooked it back into the Jeep. Started up and ran just fine! I made sure to give the ribbon coil enough space to turn in either direction, mostly guestimated to be honest. Got the wheel mounted, cruise, horn and air bag reconnected and took him for a spin. Stalling and idle issues are gone.
I just thought I would add all this to confirm that with some effort and careful handling, you can attempt to clean the inside contacts of the clock spring. Now that that is done I will make sure to not leave the top off when it is raining!
Chris
Chris would you mind doing a write up on the clock sling disassembly, cleaning and reassembly process?
I need to either fix or replace mine and I would prefer to keep the original factory spring if at all possible. I think this would be extremely useful and may help someone come up with a novel solution to water entering the spring assembly in the first place. I have read that once they are taken apart they are ruined. Thanks!