BAD Clock Spring / Steering Wheel Harness (was OBD-2, Security Gateway, and odd bypass cable issues...)

[Moe-Jave]

I did a search but didn't find anything that matches what I'm seeing on my Gladiator, and posting here on the chance this helps someone else...

My issue in a nutshell manifests in two specific ways: lighting oddities with my OEM LED fender lights (this started with some aftermarket units and why I went back to OEM) and steering wheel controls. For the lights, one side or the other would occasionally fail to illuminate, seeming a lot like a bad connection or intermittent short condition (lots of testing suggested there were no physical issues of any kind). The steering wheel control issue felt a lot like a bad clock spring and would also be an intermittent issue. Steering wheel controls would work and not work within the same driving session and even seemed affected by steering wheel angle -- leading me to believe I had a clock spring failure.

Like many here, I bought the most popular red *extension cable from Amazon. I use it for my Tazer (running current 11.7 firmware) and enjoy some of the live features. While I did not expect this to be related, I restored the security gateway back to stock and my issues went away.

I have no sense of whether I have an older/different cable or just a bad unit, but my intuition is that there is nothing wrong with the cable (mostly since all TAZER functions work reliably using the cable, allows me to write new values, and shows the gateway bypassed in JSCAN). I did see a loss of communication to the SCCM and see a "stored" value from the body control module (seemingly related to the fender light issue and cannot be cleared but is not active).

Back to stock, I no longer see any communications issues or quirks. While I'm happy I was able to write my preferred values, I miss the loss of my live features from the Tazer.

*Edit: Clear up cable use; changed title with official diagnosis from Jeep.
** 1/30: Updated to reflect final repair finding of "steering wheel harness" in the title.

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[Vtur]

The Tazer may not be using all the pins connections, some might just pass-through. You can try continuity the pins while bending the cable back and forth, and looks for short/open circuit.

 

[JeepOfTheseus]

Dumb question...why do you need the bypass? The Tazer plugs directly into the SGW cables. I thought you only needed a bypass if you're doing coding/tuning through something else (e.g. ECU coding).

 

[Moe-Jave]

Dumb question...why do you need the bypass? The Tazer plugs directly into the SGW cables. I thought you only needed a bypass if you're doing coding/tuning through something else (e.g. ECU coding).

That's right. I also have an extension and splitter but had same results plugged in directly.

 

[Moe-Jave]

That didn't last long...I'm back to having the same issues with non-responsive steering wheel buttons intermittently.

What is odd is that I was previously able to reproduce the problem with the Tazer connected, but cleared up and functioned without it. In hindsight, that might have just been a coincidence and may point to a bad connection elsewhere. I had planned to bring the Jeep in before this -- but wanted to return it to stock to avoid implicating the Tazer. So when it seemed to work after removing the Tazer, it brought me here...

When I thought it was "fixed", I was able to restart a few times, all good. I went on a long ride, using the steering controls the whole time...after about an hour the problem of intermittent loss of steering controls resurfaced. As suggested, I may have a bad pin/wire/connection.

I have since talked to my local dealership and plan to bring it in tomorrow under suspicion that I have a bad clock spring. The dealer said they hadn't had one go bad yet on a Wrangler or Gladiator ("only on a few Ram trucks..."). The service manager thought it might be the buttons (since one had that issue), but if that were true, it would not likely be all the buttons...also when it works, all the buttons work fine. He now thinks this is a clock spring issue despite being intermittent in failure. I have no sense of how likely this is with a failing clock spring (meaning it doesn't have to be a binary condition and could be a bad connection, etc.).

There isn't a clear pattern yet, but when the problem resurfaced a short while ago, I stopped the Gladiator and restarted. No change...steering wheel buttons did not work. But after a few minutes, they would work. I noticed something that suggests the problem could be elsewhere -- it sometimes "buffers" the presses and you can see the screen cycle the number of times I pressed only several moments later! I also sometimes get it to work but just laggy -- taking a full second or more to register. Could a software update be warranted?

Curiously, this whole thing made me remember the first Gladiator I was going to buy had non-responsive steering wheel buttons. They had a nearly identical unit in stock, and I bought the alternate instead (both just off the truck). Same "batch" issue? We'll see what they have to say...

