This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Consumer states that the clock spring is defective and now the air bag light has come on and also the horn stopped working and cruise control stopped working. Contacted dealer and the dealer is not willing to do anything. Nlm
The clockspring in the steering column failed. This causes the horn, cruise control and airbag system to fail. There is no indication that the horn is out. Only the airbag light on the dash comes on. You don't know the horn is out until you need it! I had the same problem on my personal van and on my company van. They were bought from different dealers at different times. It is very hard to believe that a single driver can have the same problem on two different cars without there being an inherent design defect in this part. Please investigate this problem before lives are lost through the loss of the horn or airbags that don't work when needed. The conductors that feed the explosive charge to the airbag are open during this continuous fault and the airbag will not deploy in an accident.
The clockspring failed on the date indicated. The air-bag, horn and cruise control were non-functional during the failure. I replaced the unit with a new one. I investigated why the unit failed by disassembling it. The flat ribbon cable in the unit failed from inadequate strain relief at the point of connection. All 5 conductors were broken due to repeated hard bending without adequate support at the connection point.
- East Longmeadow, MA, USA
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Airbag indicator light came on and noted horn and cruise control were inoperable. Research indicates airbag clock spring failure located in steering wheel. Intend to report to dealer.
I repored this clock spring issue a long time ago, never heard back, I see there are other people that have reported this safety issue and wonder where it stands.
The airbag-indicator light started lighting up intermittently, at first, but now stays lit all the time. I soon discovered that the horn, another safety feature, is also disabled/nonfunctional, as is the cruise control. These three features, two of them being important safety features (airbag and horn), are all apparently wired together into one circuit. I took my van to a mechanic who checked fuses= ok; problem is "airbag clockspring." He contacted 3 other mechanics and a Dodge dealer, and all said they were familiar with this problem with Dodge Caravan, and the problem is with the airbag clockspring. The mechanic explained the clockspring needs to be reset, but he and other mechanics won't attempt to fix, as they're worried about deploying airbag. The 2 dealers said the airbag may deploy on its own, or not deploy at all -- and that repair involves replacing the airbag clockspring. I'm upset and want Chrysler to pay for this repair -- this is not a maintenance item/issue -- this is a safety issue -- when the airbag light comes on, indicating failure (clockspring), the horn also is disabled. You cannot pass inspection w/out the horn working. I'm afraid airbag will deploy accidentally while I'm driving. I cannot afford this repair -- est. $95/clockspring + $200/labor = $300 or more! the mechanic knew of at least 1 other person who had exact same problem with Caravan; also, the two Dodge dealers in my area also stated they very familiar with this problem occuring in the Dodge Caravan! many of these failures are occurring, & most people are not reporting them!! in addition, mechanic said horn could be rewired to bypass the airbag/cruise con. Circuit, for ~ $50 -- but still have to worry about airbag deploying at wrong time/not at all + still have no cruise control. Also in steering, there's a loud whiney noise when steering wheel is turned;other times loss of power steering=difficulttosteer! +serpentinebelt broke off at ~32,000 mi!$700torepair!!
Horn will not work, airbag light is on and no electrical components on the steering column function. Dodge is aware of the problem but will not replace the clock.
Air bag light came on, and horn and cruise control failed simultaneously. Many other 1996 Grand Caravan owners have reported this same failure, and have been told the clock spring has failed. Given the number of identical complaints, this should be a recall item. I'm certain many more owners would report this if they were aware of so many others experiencing this problem, but give the modest cost of repair ($250 est.), most people have probably paid for this repair without reporting it since the potential safety problems are so serious (no horn or air bag!!) given the modest cost of repair and the serious injury that could result from not correcting this, Dodge should pay for this repair before someone is injured or killed. Isn't this what NHTSA is for? please help force Dodge to be responsible. Similar models and other model years have had problems with the same part, as well. Please respond, and let me know what I can do to encourage Dodge to correct this situation.
Airbag indicator light has come on/ horn, and cruise control stopped working. Dealer stated clockspring assembly needed to be replaced. The consumer stated that the air bag was inoperable until it was fixed.
The three components have ceased to work, apparently due to the clockspring. From information on the internet this is a frequent problem with theses vehicles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Genefeo, NY, USA