I brought in our 2001 XJ (Limited 4.0, auto) for an AC repair last week and when I got the car back I noticed the Airbag light was on and neither the horn nor cruise control work. My research suggests the clock spring is broken or disconnected. To replace the evaporator they had to take most of the dash apart, disconnected the wiring at the firewall and i guess lowered the steering wheel.

I brought the Jeep back yesterday to ask them to check the wiring to see if something is disconnected and they said all the wiring is attached but the clock spring is not sending a signal back to the relay so that is the problem.

Should I hold the mechanic responsible for buying a new one and replacing it? The airbag light was off and cruise control definitely worked before i brought it in.

To make matter more complicated, we're in Mexico (Baja) and my Spanish is mostly limited to "una mas cerveza, por favor." My landlord has been helping translate with the mechanic but they are friends, so if i need to be a dick about it that will definitely put my landlord in an uncomfortable spot.

 

New clock springs are almost $200. This is a very common problem when doing the evaporator core repair. The same thing happened to me but I to my core replaced for basically the cost of parts by a buddy's cousin so I didn't push it back on him I just fixed it myself. If you paid normal rates for labor and such then I would make the shop fix it. If you got the homeboy discount cause the shop owner is friends with your landlord then the choice is up to you. Either way the clock spring is the issue and will need replacing if you want a horn, cruise and airbags.

 

Any idea why this is a common problem when doing the evaporator?

The mechanic is going to check with a lock parts guy that get stuff from junk yards and what not, so hopefully it won't be that much.

I paid 4500 pesos ($366 USD) for the evaporator (2500 pesos) and labor so I don't even know if it was a decent deal. It's a kind of remote place so parts are more expensive but labor is cheap...

 

I would imagine people like removing the steering wheel to allow more space for pulling the dash out. And that price sounds about good. Honestly they shouldn't have allowed the Jeep to leave their shop with that happening, so yes i would hold them accountable. If they refuse to correct their mistake, i would try finding someone else to translate instead of your landlord so you don't get him upset too. Otherwise just take it somewhere else and see if they'll cut you a deal i guess lol.

 

I don't understand why pull the steering wheel off when dropping the whole steering column is more commonly done.I'm with 1976mustang they broke it make them fix their mistake if not go else where.

 

chances are the teck pulled the steering column out with the key in the run position so it wasn't locked. when he seperated the colum from the rack the wheel turned freely and it damaged the clockspring.

you got a good deal on the evap install but seeing as all circuits of the clockspring broke and not just one like the air bag, or the horn, etc it's clear there was outside damage done.

 

Can you rebuild a clock spring? is it likely that the wire cane just be re-soldered in place or something?

 

No, its a ribbon inside.

 

I know jeep has a TSB on the clock spring for 97-01 Cherokees. It says after removing the clock spring once, clock spring failure Is common. I'll try to find it on all data for ya if you want.