Leganza SX L4-2.2L DOHC D-TEC MFI (1999)
Clockspring Assembly / Spiral Cable: Description and Operation
CAUTION: Disassembling the clockspring can cause injury or cause the clockspring to malfunction.
CAUTION: Over-rotating the clockspring without the steering wheel in position could damage the clockspring and result in an inoperative driver airbag
leading to possible injury in the case of a collision.
There is a coil assembly in the steering which is referred to as a clockspring because of its internal resemblance to the type of spring used in a mechanical
clock. The clockspring has no timekeeping function and should never be disassembled. The clockspring contains current-carrying coils. Two of the
current-carrying coils maintain continuous contact within the-driver deployment loop while the steering wheel is rotated. The clockspring also contains a
coil that maintains continuous contact for the horn circuit.
Turning the steering wheel in one direction tightens the coil, and turning the steering wheel in the opposite direction loosens the coil. Do not turn rotate
the clockspring when the steering wheel is not attached.
The clockspring also includes the wiring and the connectors for the horn circuit and the driver airbag circuit. A yellow two-way connector on the lower
steering column is attached to the clockspring wiring. The airbag side of the yellow connector contains a shorting bar which connects the driver high
circuit to the driver low circuit when the connector is disconnected. The shorting bar prevents current from traveling through the driver airbag module
during servicing. The shorting bar is disengaged when the clockspring connector is connected.
