Prius (2004-09) :: Steering Wheel Controls Quit Working - Cruise Control Inoperative

My steering wheel controls on the lower half quit working last year , then the cruise control quit intermittently last month , then the air bag light starts appearing last week. Deciding this means a failed clock spring / spiral cable , I took apart my spiral cable housing, and found two obvious breaks in the electrical wiring . I first bought a salvage unit on Ebay, to find it arrived bound, didn't turn freely (and no returns from seller). I then bought one from the dealer and installed it last week and very happily have all symptoms fixed!

The replacement was easier than I expected, the steering wheel was not actually very tight, I doubt I needed the steering wheel puller I 'borrowed' from the parts store , could have just loosed the main nut, wiggled and tugged it loose. Just a note be sure to remove 12 volt power from the car, and mark the steering wheel center shaft to the steering wheel for reinstall .

As a rural mail carrier I deliver mail out of my prius with the window down, traveling about 5 hours a day on dusty ,sand roads in Kansas. The car interior gets dusty and this caused the failure of the spiral cable.

Pic's of the old failed unit, the new one comes with some lubricant, white perhaps lithium grease for the ribbons/ wheels, mine had dryed up patches of grease, some I cleaned off the ribbons before the pictures where taken. I'll check the new one in a year, may regrease , cleaning it out to try to prevent this from happening again. I did add some plastic under the airbag to improvise a dust shield for the new spiral cable. Car has 197k bought it with 106k , now has around 60 k from driving on the route.