 

[Badunit]

Might be something to do with the CAN bus. Could be a module flooding the bus with junk or a loose connector or broken wire or a bad star connector. This is something a dealer can diagnose much easier than an owner can, unless you have a way to monitor communication bus traffic. So, good choice taking it to the dealer. I hope they figure it out.

 

[Moe-Jave]

Today Jeep said it was indeed a bad clock spring. The stored error with the body module code confirmed it. The service manager said it was the first Wrangler or Gladiator they've seen with a clock spring failure on a JL/JT (and why not a commonly stocked part).

Note, the part is described as "Air Bag- Clock Spring Assembly /Spiral Cable (W)" on the repair estimate. It appears to be on back order and they are trying to buy from another dealer and expect that will happen. The part should be here in about four days.

Apparently there are a pretty wide range of symptoms this bad assembly can produce. I'll update when installed.

 

[Moe-Jave]

UPDATE 1/27/2026:

The Jeep dealer replaced the clock spring today. Everything seemed fine until I drove off. Maybe ten minutes later the steering wheel controls became non-responsive with essentially the same intermittent failure I previously described.

I came back, showed the service manager, and he took the Gladiator back again. After a short while, he said it needed the wiring harness that connects the clock spring. I suppose that is logical and would trigger the same communications code of bad clock spring.

Maybe this explains my other symptoms if in fact I have a harness with one or more bad pins/connectors. I don't see how my fender lights are connected to this quite yet but will test more extensively again once I get this additional part replaced. No word on when that will happen quite yet...

I will see what the results of a connector pin drag test are. That could very well explain the intermittent fender lights issue too. Seems the Body Control Module is at play for both the steering wheel and lights. I’ve since read related information about intermittent interior or exterior light function in a failing Body CM, and this is effectively that from a signal loss perspective.

*EDIT: Body/SCCM module thoughts…

 

[jeepninja]

My steering wheel controls just went out this week. Similar symptoms but not intermittent. Removing the Tazr did nothing as well. Taking it to the dealer Thursday. We'll see what they say.

 

[Moe-Jave]

My steering wheel controls just went out this week. Similar symptoms but not intermittent. Removing the Tazr did nothing as well. Taking it to the dealer Thursday. We'll see what they say.

Good luck! This appears to be a relatively rare failure and there are really only two major components to replace. I’m optimistic we’ll both be up and running 100% again soon!

 

[jeepninja]

Good luck! This appears to be a relatively rare failure and there are really only two major components to replace. I’m optimistic we’ll both be up and running 100% again soon!

Service Manager just called and mine is also a bad/loose pin on the connector. Hopefully picking it up later today, having some other unrelated stuff sorted out.

 

[Moe-Jave]

That's great news and sounds like you'll be sorted out soon!

 

[Moe-Jave]

UPDATE 1/30/2026:

After a repeat visit to the shop that took about the same amount of time as replacing the clock spring, the Gladiator has a new "steering wheel harness" and the subsequent test drive found "steering controls to work as designed". For me, this meant a half day burned each time. So it goes...

The service manager said he drove the Jeep a "lot longer" than last time and everything seemed fine. That was also true for me on the way back home, and seems to be in record territory for working since the problem first surfaced. It might actually be repaired now!

When I asked about details behind the cause, the service manager said an obviously loose "couple pins" were found. He went on to say that while they could have re-seated the connections, they thought it best to just replace it. Hard to argue with that since it could be a symptom of other unseen issues. I'm sure this is also better for the warranty job for the shop!

In further reflection, I'm now convinced this was a factor in my phantom fender light issue...and that too appears resolved, but this could take time to be 100% sure. Imagine the signal loss and noise created by pins randomly creating a connection! Any car or truck could be plagued by this, and small wonder it is not more common. The fact that I knew of at least one other truck in the same predicament the same day I bought mine could be a telling sign.

That's it for now. I'll close with how I opened -- hope this helps others who are chasing this pesky problem! I know I've had plenty of good help here and glad the forum is here for us. It's time to re-install my freshly exonerated Tazer!

 

[jeepninja]

Just picked mine up from the dealer. They did not replace the entire harness on mine, just repined and "bent it back" to make a stronger connection. I'll report back here if it fails again.

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