Passat Clock Spring

[eytng]

Finally got around to putting the car in at VW for assessment. They have offered to:

1. Sell me the part at warranty prices.
2. Pay for a third of the part.

All up bill would be $450.

What do people think?

Hi ozrcboy,

My 2012 Tiguan has just got the same problem, and to my frustration I bought the extended warranty (3 years on top of the factory warranty), and I was told at the dealer the "steering wheel and airbag is not covered"!!

The service guy told me it's likely to be the clock spring and it will cost me $1090 to have it fixed!!

Now knowing there was a recall for the clock spring in the US back in Oct 2015, and there are cases like yours, may I ask who did you write to and what was the process for you to get it sorted please?

[CaseySP]

Just had ours fail at 65,000km on a 2012 Passat along a trip to Sydney and back. To add to the fun we went through a heavy downpour on the Hume between Marulan and Goulburn, and a P plater lost control of his car about 100m in front of us - bouncing off the centre guard wires and back into the right-hand lane causing both lanes to take avoiding action. Not a great time to be without a working airbag.

Mentioned at the dealer the US and Canada recalls but was met with "computer says no recall for your vehicle". It is currently with them to have a new clock spring ordered and fitted on their advice that the car is not safe to drive as it now lacks a working airbag and horn.

I also think this is pretty poor form for an item that should be serviceable for the life of the car, and I also suggest anyone else who has a similar fault lodge an on-line "Vehicle Safety or Non-Compliance Report" with the he Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development here https://infrastructure.gov.au/vehicl...ing/index.aspx.

Make sure you mention the Canadian and USA voluntary recalls as "Volkswagen considers the safety and satisfaction of its consumers and passengers a top priority".

Volkswagen recalls 41,300 vehicles in Canada for airbag fault - Business - CBC News

[Umai Naa!!]

Clock spring is a common failure on many cars.

Just as bulbs, relays and switches are. Where does one draw the line?

[CaseySP]

I guess VW don't agree with you since they have recalled over 450,000 vehicles in North America due to this airbag safety issue.

If the clock spring failure was just an inconvenience and the MFD controls, stereo buttons and flappy paddles were the only things that were affected you would have a fair point. However something that can also affect the operation of a key safety item like the airbag should be more robust - the worldwide Takata airbag recall (over 50 million vehicles at last count) shows that these things are usually taken more seriously.

[Umai Naa!!]

VW of America has different policies on warranties and recalls.

A lot of it is very generous.

But you get that in a litigious country.

[kamold]

In the b7 the clockspring, multifunction steering wheel control module and the stalks are all an integrated unit.
In the b6 they were all separate. Clockspring can be had for about $20 as it's just a plastic housing with a ribbon cable and connectors.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[iampivot]

Just had my clock spring give up in my MY13 Passat B7. Are you certain that it's not possible to get an aftermarket part that replaces just the clockspring? I was going to trade the car in the next 6 months, and am trying to avoid any expensive repairs..

[Bora Sport]

Skodas are not immune from this either. The clock spring on my 2011 Skoda Octavia Scout failed within a month of me buying it. I got the part number from Skoda and found a site in Russia on EBay. I got the whole clock spring including both column stalks as a combined unit for about $200-225.00 from memory including postage. That was January 2017. My mate and I fitted it ourselves.

[iampivot]

Was there a lot of coding required? Isn't there an angle sensor used for the reversing camera in that part as well?

[kamold]

You just need to copy over the coding from your existing steering wheel control module.
Steering angle sensor basic settings normally will clear by itself after driving for a few minutes.
Worst case scenario you need to run the procedure with VCDS/OBD11 which is very simple.

[Bora Sport]

My car is a Scout and doesn't have a reverse camera. It does have this funky feature that the relevant fog light comes on when you turn a corner. So there is obviously a steering angle sensor. There was no coding required that I recall. I disconnected the battery to remove the airbag. Then once the part was replaced and the battery reconnected there were the usual fault lights that occur when you disconnect the battery and they as usual disappeared in the first 150 metres of driving the car.

[iampivot]

In the b7 the clockspring, multifunction steering wheel control module and the stalks are all an integrated unit.
In the b6 they were all separate. Clockspring can be had for about $20 as it's just a plastic housing with a ribbon cable and connectors.

Are you certain that the clockspring is fully integrated with the stalks for all B7? Looking here it seems that the petrol models can replace just the clockspring;

Genuine Volkswagen Audi - 5K0953569AL - Clock Spring - with steering control unit (5K0 953 569 AL)

Vagcom says the part in my car is the 5K0 953 569 T though, not AL.

Here's the combined part on ebay; MF Cruise Control Stalk Wiper Switch & Module For VW Passat B6 B7 EU CC | eBay

Looking at the picture it looks like it should be easy to replace just the clock spring as they are put together with some screws.

Stalk without the clockspring; Lever central (3C9 953 501 BM) - VW Passat -2013

[kamold]

Are you certain that the clockspring is fully integrated with the stalks for all B7? Looking here it seems that the petrol models can replace just the clockspring;

Genuine Volkswagen Audi - 5K0953569AL - Clock Spring - with steering control unit (5K0 953 569 AL)

Vagcom says the part in my car is the 5K0 953 569 T though, not AL.

Here's the combined part on ebay; MF Cruise Control Stalk Wiper Switch & Module For VW Passat B6 B7 EU CC | eBay

Looking at the picture it looks like it should be easy to replace just the clock spring as they are put together with some screws.

Stalk without the clockspring; Lever central (3C9 953 501 BM) - VW Passat -2013

Yes you're correct - the clockspring now also has the multifunction steering wheel control module integrated, but it is a separate part to the instrument stalks.

[iampivot]

Looks like there's a VW specific tool needed to get off the bolt that holds the steering wheel. Does anyone know if this one is different for different cars, like the anti-theft wheel bolts?

[Umai Naa!!]

It's an M12 spline, or triple square from memory.