Opened Apr 18, 2018
Closed Nov 6, 2026
In August 2015, VW launched Safety Recall 15V-483 to address the loss of the protection provided by the front driver air bag in several models due to the failure of the clock spring. VW’s recall indicated that debris entry into the steering wheel hub can result in the contamination and ultimately failure of the clock spring in 2010-2014 MY CC, Eos, GTI, Golf, Jetta, Jetta Sportwagen, Passat, and Tiguan models. The contamination of the clock spring by debris, such as human hair, can cause the flat ribbon cable to tear. This results in the loss of the electrical connection to the front driver air bag and any steering wheel mounted controls. The clock spring is designed so that the flat cable inside will break with minimum force to prevent it from impeding movement of the steering wheel. The loss of the electrical connection to the front driver air bag results in the immediate illumination of the air bag warning light and prevents the deployment of the front driver air bag in a collision of sufficient severity. A torn clock spring also causes audible grinding noises from the area of the steering wheel/driver air bag or steering column while steering. The failure of the clock spring does not impair vehicle control or drivability (steering, brakes, acceleration). In November 2017, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Recall Query RQ17009 after receiving complaints that alleged the failure of the clock spring in the subject models. While the majority of these complaints involved vehicles excluded from the original recall, several complaints involved vehicles that had received the remedy for Recall 15V-483. On April 18, 2018, ODI upgraded the investigation to Engineering Analysis EA18003 after receiving additional complaints concerning the recall remedy and scope of Recall 15V-483. During the investigation, VW identified certain 2015-2018 MY vehicles that share a common steering wheel clock spring with the vehicles covered under Recall 15V-483. VW began using a different clock spring design starting with the 2019 MY Jetta. This new part is not compatible with previous model years due to the communication properties between the clock spring and the vehicle, including the air bag control module. In October 2018, VW released Warranty Extensions AWA-18-18 and VWP-18-11, which established a 15-year, unlimited mileage coverage for the Steering Wheel Clock Spring for vehicles included in the scope of Recall 15V-483. For certain 2010-2018 MY vehicles outside of the recall scope, a 10-year, 120,000-mile coverage was given. Vehicles repaired under these warranty extensions receive replacement clock springs at no charge to the consumer. In early 2023, VW updated AWA-18-18 (now AWA-23-01) and VWP-18-11 to upgrade certain vehicles and model years from the 10-year, 120,000-mile coverage to the 15-year, unlimited mileage coverage option. These warranty extensions cover vehicles with recall remedy failures as well as vehicles outside of the Recall 15V-483 scope that exhibited similar failures. In view of the circumstances, including the high detectability of the subject failure and warranty extensions issued by VW, ODI is closing this Engineering Analysis. NHTSA reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER CLOCKSPRING/SPIRAL CASSETTE
Air Bag Clockspring Failure
Opened Nov 13, 2017
Closed May 4, 2018
In August 2015, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) launched Safety Recall 15V-483 to address the loss of the protection provided by the front driver air bag in several models due to the failure of the clockspring.Debris entry into the steering wheel hub can result in contamination and ultimately failure of the clockspring in 2010-2014 Model Year (MY) CC, Passat, Eos, Golf, GTI, Tiguan, Jetta and Jetta Sportwagen models.Contamination of the clockspring can cause the ribbon cable to tear resulting in loss of the electrical connection to the front driver air bag and any steering wheel mounted controls.The loss of the electrical connection to the front driver air bag will result in illumination of the air bag warning light and will prevent operation of the front driver air bag in a crash of sufficient severity requiring a commanded deployment.In November 2017, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Recall Query (RQ17-009) after the agency received 90 complaints alleging failure of the clockspring in the subject models.Several of the complaints allege failure of the clockspring after receiving the recall remedy.The majority of the complaints allege the same failure mode without being included in the original recall, 15V-483.In its March 2018 response to ODI's Information Request under the Recall Query, Volkswagen provided approximately 700 consumer complaints and field reports on the recalled vehicles.These reports allege clockspring failure similar to the NHTSA reports described above.To date, NHTSA has received approximately 154 allegations of clockspring failure since the recall has launched.The total of 852 reports shown in the table above eliminates 6 duplicative reports received by ODI and the manufacturer.This Recall Query has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA18-003) to further evaluate the scope and effectiveness of the remedy associated with 15V-483 and perform a review of the design changes implemented by Volkswagen and its suppliers to address this issue.The ODI complaints cited above can be viewed at www.NHTSA.gov under the following ODI identification numbers: 11080741, 11079877, 11079805, 11079124, 11076709, 11076645, 11076297, 11076249, 11076133, 11075756, 11075726, 11075358, 11075259, 11075055, 11074920, 11074565, 11073090, 11072745, 11072457, 11072089, 11071933, 11071880, 11071630, 11071592, 11067396, 11067061, 11066738, 11066601, 11066511, 11065909, 11065871, 11065262, 11064701, 11064564, 11064544, 11064531, 11063961, 11063501, 11063095, 11062772, 11062464, 11062353, 11062344, 11061463, 11061310, 11061311, 11060735, 11058154, 11057519, 11057477, 11057341, 11056793, 11056243, 11056063, 11055639, 11054279, 11052812, 11052678, 11052384, 11052228, 11051336, 11051155, 11051074, 11048803, 11047037, 11044226, 11043653, 11039142, 11033893, 11033330, 11032548, 11025475, 11025356, 11024647, 11023423, 11020570, 11020312, 11019415, 11019067, 11015441, 11015431, 11014595, 11014016, 11013709, 11013415, 11012596, 11011753, 11006668, 11006521, 11006307, 11006181, 11005301, 11003865, 11001780, 11001783, 11001334, 10994184, 10993360, 10993524, 10992490, 10985926, 10983678, 10981220, 10980831, 10980941, 10980549, 10979418, 10971152, 10967344, 10967155, 10959968, 10958624, 10957279, 10956488, 10949129, 10947562, 10945122, 10936498, 10936543, 10933950, 10927311, 10925421, 10924034, 10915612, 10915569, 10911171, 10902066, 10898733, 10896537, 10896510, 10895526, 10893938, 10891686, 10864967, 10863742, 10861984, 10851242, 10822505, 10821562, 10818403, 10795068, 10794402, 10788738, 10787804, 10782544, 10780725, 10780145, 10779145, 10776477, 10775448, 10763492, 10763423, 10763289, 107626
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER CLOCKSPRING/SPIRAL CASSETTE