sticky spiral cable / "clock spring"?

My car has a new sound. It happens after making a tight right turn, while straightening the wheel again, a slightly delayed little "schnrff" from behind the wheel, as if the spiral cable gets wound up during the turn, sticks a little bit, and then schnrffs back all at once to its mid-wound state.

Were these originally lubed with anything?

-Chap

 

Robert,

Ever been to Indiana in the summer?

(I shouldn't really say anything this year, it was very mild and pleasant almost all summer, owing to a strange displacement of the Jet Stream down towards Louisiana somehow.)

-Chap

 

Finally took the spiral cable out. Opened the housing, unwrapped the whole length of ribbon cable and wiped all the ex-lubricant off.

Looked carefully all up and down the length of cable for any spots where the insulation might look worn and be on the way to causing the "horn honks turning left" kind of problem. Did not see any visible wear. Getting to it within 6 or 7 months of noticing the schnrff sounds seems to be soon enough.

I have to guess that people who arrive at the honks-turning-left stage might have been ignoring the friction sounds for a long time.

Sprayed both sides of the cable and all the inside contact surfaces of the housing with Elmer's Slide-All (a dry Teflon concoction that remains after the light hydrocarbon carriers quickly evaporate).

So far, in a couple short jaunts around town, no more schnrff sounds.

-Chap