Hey guys so the other day when putting on the subframe back on and what not the job was finished and i noticed that my steering wheel buttons dont work anymore... Im thinking that i might have accidentally moved the steering wheel when it was not connected to the steering rack when i had the subframe off and it twisted all of the wires or the harness for all of the buttons inside the wheel? Does anyone know how i can fix this or what i can do to maybe make them work? Thanks guys! I do have a service airbag light on too because of this so maybe even a fuse?

 

bump

 

the wires are getting pinched behind the airbad. you gotta remove it and move them around. its really easy.

 

oh really? ive taken off the airbag or i should say ive taken out the center piece of the steering wheel and made sure everything is ok and still nothing.

 

bump

 

is your airbag light on? if not then the wiring in the steering column/wheel should be fine. have you checks all of your fuses?

 

your clock spring is prob broke then

 

ya but it turns just fine lol nothing wrong at all with turning and it doesnt make any noise

 

Yeah, sounds like you knew the wheel had been turned...

You broke the clock spring, as mentioned above. Gotta get a new one.

Now for the fun part: Usually when you replace a component of the airbag system, it requires a factory reset to eliminate the light. You may get lucky, but in my experience if it trips for a fault like loss of connection with one of the bags, it will require a trip to the dealer to turn the light off, even after you repair the parts you broke.

Be more careful next time, and always lock the steering wheel when disconnecting the steering shaft so it can't spin.

On this platform, it's totally not necessary to remove the rack when pulling the subframe. Easier and safer to pull the two 18mm bolts that hold it down to the rack and secure it back to the car, and just leave it in place.

 

Ah ok I see what's up now. And ya well this is when I did the whole engine build and swap a while ago thanks for the info though really appreciate it

 

just curious though how does the clock spring effect the buttons?

 

Everything on the wheel is connected to the car through it. Once you break the cable, whatever you have on the wheel is dead. Airbags, steering controls, shift paddles, whatever.

 

ahh ok thanks for the info man! Are all the clocksprings on cobalts the same? Or is it specifid through year model?