Steering Wheel Clock Spring Replacement - All of these listed issues are the source of broken teeth off the clock spring getting stuck within the steering column. I know because I had the same issue on my 08 SRT Charger. Symptoms are turn signal lever not staying without holding, loud clicking or even crunch noise when turning, and the worst is the steering wheel seems to lock up. I personally changed my own out at a cost of about $150 for the part. I would get this done asap as it can be a very dangerous problem for someone who doesn't expect their steering wheel to lock up. It can be forced straight but I imagine the initial shock of it getting stuck causes some people to let go of it. I found at least 1/4 of the clock spring teeth broken and many had jammed themselves in places they shouldn't be causing the symptoms everyone here is having.
This steering problem has still kept happening!!!!! this time it locked the steering wheel and it took 20 minutes and multiple times turning the car on and off before it would let me do anything. The stupid ABS/ESP lights came on and I had to do the dealership trick to rest them yet again. Now my turn signals are acting up and don't always work right!!!! Im getting frustrated!!!!!
In the early part of June I was leaving for my medical appointment for my Neck Fusion check up and as I backed out of my parking space at my house to the left my steering wheel started to click and was very hard to turn. As i tried to turn it back to the right it was stuck in place and I had to put the car into park and shut it off and let it sit for about a minute. Once I restarted the vehicle it let me slowly proceed to move the steering wheel back to the straight position and then continue to drive. As I was driving the ESP/ABS lights came on and stayed on until I got to my Doctors office. I called a local Dodge dealer and they told me to turn the steering wheel all the way to the right then all the way to the left and back to center to reset the lights which I did. It was a temporary fix.
OK...... now its just getting stupid..................... at this point the steering wheel is clicking turning both directions, the turn signal wont stay on by themselves so I have to hold them when I want to turn, and the ABS/ESP Lights wont always reset. I've called the local Dodge dealers and all they tell me is and I quote " Well Sir, you can drop it off to us and we will take a look at it for you and let you know what we find. Do you have any warranty on it that you know of?" When I ask about a loaner vehicle and assistance I get the run around and a bunch of bullshit for the other end of the phone......SO NOT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!! This is the 2nd 2008 Dodge Charger I have owned and they have both had this same damn issue!!!!
NOW that I'm really upset about this I'm ready to get rid of my car!!! I no longer have a functional turn signal lever. It has to be held to make them work all the time. This is a straight up safety hazard and I am considering contacting an attorney about this before I end up in a major accident because my car isn't safe to drive.
DODGE NEEDS TO MAKE THIS RIGHT AND FIX THIS PROBLEM!!!!
Same as other complaints. Terrible cars !!!! Would never buy anymore from Chrysler.
Update from Oct 9, 2015: when you put turn signal on steering tries to lock up, ESP light comes on. Had 2 recalls ( ignition and airbag ) they said they replaced airbag here at the dealership but don't have the ignition and will call when it comes in. "ITS BEEN A MONTH" The car takes 20-30 min to start. When I took it to the dealership in the state I bought it (NEW) they said the clock spring, win module and steering angle needed to be replaced ( 1,100 ) to fix it. When I bought the car I thought I bought a NEW car. Thanks Chrysler
Update from Oct 11, 2015: add that I also had to replace 3 batteries before I had 35000 miles on it. I had to run the car without shutting it off from Mississippi to Georgia as I didn't know if it would start again. When I got here to Georgia I had to replace alt
- Alan W.,
Kingsland, GA, US
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Same as other guy already reported. steering wheel locked up, almost crashed. ESP, BAS lights and traction control lights all come on. Afterwards turn signal not working correctly, won't turn off after each turn. Glad it happened when I was almost stopped and not while I was at full speed.
I was pulling out of parking space at work and went to turn left, the steering wheel made a loud clicking noise. As I proceeded to drive a little further my ESP and BAS light came on along with the traction control light. I came to a stop sign where I had to make a left hand turn and the steering wheel felt like it locked up, causing me to jerk the wheel to where I thought I was going to break it so I didn't crash, very scary. My Dodge only has 58000 miles on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This steering problem has still kept happening!!!!! this time it locked the steering wheel and it took 20 minutes and multiple times turning the car on and off before it would let me do anything. The stupid ABS/ESP lights came on and I had to do the dealership trick to rest them yet again. Now my turn signals are acting up and don't always work right!!!! Im getting frustrated!!!!!
- super_soldier71, Fort Meade, MD, US