Chrysler Repair: airbag light on in chrysler concorde 2000 model, chrysler concorde, stearing wheel

Question
Hi Roland...i have a chrysler concorde 2000 model..i recently noticed the lights inside the car flicking off and on while driving, and also the airbag light is on in the dashboard and the horn won't work...does it sound like an airbag problem inside the stearing wheel? and the lights flicking off and on is that an electrical problem? thanks in advance for any answers you can give me...Ron D

Answer
Hi Ron,
The lights flicking on and off is most likely a door ajar sensor switch. Usually it is because the striker plate needs to be adjusted in-board so that the door is pressed tighter into the frame. So try leaning against each of the doors from inside to see if you can get the lights to go on. If you find one door that seems to be less tight than the other three just loosen the striker plate and move it. The other approach would be to see which door when closing it only turns off the courtesy light very close to where it rests in the latched position. In that case, body flexing while in motion will likely cause the switch to close and spontaneously turn on the interior lights.
On the air bag and horn situation, those are of course both related to the steering wheel (air bag actuation of the driver's bag, horn button) and it could either be due to a failure of the clockspring module which is a flexible wire connector between the steering wheel and the top of the column or it could simply be a disconnect of two plugs located under the dash at the base of the steering column where the wires from the column are coupled by connectors to body wiring. The cruise controls may also be on the steering wheel in which case there would be an additional couple of wires for that on the clockspring.
If you don't find any couplers to be disconnected then if you also found that the fuse for the horn were good I would recommend checking the clockspring. I have the '94 shop manual so I can't be sure that it is identical to your 2000 model but I can xerox and snail mail you page that shows how to change out the clockspring. You can check its electrical continuity once you take the steering wheel off.
You might also check with the Daimler/Chrysler corporation headquarters in Detroit, recalls information, to see if the clockspring in your car may have been recalled for failures. I know the one for the vans was recalled in that same timeframe.
Let me know if you need more help on this.
Roland