For a while now my air-bag light has come on and my steering wheel controls for radio do not work. I took it to the dealer and they said my steering column coil was bad or somthing like that and that they needed to replace it.I told them ill bring it back next month to fix cause i did not have the $750.00 at the time to pay. I figured that Ive been driving it for the past month and I could go one more month. Now yesterday 2 days later i go to start my truck and my battery is dead. Jump started it and was fine all day . Folowing day same thing happened. could that coil be draining my battery all of a sudden? i have a 2003 sierra 2500 hd .

Yup, definetly a bad clockspring. Dont know how it would go bad tho... Its about a 250-300 dollar part IIRC. Something in it is probably shorting out and draining the batteries. I dont know how the dealer figures 450 dollars of labor (minimum)...but I dont think they are hard to change. I can take my steering wheel off in 5 minutes. I couldnt imagine it would involve much more than taking off the steering wheel. I would actually try to get it fixed ASAP if I were you, for safety's sake. Because if the clockspring is broken, the drivers side airbag will NOT WORK!! Yes, it is kind of a pricey part, but i have no idea where the dealer is figuring that kind of labor.

---Ben

To take the steering wheel off, disconnect the batteries and wait 15-20 minutes (for the SRS capacitors to discharge and 'disable' the airbags) then use a small screwdriver to poke in the two holes on each side of the steering wheel kinda behind the airbag. This "releases" the airbag so you can pull the whole SRS module right out of the center of the steering wheel. Unplug the airbag inflator and then there is a big nut in the center and the steering wheel comes off. The clockspring should be right there...im trying to remember when I took my steering wheel off...

----Ben

Thanks for the advice on the clockspring. Its just puzzling me because how could the clock spring drain my battery and what the airbag has to do with my volume and seek controls on my steering wheel. im going to do my homework now on clocksprings.thanks for the advice ben. im glad i found this site!!

Well the clockspring is basically just a device that allows wires to reach a steering wheel, yet still (obviously) turn fully in both directions. So any wires that need to go to the steering wheel need to pass thru this "clockspring". The airbag needs wires, as do the steering wheel audio and DIC controls. What probably happend is the clockspring snapped or broke and is grounding out on the steering column. That short is probably what is draining the battery.

---Ben

That makes sense! thanks for clearing that up for me. Today while tring to trouble shoot it I also started getting this weird odor that smelled like sulfer or somthing coming from the vents. at first i thought like my engine wires were on fire and my friend said it smelled like an air bag went off. its parked now till tuesday. could that air bag engage while i drive it to the shop on tues, or should i disingage it somehow? One day and I miss my duramax. I feel depressed!!! lol thanks again Ben .your the best!

The sulfer smell could be battery acid.
I would disconnect the batteries and have it thorougly checked.
Funny smells often precipitate fire.

thats what i thought also .. thanks for the reply rich.

Yeah I would definetly be careful. The airbags dont deploy with some kind of data signal or anything...just hit them with 12 volts across the wires and watch what happends. There obviously is some kind of short in the clockspring wires and if the airbag module gets grounded out, it could deploy. What Rich Lockyer said...disconnect the batteries right away and get it checked out...

---Ben