How to Replace Airbag Clock Spring 2007-10 Chevy Suburban 1500
Created on: 2018-06-12
How to repair, install, fix, change or replace a broken airbag clock spring on 07, 08, 09, 10 Chevy Suburban 1500
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step 1 :Disconnecting the Battery
- Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery with a 10mm wrench
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step 2 :Removing the Air Bag
- Wait for one minute after disconnecting the battery
- Insert a pick into the slot on the side of the column
- Press the spring retainer with the pick and pull the air bag slightly out
- Repeat for the other side
- Disconnect the air bag connectors
- Set the air bag down on a bench face up and away from electrical equipment
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step 3 :Removing the Steering Wheel
- Hold the steering wheel by hand
- Loosen the nut with a 13/16 inch socket
- Shake the wheel back and forth gently to loosen
- Lift the steering wheel slightly off
- Disconnect the electrical connector
- Remove the steering wheel
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step 4 :Removing the Lower Dash Panel
- Pull the fuse panel cover off
- Remove the Phillips screws from the lower dash panel
- Remove the 10mm bolt from the parking release cable
- Slide the parking cable and latch back and off the lower dash
- Pull the lower dash panel straight out
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step 5 :Removing the Steering Column Cover
- Pull the steering adjust lever off the steering cover
- Unclip the lower steering column cover from the upper steering column cover
- Pull off the lower steering column cover
- Lower the steering wheel
- Pull off the upper steering column cover
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step 6 :Removing the Airbag Clock Spring
- Remove the snap ring with snap ring pliers
- Secure the clock spring with a piece of painter's tape
- Snip the wire-tire with wire cutters
- Remove the clock spring
- Disconnect the wiring harness
- Trace the clock spring wire and disconnect the connector
- Release the wire from the clips
- Remove the clock spring and wire
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step 7 :Installing the Airbag Clock Spring
- Insert the airbag clock spring into place
- Place the snap ring on with snap ring pliers
- Connect the wiring harness
- Run the clock spring wire into place, using wire-ties if needed
- Connect the clock spring wiring harness
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step 8 :Installing the Steering Column Cover
- Line up the upper steering column cover with the shifter boot
- Clip the upper cover into place
- Raise the steering wheel
- Clip the lower cover onto the upper cover
- Push the steering wheel adjuster into the steering column
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step 9 :Installing the Lower Dash Trim
- Line the lower dash trim into place
- Line the parking brake lever into place
- Tighten the 10mm bolt to the parking brake lever
- Tighten the Phillips head screw to the lower dash panel
- Clip the fuse panel cover on
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step 10 :Installing the Steering Wheel
- Feed the air bag wires through the upper slot of the steering wheel
- Connect the electrical connector
- Tighten the steering wheel nut with a 13/16 inch socket
- Torque the nut to 30 foot-pounds
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step 11 :Installing the Air Bag
- Connect the air bag electrical connectors
- Press the air bag into place
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step 12 :Connecting the Battery
- Connect the negative terminal with a 10mm socket
Tools needed
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Socket Extensions
Torque Wrench
10mm Wrench
Trim Tool Set
Pick
Flat Blade Screwdriver
Phillips Head Screwdriver
Snap Ring Pliers
13/16 Inch Socket
Painter's Tape
10mm Socket
Ratchet
Wire Cutters
Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!
In this video, we'll be removing and reinstalling an airbag clock spring, in a 2009 Chevy Suburban. If you need this part, or other parts for your vehicle, click the link in the description and head over to 1aauto.com.
We're going to remove the airbag. Before we do that, we want to make sure we take the key out, and make sure the steering wheel is straight with the wheels going straight ahead.
We're going to disconnect the battery. We're going to use a 10mm wrench. We're going to disconnect the negative post on the battery, just loosen this up a little bit. You can grab it, and wiggle it back and forth. I can take it and tuck it out of the way. Once the battery's disconnected, before we go to work on the airbag, we want to wait one minute, that will drain all the capacitors out of the modules, and it'll be safe to work on.
