Hi guys. Another question about my 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Van 5.2l V8 with 220k.

A while back, I swapped in a junkyard ABS pump and module trying to fix a braking pull. The junkyard units did nothing for the braking pull (turned out to be pinched flex hose) but they did turn on the ABS and parking brake warning lights. Sweet! Now I've finally gotten around to swapping the original ABS units back in, and voila, ABS light and brake lights are gone. Such joy.

Unfortunately, the airbag light came on. What the heck did I do?

Things I Didn't Do While Swapping the ABS...
- mess with anything under the seat
- mess with anything in the steering wheel or column.

Things I DID Do...
- removed the battery and tray, wiper reservoir, and disconnected the horns and driver headlight.
- removed the bracket that holds the PDC, but didn't mess with anything inside PDC.
- tried to start the van before fully re-installing the battery tray and battery, by just hooking jumpers from the harness cables to the battery, which was sitting on the ground. Battery terminals were a little bit corroded and dirty, and although the dash lights came on and the engine groaned a bit, it wasn't able to start like this. But with the battery cleaned up and re-installed, it started fine. That's when I noticed the airbag light was on.

Nearby garage scanned the SRS this morning. Showed a 36 (1/2) Driver Squib - Open Circuit error code. When he cleared the code, it returned immediately along with the airbag light.

I see all the other posts about the clock spring dying, but it seems strange that this would coincidentally die right as I'm messing with the ABS. Horn works fine. Cruise control doesn't work, but never has. The two 20amp airbag fuses in the driver side dash look fine and show continuity on a multimeter.

Any idea what I managed to break? I've never messed with airbags before, so trying to proceed with caution. Thanks!!

 

If google is right....... The SRS module thinks there is an open circuit to the drivers side air bag inflator. That may be the clock spring, and if it is, it's just bad timing.

 

Thanks HY - seems like clock spring is the culprit. With airbag removed, I checked continuity between the yellow airbag pins and the yellow connector under the steering column. One airbag pin had continuity to the yellow connector, the other did not. Sweet.

So I bought a replacement clock spring from Parts Geek (958-137). But this replacement unit has a different pin out where it plugs into the main harness (5 pins instead of my original 4 pins) AND the horn wire is integrated into the new unit, while on my original unit, the horn wire is not attached to the clock spring at all. It just passes through a hole in the unit (see photo). To install the new unit, it looks like I'd have to rewire the horn off an un-used pin in that 5 way connector, and maybe break off the yellow plug that horn wire emerges from. Anyone come up against this yet? For the life of me, I cannot find a replacement clock spring that looks like my original. Original part number is (56021956 AB). I also managed to mangle the original unit getting it off. Naturally.

 

Closing thread. Junkyard had an intact DRV with working clock spring. No more airbag light and cruise control works for first time ever. The new units you can find online won't fit the van's steering column. So junkyard or nothing.