Wetenkamp

1997 Sport, 4.0.

The airbag light has been on since I have owned it. The cruise would come “on” (green cruise light on dash), but wouldn’t set.

I just replaced the clockspring with a new one and it didn’t change any of the issues. Airbag light is still on, cruise turns “on”, but does not set. Also, my horn has always worked fine. It sounds like the symptoms of a bad clockspring to me, but obviously that wasn’t the case. Does anyone have any advise on how I should fix this?


Edit: I’m fairly certain it’s the NSS. It doesn’t really explain the airbag light, but it does explain the cruise control. There’s no way for me to extract the bolt that someone broke off on the NSS without dropping the trans. I hate to be janky, but is there a way I can “tell” cruise control that the jeep is in drive all the time so that it will work?

Edit #2: I somehow managed to get the old neutral safety switch out and the broken bolt that came with it. Put the new one in and cruise works great. Now I have a new issue. The jeep will start intermittently as if the NSS is bad. The other day I shorted the switch with a paper clip, started it, plugged it back in without the paperclip, and the cruise worked fine. Later that day it started just fine. I have thoroughly cleaned both male and female connectors and adjusted the switch numerous times. Any ideas on what could be causing it not to start?

treemonkee

A poor connection for the dash gauge module will cause the airbag light to stay on, but I don't know if this affects the cruise

Mortgage Payer

One thing I learned the hard way is another thing that interrupts the Cruise is the shift position selector switch.
If your vehicle thinks it is in park - no cruise.

Wetenkamp

I will definitely check this.

Wetenkamp

My neutral safety switch is shorted with a paper clip. The previous owner broke the mounting bolt off in the trans. Is this what you mean by “shift position selector switch”?

doublechaz

I've seen some systems where the light won't go out on an airbag system until some very special scanner is used. I don't know if that applies to Jeep or not, but something to search about.

Ralph77

Pretty sure an XJ is not like that.
When I put cruise control in my '00 that did not come with it the air bag light came on about a week later.
I assumed it was a bad clockspring cause it was not taken out centered and I had to use the recentering procedure to make it so.
And guessed I screwed up.
Pretty much always having extra parts threw in another used one.
Light went out and that was 6 maybe 7 years ago now.

fb97xj1

A DRB3 scanner is needed to pull any codes from the airbag control module as the cluster doesnt disply airbag codes. You will also need a diagnostic manual to troubleshoot any codes that are present as it contains the voltages and resistance readings. I have a manual for my 97 around here somewhere. The airbag circuit consists of more than just the clockspring.

clockspring
driver airbag
passenger airbag
control module
wiring

Any one of those could be the issue. I read on another forum quite a while ago that the TPS can affect the circuit as there is a shared splice in the harness. Something about backfeed. Cant remember exactly.

Not sure how you could get the cruise to work without bypassing the TCM as the transmission is electronically controlled, and in constant communication with the PCM. Both need to know whats going on to make everything work. Its possible the cruise switches are just dirty and not making contact. Mine doesnt have cruise, so i am of little help.