Air Bag Clockspring Failure

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