2021 Ram 2500 Cummins esc light on

[Badbrains]

Today as I was driving down the interstate with cruise set at 78 mph all of a sudden cruise shuts off and service esc light comes on dash. As this was happening the steering wheel has moved to about a 45 degree angle while driving straight down the road . I tried a few times to get the cruise control to work with no luck . I pulled off the road and shut the engine off in hopes something would reset . Still broke . The weird part is the steering wheel is not straight either . I have only 17000 miles on the vehicle and the original owner . I have an appointment with Ram service on in two days .

 

[Scram1500]

Sounds like a stuck brake caliper, hopefully the fault is in the caliper and not further upstream

Edit: Since the ESC light is on it could be as simple as a bad ABS sensor

 

[Badbrains]

Hopefully I’ll know tomorrow and keep you guys posted .

 

[Badbrains]

Dealer states that clock spring has broken . The part is on a national back order with no date predicted.

 

[Scram1500]

That's some lousy news. Good luck on the part

 

[Badbrains]

That's some lousy news. Good luck on the part

Now the steering wheel is at 180 degrees off center while driving straight down the road ,completely vertical now .

 

[cevans6318]

Now the steering wheel is at 180 degrees off center while driving straight down the road ,completely vertical now .

how does a broken clock spring cause the steering wheel to be off 180 degrees? The steering wheel should be splined to the steering column and clock spring in the middle. If you steering is 180 off, your front wheels should be pointing to the side. Unless ram steering wheel operates alot differently.

 

[Jimmy07]

how does a broken clock spring cause the steering wheel to be off 180 degrees? The steering wheel should be splined to the steering column and clock spring in the middle. If you steering is 180 off, your front wheels should be pointing to the side. Unless ram steering wheel operates alot differently.

That’s exactly how it is- steering wheel splined to the steering shaft. The clockspring is just ribbon cables wound around the steering column.
@Badbrains, the only possible way you can be driving straight, and your steering wheel is gradually rotating worse like you describe, is if the drag link adjustment sleeve is loose. I would check it immediately before it separates while driving, and you have zero steering.

 

[cevans6318]

That’s exactly how it is- steering wheel splined to the steering shaft. The clockspring is just ribbon cables wound around the steering column.
@Badbrains, the only possible way you can be driving straight, and your steering wheel is gradually rotating worse like you describe, is if the drag link adjustment sleeve is loose. I would check it immediately before it separates while driving, and you have zero steering.

Then I am confused as hell as to why his steering wheel is 180 degrees off because of a broken clock spring. I would be more inclined to think he hit something and just hasn't admitted it. Probably hit something, damaged something in the steering (possible rack or control arm) and that is why the steering wheel is off, which could of broken the clock spring.

 

[Jimmy07]

Then I am confused as hell as to why his steering wheel is 180 degrees off because of a broken clock spring. I would be more inclined to think he hit something and just hasn't admitted it. Probably hit something, damaged something in the steering (possible rack or control arm) and that is why the steering wheel is off, which could of broken the clock spring.

I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with the clockspring at all. The steering wheel is splined to the steering shaft, and is also attached to the clockspring with a plastic positioning pin. When the clockspring senses the steering angle is at x degrees while traveling at x amount of speed, the ESC will fault and cruise can’t be set.
I’m not going to speculate that he’s leaving any info out, but a plausible cause could be that the drag link adjustment sleeve clamp bolt was never tightened down. This could cause the threads to be loose, and possibly the drag link skipping across threads due to steering force, or the sleeve vibrating loose. 180° out is a lot of adjustment, and could be close to total separation.
The faults in the clockspring is just a byproduct of it thinking the steering angle is off so far while traveling too fast (ie, it thinks you’re constantly making a right or left hand turn at 70mph), and the tech probably misdiagnosed the faults without even thinking of the physical relationship between the steering wheel/steering shaft/pitman arm/draglink/wheels.

 

[cevans6318]

I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with the clockspring at all. The steering wheel is splined to the steering shaft, and is also attached to the clockspring with a plastic positioning pin. When the clockspring senses the steering angle is at x degrees while traveling at x amount of speed, the ESC will fault and cruise can’t be set.
I’m not going to speculate that he’s leaving any info out, but a plausible cause could be that the drag link adjustment sleeve clamp bolt was never tightened down. This could cause the threads to be loose, and possibly the drag link skipping across threads due to steering force, or the sleeve vibrating loose. 180° out is a lot of adjustment, and could be close to total separation.
The faults in the clockspring is just a byproduct of it thinking the steering angle is off so far while traveling too fast (ie, it thinks you’re constantly making a right or left hand turn at 70mph), and the tech probably misdiagnosed the faults without even thinking of the physical relationship between the steering wheel/steering shaft/pitman arm/draglink/wheels.

I still think he hit something. If his threads were loose and the drag link skipping, he would of noticed the steering wheel going **** eyed over time, not all of a sudden. He probably hit something in the road and immediately the steering wheel went ****ed eyed and the ESC light came on because of it. I Can't count how many customer's come in with front end damage or body damage and it was a mystery to them on how it happened.