Poor quality spiral cables used by Toyota India? It can affect airbag deployment

CEF_Beasts · 8th June 2022, 19:32

Have the same symptoms on my 2014 Fortuner.

At dead-centre the horn doesn’t work and on turning on either sides it starts working.

Had gone to the service centre to check what is exactly going on and the SA immediately pointed out it’s the spiral cable 95% that has gone bad and he can order the part for me.

Just casually did a google search on spiral cable without any mention of the brand and the link on top was exactly this!!

A strong worded mail, is headed Toyota India’s way…

mikepapa · 12th June 2022, 10:06

Sir, will wait to hear back on the comments from Toyota.

I had to surrender to the scare of airbags malfunction. ASC says the spiral cable controls the airbags function as well. So, I had to cough up ~13K in damages and got the cable replaced.

The old one is sitting as a souvenir of all the hassles!

deemath390 · 23rd January 2023, 14:10

Hi,

I own a 2013 Petrol Hyundai Elantra AT done approximately 48k Km.

For the past 3 years been facing repeated failure of the clock spring indicated by the airbag warning light coming on. Have replaced 6 clock springs alongwith other random troubleshooting and replacements and was hoping if I could get some ideas from members here on what can be done.

Have taken the car to two ASS in Bangalore as well as one FNG. ASS#1 just replaced the clock spring, which failed again in the warranty period so they changed it again.

A couple of months later, the airbag light came on again. As the 6 month warranty period from the first replacement was over, I took it to another ASS. They too said there isn't any other problem and said that I will have to replace the clock spring again. Did that, and sure enough after a couple of months the airbag light was on again. They again changed it under warranty and also had me replace the light switch stalk - it used to have a infrequent issue with the fog lamp operation and the SA said this could be the reason for the Clock spring failure.

Lasted a few weeks and the airbag light was back on. It was Covid time by now so I did not attend to this till things started getting back to normal in mid-2022. This time went to a FNG, he said I have an alignment issue as the steering wheel isn't turning equal turns on either side, and that is what is causing this to fail. He got the alignment corrected, got a new clock spring (#5 now), all was good with the airbag light - for a couple of weeks before it was back on! Took it back and he said the steering rack will need changing as the alignment isn't getting fixed properly. I wasn't convinced so went back to ASS#1.

ASS#1 diagnosed the problem as a non-standard battery. This battery model had been replaced by them only a few years back but now the SA said this wasn't the right battery and the rating difference was what was causing the clock spring to fail. So I had to replace a functioning battery and Clock Spring #6.
Guess what, the airbag light was back on after a few weeks! I have gone back to the ASS and the SA looked pretty clueless on what to do now. He will replace the clock spring under warranty but if the root cause isn't fixed, surely it will fail again.

Seeking thoughts on what different can be done or any recommendations to how to approach this with Hyundai or any recommended FNG in Bangalore.

Thanks in advance.

pareekvirendra · 24th December 2023, 16:33

Hello,

This happened to me too. Thorn on my Corolla stopped working all of a sudden. I called the service centre by phone for an appointment and they asked me an oddly specific question, does your horn stop working only when the steering is straight or when it is turned to either side as well?"

I thought it was an odd question and to my surprise, their guess was correct. The horn was working when the steering was turned to either side, but not when it was straight. SO I called them back and they said that the spiral cable will need to be replaced and will cost about Rs. 15000.00. This took the air out of me. I was numb for a couple of minutes and didn't know what to say. Then I approached an FNG there who quoted Rs. 6000 to 7000 for a brand that I cannot remember. This was cheaper than the showroom, but still too expensive for me. So I dug around on the internet and found that Minda makes the spiral cable for Corolla Altis. (Its the same in Altis and Innova). It cost me Rs. 1250 for the part, Rs. 200 for fitting and voila, all done in Rs. 1450.00. Less than 10% of what the showroom quoted.

I also found this thread and thought I should update my experience here as well.

I have been through this thread and can see some members have avoided the repairs or gone through the service centre at prohibitive costs. Well, you can now have a look at other options as well and save a bunch on money too.

Thank you.