To disconnect the airbag, we're going to need a blunt tool. This was actually a straight pick that had broken anyway, so we just filed down a little bit to make it flat. What you can do is, right in this hole over here, you're going to have to feel around. I'll show you, once I pull the airbag out, where it is. But there is a little spring that you have to push on that retains the airbag in there. It's somewhat difficult to do. You got to feel around for it. Push a little pressure, and then pull. We're going to do the same with the other side.
You push that down, and this pulls right up. This is where it's clicked in. I'll show you those little springs in here. As you can see, my blunt tool is in here, so you have to feel around here. When it's in place, you're pushing that in. It's somewhat difficult to do, but if you feel around, you can push it in.
To disconnect the connectors, we're going to use a straight blade tool. Just get underneath this lock right here. You could use a pick also. Pull that up, and pull the other one out as well. Just get under there and pull that. You can actually just pull it up. The other one pulled out completely.
Then there's two retainers here, two locks. We're going to push those in. I'm going to use my finger for one, and screwdriver for the other. That'll pull out. Those are the two locks. Then same with the white one. Pull that out. Then we can pull the airbag out. We want to set this down on a bench, just like this. Make sure there's nothing electrical near it. You do not want to set it on its face.
You want a 13/16ths socket extension and a ratchet. Put it on the nut. We're going to hold the steering wheel, and just break it loose. Before I pull the nut off completely on the steering wheel, it's stuck down. What you can do is to get it off. Just shake the wheel back and forth gently while you're pulling up. Sometimes you actually need a puller.
This one, I was just able to wiggle it back and forth. You want to be careful not to pull too hard, or you'll bend the steering wheel. But if you use a puller, you can put the puller in those two holes, and put the center in there. Leaving the nut on there will prevent the steering wheel from hitting you in the face while you're removing it. Now we can remove the nut.
Now the steering wheel is keyed, so it only goes on one way. There's a little key on there, so you don't have to worry about marking it on this vehicle. Pull that up. We're going to disconnect this connector. Use a straight blade screwdriver. Just stick it underneath there, and slightly when we pull the connector off.
These two airbag wires, we go straight through. Going to pull this cover off. Just grab under here and pull. Pull this cover off right here, and take this Phillips head screw out back here. A piece broke. There's another Phillips head screw right here. Then underneath the parking brake release handle, there's a 10mm bolt right there. I'm going to use a 10mm socket extension and a ratchet, get that pulled out. This will slide out. It just slides back, and there's two clips that hold that on. This whole piece should pull straight up.
There's clips, there's one that's broken there. There's other clips here. We're going to pull this adjuster handle off of the steering wheel. Sometimes these are very difficult to pull off. Grab it with two hands, and just pull it towards the outside of the car, and it'll come off. We're going to release this. This vehicle does not have any screws in these holes, some vehicles may, so you might want to double-check. There might be some torques, screws, or a 7mm. Then we're going to grab this cover, and pull it straight down. Grab it from the back and pull. That will pull straight down. There’s clips that hold that in. It's just clipped in.
Now we're going to remove the snap ring. You're going to need some special snapping pliers. You could probably try to do it with some picks, but it's a lot easier with snap ring pliers. Stick it in there and squeeze it. You can pull the snap ring right out. We can actually leave it right there, on the pliers, and set it aside.
Before I pull this up, I just want to use a little bit of masking tape to prevent this clock spring from spinning. Sometimes there's a lock in them, but I just double, for extra safety, I just make sure I tape it, so that it doesn't spin. This part will spin from the housing. This one does seem like it has a lock on it. But, like I said, just so it doesn't spin, because if it spins, it's going to break.
You will not be able to reuse it. Before I pull the clock spring up, there's a wire tier right here. I'm just going to cut it with some cutters, so that I have more room with the wires. Less tension on the wires. You can pull it up. Let me just make sure my tape is there. Now I can disconnect the connector. Push a little flat blade tool into that lock, and pull the line out like so.
This wire is connected to the clock spring. We're going to follow it down here. It goes all the way down here, and over to this connector right here. We're going to pull this orange lock out, and just grab this and pull down, like that. Then you can use your finger and just push on this other lock and pull the connector out. When you remove the connector, this is the little tab I pushed down. You could actually use a little screwdriver and push down to pull it out. We can fish the wires up. There is another tie down here, going to use that trim tool. We actually sell these at 1AAuto.com.
