Changed clock spring, airbag light still on :(

[Wench]

Right so my airbag light has been on, thought it was the clock spring. I replaced the clock spring with a second hand one that was supposed to be in working order (which it could well be). 

 

Car went into garage for some other work, they tried to reset airbag light, but it wouldn't reset. 

 

Just wondered what the next move could be? I don't have a fault code reader. 

[bigjohn]

Clock spring?

 

Didn't know the Fabia had a wind up clock 

 

I think you need someone with VCDS 

Edited 23 August, 2017 by bigjohn

[KenONeill]

@Wench - You've presumed that the fault was the clock spring; this may not be the case, but without the fault report we'd need them to be crystal to help!

 

@bigjohn - I'll treat that seriously. The "clock spring" in a car steering column is actually more like a mechanical watch spring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainspring , and is there to provide an electrical connection between a fixed wire on the column and a component on the steering wheel that can be turned as much as 6 times from lock to lock.

[Wench]

The fault was presumed to be the clock spring, as this is what my local garage thought it was when I took it to them to sort the problem.

 

i cannot justify the cost of buying a code reader, and I'm not near my trustworthy garage above.

 

i know Halfords etc will do diagnostic tests for circa £40, guess taking it to get that done is the next step 

[FlipFlops]

Does your horn work when pressed? Keep it pressed down and turn the wheel all the way round lock to lock and see if it still works. It shouldn't stop until you release the horn.

 

I've never heard of a clock spring, is it a Skoda thing? Behind the wheel there's a slip ring that sometimes breaks and can bring up an airbag fault.

[KenONeill]

@FlipFlops - The "clock spring" term is pretty widely used (and possibly incorrectly here if VAG use slip rings instead).

[Wench]

3 hours ago, FlipFlops said:

Does your horn work when pressed? Keep it pressed down and turn the wheel all the way round lock to lock and see if it still works. It shouldn't stop until you release the horn.

 

I've never heard of a clock spring, is it a Skoda thing? Behind the wheel there's a slip ring that sometimes breaks and can bring up an airbag fault.

Yes horn works. 

[TMB]

Airbags don't use slip rings because they cannot be depended upon to maintain a constant, 100% reliable connection which is vital for an airbag. Slip rings are used for horns and other non-vital functions.

 

 

 

 

[TMB]

6 hours ago, FlipFlops said:

I've never heard of a clock spring, is it a Skoda thing? Behind the wheel there's a slip ring that sometimes breaks and can bring up an airbag fault.

 

This is my spare Fabia clock spring that I got when buying a vRS steering wheel...

 

[bigjohn]

14 hours ago, KenONeill said:

 

 

@bigjohn - I'll treat that seriously. The "clock spring" in a car steering column is actually more like a mechanical watch spring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainspring , and is there to provide an electrical connection between a fixed wire on the column and a component on the steering wheel that can be turned as much as 6 times from lock to lock.

 

Feeling educated...  It's clearly a while since I've removed a steering wheel!