Clock Spring (Air Bag Cable Reel) Needs Repair After Transmission Repair and Dolly Tow

AcuraTL2005_180Kmi

I recently towed my Acura TL 2005 on a UHAUL dolly from Vegas to socal. It has 180,000 miles. I took it straight to a transmission mechanic to have my transmission replaced. After the transmission was replaced, I picked up the car, and the SRS light was on. I don’t remember it being on when I took it off of the dolly, but it’s possible I don’t remember.

Mechanic is saying that the clock spring needs to be replaced for $433. I’m wondering if this would have been something caused by the transmission mechanic, by normal wear and tear, or by towing the dolly?

Thanks

thecardoc3

AcuraTL2005_180Kmi said:

After the transmission was replaced, I picked up the car, and the SRS light was on. I don’t remember it being on when I took it off of the dolly, but it’s possible I don’t remember.

Mechanic is saying that the clock spring needs to be replaced for $433. I’m wondering if this would have been something caused by the transmission mechanic, by normal wear and tear, or by towing the dolly?

Thanks

It's difficult, if not impossible to know for sure. The least likely possibility would have been towing it on the dolly. It is possible that if the steering (wheel and rack) wasn't secured during the transmission R&R that the wheel could have turned 360 degrees and the clock spring lost it's center. If that happened it could cause a failure of the clock spring, but, shops and techs have known about that possibility for a long time now and take steps to prevent that from happening. It easily could be just a wear and tear failure and cars do break whenever they want to.