8th June 2022, 19:32	#61
CEF_Beasts Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Mumbai Posts: 2,743 Thanked: 18,121 Times	Re: Poor quality spiral cables used by Toyota India? It can affect airbag deployment Have the same symptoms on my 2014 Fortuner. At dead-centre the horn doesn’t work and on turning on either sides it starts working. Had gone to the service centre to check what is exactly going on and the SA immediately pointed out it’s the spiral cable 95% that has gone bad and he can order the part for me. Just casually did a google search on spiral cable without any mention of the brand and the link on top was exactly this!! A strong worded mail, is headed Toyota India’s way… Last edited by CEF_Beasts : 8th June 2022 at 19:46.
	(1) Thanks

12th June 2022, 10:06	#62
mikepapa Newbie Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Bangalore Posts: 23 Thanked: 50 Times	Re: Poor quality spiral cables used by Toyota India? It can affect airbag deployment Sir, will wait to hear back on the comments from Toyota. I had to surrender to the scare of airbags malfunction. ASC says the spiral cable controls the airbags function as well. So, I had to cough up ~13K in damages and got the cable replaced. The old one is sitting as a souvenir of all the hassles! Attached Thumbnails
	(1) Thanks

23rd January 2023, 14:10	#63
deemath390 Newbie Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1 Thanked: 0 Times	Re: Poor quality spiral cables used by Toyota India? It can affect airbag deployment Hi, I own a 2013 Petrol Hyundai Elantra AT done approximately 48k Km. For the past 3 years been facing repeated failure of the clock spring indicated by the airbag warning light coming on. Have replaced 6 clock springs alongwith other random troubleshooting and replacements and was hoping if I could get some ideas from members here on what can be done. Have taken the car to two ASS in Bangalore as well as one FNG. ASS#1 just replaced the clock spring, which failed again in the warranty period so they changed it again. A couple of months later, the airbag light came on again. As the 6 month warranty period from the first replacement was over, I took it to another ASS. They too said there isn't any other problem and said that I will have to replace the clock spring again. Did that, and sure enough after a couple of months the airbag light was on again. They again changed it under warranty and also had me replace the light switch stalk - it used to have a infrequent issue with the fog lamp operation and the SA said this could be the reason for the Clock spring failure. Lasted a few weeks and the airbag light was back on. It was Covid time by now so I did not attend to this till things started getting back to normal in mid-2022. This time went to a FNG, he said I have an alignment issue as the steering wheel isn't turning equal turns on either side, and that is what is causing this to fail. He got the alignment corrected, got a new clock spring (#5 now), all was good with the airbag light - for a couple of weeks before it was back on! Took it back and he said the steering rack will need changing as the alignment isn't getting fixed properly. I wasn't convinced so went back to ASS#1. ASS#1 diagnosed the problem as a non-standard battery. This battery model had been replaced by them only a few years back but now the SA said this wasn't the right battery and the rating difference was what was causing the clock spring to fail. So I had to replace a functioning battery and Clock Spring #6. Guess what, the airbag light was back on after a few weeks! I have gone back to the ASS and the SA looked pretty clueless on what to do now. He will replace the clock spring under warranty but if the root cause isn't fixed, surely it will fail again. Seeking thoughts on what different can be done or any recommendations to how to approach this with Hyundai or any recommended FNG in Bangalore. Thanks in advance.
	() Thanks

24th December 2023, 16:33	#64
pareekvirendra BHPian Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Aurangabad Posts: 82 Thanked: 213 Times	Re: Poor quality spiral cables used by Toyota India? It can affect airbag deployment Hello, This happened to me too. Thorn on my Corolla stopped working all of a sudden. I called the service centre by phone for an appointment and they asked me an oddly specific question, does your horn stop working only when the steering is straight or when it is turned to either side as well?" I thought it was an odd question and to my surprise, their guess was correct. The horn was working when the steering was turned to either side, but not when it was straight. SO I called them back and they said that the spiral cable will need to be replaced and will cost about Rs. 15000.00. This took the air out of me. I was numb for a couple of minutes and didn't know what to say. Then I approached an FNG there who quoted Rs. 6000 to 7000 for a brand that I cannot remember. This was cheaper than the showroom, but still too expensive for me. So I dug around on the internet and found that Minda makes the spiral cable for Corolla Altis. (Its the same in Altis and Innova). It cost me Rs. 1250 for the part, Rs. 200 for fitting and voila, all done in Rs. 1450.00. Less than 10% of what the showroom quoted. I also found this thread and thought I should update my experience here as well. I have been through this thread and can see some members have avoided the repairs or gone through the service centre at prohibitive costs. Well, you can now have a look at other options as well and save a bunch on money too. Thank you.
	(4) Thanks