Pull this one off first to get to the one that our wire is secured to. Disconnect that. We can run it up here, right through there. There's another wire tie right here. I'm going to cut that off. Be careful not to cut the wires. Then there's a lock right here, that secures the wires. You just, to get this out, you just push down and pull this through, like that. Then the wire comes out. There's your clock spring.
All right, before we put this on, there's two arrows on this sensor. This is the type that could spin all the way around and break, so we want to be careful with that. When those two arrows are lined up, that pretty much states that the steering wheel is going straight. You make sure those are lined up. If you have a new one, and you're putting it on, you will actually have a little lock on here, where that orange piece is, that once you install it, and once everything's lined up, you actually break it off. Ours, where we're using it, ours is fine.
With all this lined up, going to start slipping it back on. Once this is lined up, up here, and lined up down there, it's safe for me to take the tape off, because it won't spin. Then I can take our snap ring, push it down a little bit, put our snap ring back on, and get the screwdriver to help me. Once the lock's back in, and it's good, we can reconnect this electrical connector. Then this one, we're going to run back down below, the same way it came. You can slide this in up here, right there. This little retainer goes through this hole here. Now we'll send this back in here. Line that up.
We're going to take this little orange lock, and slide this back in through the tab, like that, so it clicks in. This wire, we're going to send that retainer up through there, so that locks in. I'm going to install some new wire ties. Go over all the wires over here, and then position this wire just like that. Pull it through. We'll cut the excess off, like that. One more over here. Go around all the wires. Pull it through. We'll cut it right here.
We'll install the top cover. Just slide it in the back, like this. This rubber piece, over here, is going to slide in over here, like so. Line up the hazard switch, and then that's going to push down like that. For the bottom one, going to take, going to align this U opening up with this rubber loop. Slide that in the back. It may take a little bit of adjustment. There we go. It's on there.
Install the adjuster lever. Going to reinstall this cover. Line these tabs up. That right here, and down there, and push it in. Going to line this up, going to slide it up, and then slide it forward, just like that. We can take our 10mm bolt, while we hold the lever up, slide that in, and tighten that down. Tighten that up snug. We're going to take a Phillips head screw and our plastic piece is broken right here, but yours shouldn't be broken. We have another screw, a Phillips head screw right here, just snug it.
Now we'll install this cover. There's some tabs right here, we're going to line those up. Now we're going to install our steering wheel with this connector. We want to feed these two wires for the airbag through that hole there. As we're going down, we're going to connect this connector. Push it down.
Then you see the arrow, you're going to line that up with the shaft of the steering wheel column. We're going to reinstall the nut. The nut has a nylon retainer that pretty much locks the nut from loosening, so you want that facing you, that part of the nut up, just place that on. Start tightening it with our 13/16ths socket extension ratchet. We're going to torque this nut to 30 foot pounds.
This lock popped off when we were taking it out, so we're going to put that back in first. It's going to go in like that. I don't want to push it all the way down, just get it so it's in there like that. Now, reconnect our airbag. There's grooves in these terminals. You can see, there's two on there. You can see on the airbag, two grooves on that side. This one goes in like this. Once that clicks, then you can push the lock down, like that. Then this white one has one groove. The groove goes right there, like that, and lock it.
The airbag's in the right position. Make sure the wires aren't pinched or anything, we can push it. Then we're going to line these two little tabs up, with those holes, and push it down.
We're going to reconnect our battery. Grab the negative cable, we're going to hook it back up. Now I'm going to use my 10mm wrench, and tighten down the nut, not too tight. You don't want to break the terminal. Tighten it, and check it, and make sure it doesn't wiggle. It seems good. We're going to turn the key on. You want your body not pressed right up against the airbag. This is a safe repair, it should not go off. But just in case something does happen, you want your body further away. You can turn the key on. We're going to look at the airbag light, right here. It should flash seven times, and then go out, and it did. That means your airbag system is working properly.
Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.
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