This is a followup letter to the federal safety agency from me regarding failure of the clockspring assembly in my 1998 dodge grand caravan. Production problems for the clockspring assembly were from 1996 and 2000. Now comes the part I do not understand....my vehicle falls between 1996 and 2000 and....my clockspring assembly failed...daimler chrysler tells me I do not qualify because my VIN is not on their list of recalls. What the heck is going on? This is very puzzeling. I need someone to help me on this. I hope you can. I'm 70 years old and on a very limited income. This was a costly repair job, by my standards.
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan airbags complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 104, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Failure of clockspring affects horn & speed control also.
Airbag light is coming on and off. Currently, airbag light will not go off. Please provide any further information.
Air bag light will intermittently come on and off when consumer is driving. After contacting dealer, dealer noted that air bag might not work. Also, the horn will not work. Contacted dealer.
Our clockspring broke in the steering column. It controls the horn, airbag and unfortunately the cruise control. We were on a trip and approaching a town. I tapped on the brakes to shut the cruise control off and it wouldn't shut off. In fact, I couldn't slow down at all. I was going about 60 or 65 when this happened and eventually I was at the speed of 90. The van was accelling while I was trying to stop it. We finally got over to the side of the road and put it in either neutral or park just so we could get it to stop. Our horn doesn't work now and our airbag probably won't deploy in case of an emergency. This could cause alot of accidents and may hurt people if something doesn't get done about it.
Air bag warning light on dash comes on & goes off intermittently,horn does not always work.
Airbag light illuminates. Horn and speed control is inoperable. Dealer contacted. *ak
No summary listed for above vehicle.
While driving, driver's side airbag deployed. One person was injured in the accident. Dealer has been contacted.*ak
Horn sounds intermittently when pressed. Had contacted dealership, and informed consume rthat sop module was faulty, and airbags may not deploy. Please provide any further information.
Air bag light will illuminate during normal operation, in addition to horn and cruise control systems failing to operate. Dealership replaced clockspring. *ak
First, my air bag light came on, then my cruise control stopped working. From what I have researched. I feel this is all tied in to the clock spring wire assembly in the steering column. I'm concerned that my driver side air bag will not deploy in the event of an accident and that prior to that, my horn is going to stop working next. If I get these items repaired now, and there is a recall, will the manufacturer be required to reimburse me?
Air bag warning light illuminates/cruise control fails to function,and horn does not work. Dealership is scheduled to examine vehicle, and make all necessary repairs. Please provide any additional information / documentation.
Air bag light on instrument panel stays on during operation of vehicle. Also, horn fails to function, and cruise control is inoperable. Dealership has not examined vehicle to determine cause of this problem. Please provide any additional information / documentation.
The problems began as intermittent issues and then became permanent. No safety defect stated.
Both driver and passenger air bags deployed while vehicle was pulling into a gas station. The vehicle was not involved in an accident with another vehicle or obstruction.
Horn is not working, and air bags will not deploy. *ak consumer stated air bag light illuminated, dealer stated this was a common problem, possible clockspring failure.
I wanted to add to the list of people reporting problem of the airbag warning light coming on - then having to pay for the clockspring assembly. This should be a recall.
During normal operation of vehicle air bag light on instrument panel came on. Dealership examined vehicle and replaced clock spring material in steering column which corrected the problem. In october of 2001, air bag light came back on with additional problems of horn and cruise control failure. Dealership has not examined vehicle for the second incident. Please provide any additional information / attachments.
Clock spring failure, airbag light on, cruise control inoperable.
No summary listed for abov evehicle.
Airbag light came on the instrument panel. At the same time the cruise control would not work and the horn would not work. The dealer advised not a good idea to drive the car due to the fact the air bag could deploy without any type of collision. Also, the horn not working was a hazard. Although we had an extended warranty on the vehicle, the dealer advised the matter was not covered under the extended warranty we had purchased. The cost for repair was $223.16. This should be considered as a safety item and not as a warranty item. Please help ! Tfsinisdwas rdu n.
Airbag light came on/ horn and cruise control had stopped working. Taken vehicle to dealer and had clock spring assembly replaced.
Airbag light stays on all the time. Cruise control doesn't work as long as light is on. Dealer stated there is a common problem, and part is in stock, but no recall issued.
Vehicle was in an accident going at 30-40mph. Vehicle t-boned another vehicle causing consumer to hit head on windshield. Upon impact, front air bags failed to deploy. A complaint was filed with chrysler, and special investigation unit will contact the consumer to come out and inspect.*ak total damge done to vehicle was $6700, chrysler investigator stated it was just hit in the wrong spot.
The problem/complaint is in regards to an article I saw in 'automotive news' publication about a the federal safety agency probe into dcx miniwan wiring causing airbags to fail. Beginning last fall some time, we began noticing the airbag light to come on. At first it was very intermittent-once every couple weeks or so. Now the problem is more frequent but still happening randomly. Some days the air bag light will stay on almost continuously and other days it doesn't come on at all. But anyway, when I read the article, the description sounded exactly like what we are experiencing. Thank you.
Front crash at 20 MPH, vehicle hit another vehicle, and neither frontal airbag deployed.
I have to pay for this repair and there is a known problem with this clockspring assembly. I would like to see a recall and be reimbursed for my repair.
Airbag light stays illuminated while vehicle is in motion due to bad clock spring. Also, horn assembly and cruise control are inoperable. Dealer has been notified.
Had left stop light and about to make left turn when another vehicle kept straight, and was hit on driver's side with driver side of caravan. Air bag failed to deploy.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history