I seem to have lost all the controls on my steering wheel, horn, radio control and cruise control.
Is there a common fuse / relay that controls power to the wheel ?
It was working a few weeks back and all of a sudden nothing works.

Thanks,

Tom

 

The clock spring is the name for the connection point that connects all the wires coming up the steering column to the wires behind the airbag that go to the horn and steering wheel controls. The clock spring is a tightly wound coil of ribbon wire that allows your steering wheel to turn which will either tighten or loosen that coil depending on the way you turn your wheel.

It is very easy to take your steering wheel off, accidentally spin the clockspring on the column and not know it. Then when you put your wheel back on and make a turn, snap- the ribbon wire breaks. This is because that clock spring is set to a certain mid point so it can allow itself to coil/loosen as the wheel is turned lock to lock.

So- question is... have you or anyone else had your steering wheel off recently?

If not, then it would not be unlikely for the clock spring to have gone bad on its own or have a faulty connection on either the steering wheel side or steering column side.

Hope that helps
-Erik

 

Thanks Erik,

The steering wheel has never been off the car. We swapped engines awhile back but the car was working fine up until a week ago.

Tom in PA

 

I would suspect the clock spring. Chances are its probably a couple hundred dollars and you may want a proper MINI shop to do the repair in the case that the new clock spring needs to be normalized with the control unit in order to 'learn' its position.

Most traction control systems use a steering angle sensor as an input as well as vehicle speed/ individual wheel speeds, braking and throttle input ect. So installing a new clock spring or removing the wheel may require a 'learning process' for various control units.

 

maybe the rack was moved when the engine was out if the i-shaft was disconnected

 

I have the same problem, none of my buttons work...

If I get a new clockspring is it plug and play, or should I go to the dealer and have them reprogram something?