Hi Everyone,

I've had my PV36 for about one and a half years now. A couple months ago it developed a catch and knock between 300º & 330º (0º entered at 12 o'clock). This was diagnosed to be a faulty steering rack. During the process of replacing the steering rack I fear the steering wheel and column were over rotated when disconnected from the rack and a connection has been broken in the column.

The replacement rack is in, knock and catch are now gone and the P/S is consistent and smooth. The VDC Off and Slip light are on which I understand after reading through older threads is likely an alignment + sensor calibration issue (the alignment is off, toe in 20º-ish which will be resolved later this week). However, the Airbag light is also on which leads me to think I've broken the spiral cable/clock spring. My scanner reads a Steering Angle Sensor Circuit Failure along with the Airbag code.

My question is, if the clock spring has been broken through hyperextension - will the steering angle sensor also be damaged? Or can I get away with just replacing the clock spring? I've tried to take all precautions when doing this replacement, but coming from an older car with a free-spin column has been the source of my hubris.

I'ld really appreciate any and all advice given to me. Thanks.

 

Circuit FAILURE definitely sounds like a bad clock spring, it may not have necessarily been damaged but it is a fairly common wear item so it probably just went out. I thought the steering angle sensor was capable of infinite 360 degree turns, you could go down to a parts house and look at a new one to verify. The clock spring itself has limits though.

 

Thanks for the feedback, that sounds encouraging and would line up with my suspicion I've over turned the clock spring one too many times. After all, the Clockspring is anywhere between $50-100 whilst the steering angle sensor is $500+ in my research. Hopefully where I have the wheel alignment performed can reset/recalibrate the steering angle sensor.

One last question, the steering wheel in my car has Bluetooth call functions, volume control etc - are all clocksprings for these model vehicles going to passthrough those connections? Or are the parts different between the base model V36 and type SP (PV36)? I suspect not, but could always be wrong. Thanks again.

 

All steering wheel controls including the horn, the ABS inflator, and the steering angle sensor pass through the clock spring. You will see the individual harnesses when you take the air bag module out, make sure to follow the steps in the FSM for the air bag module.

What is the type SP ?

 

Also, you might just look into getting a used clockspring + steering angle sensor assembly off ebay, that price is INSANE.

 

I see, thanks. I will have to keep a close eye on what harnesses and connections come off the old Clockspring when disassembled. Type SP is just the sports premium model of the 2007 Skyline, comes with a few extra features and gadgets not found on the base model - amusingly, I couldn't necessarily tell you what they all are since I've never done a side by side comparison to a non-SP model.

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought the steering angle sensor price in particular was quite unreasonable. Here's hoping only the Clockspring requires replacement eh?

 

Ok it's probably the about the package that my vehicle has which was the 6MT Premium package here in the states.

 

So I've removed the Clockspring and noticed it has the model number "25554-JK00A" and cannot seem to find this part anywhere online. Any idea on a compatible third party replacement - or am I going to have to contact Nissan? Thanks again.