How To Remove Your Steering Wheel And Passenger Air Bag.

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Archametes
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How To Remove Your Steering Wheel And Passenger Air Bag.

Post by Archametes » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:10 pm

This was done to install a Grant / Pilot steering wheel. Any others may be different as far as mounting is concerned. But removal will still be the same. I removed BOTH airbags so you may not have to follow ALL of these steps, unless you are removing both airbags.

1. Disconnect the battery for at least 10 minutes to let any current discharge from the system so the air bags do not deploy for any reason.

2. Open the Fuse Panel and take out the fuses for both airbags. Since I took out both bags I removed both fuses. If you are only removing the steering wheel you can trace the wires from the steering wheel airbag to the fuse block and just NOT replace that fuse when finished.

3. Remove the top dash pad. It just pops up and slides off. If you have Tilt wheel you can lower the wheel to make this a little easier.

4. Remove the 2 side caps ( Cruise control buttons on some models ). There are 2 phillips head screws on each one.

5. Under those caps you can now access the bolts that hold the Airbag in place. There is one bolt on each side. Once removed you can slide the airbag out of the middle of the steering wheel. There are 2 wiring harnesses connected to the back that you need to unplug. One that plugs into the airbag and one that is your Horn Ground. Unplug them and place airbag off to the side.

6. Remove the Ignition Cylinder and Steering column cover. There are 3 screws from the bottom of the Column cover ( 1 in the back and 2 in the front corners ) and to remove your Ignition Cylinder you need to put your key in the Ignition and turn it forward 2 clicks. Now from the bottom you can push the lock pin in and pull the cylinder out. I used the phillips screw driver. It goes in the hole directly under the cylinder and only depresses a tiny but.

7. Now you can remove the wiper and blinker stalks. There is one screw on top of each one. I removed my Guage cluster also at this point, for two reasons: 1, so I could take out the bulb for the airbag light and 2, so I could place the stalks out of the way in this area.

8. Now remove the center nut from the steering wheel, since I have air tools I used an impact gun and socket. If you dont have air tools you can also try an Impact driver available at Auto Zone or Advance auto parts stores for about $20. When the center nut is removed you can take off the weight peice around the middle. This weight shuts off you blinkers when you re-center the wheel after turning, but it also adds extra weight...

9. Once the center bolt is removed you can now use a Steering Wheel puller ($15 from Auto Zone and Advance) to remove the wheel itself.

10. Now on the column you will see a black plastic hub piece that should also be remove to fit the new wheel in place. At the bottom of it are 2 wiring harnesses ( the single wire is your Horn Positive ) and then it should just pop off with a little persuasion.

11. If you are NOT removing the Passenger side Airbag then you can start putting on the new steering wheel at step 13.

12. To remove the passenger side airbag remove the 4 phillips head screws on the topside and the 2 bolts located in the Glove Compartment. Pop the airbag up and out, and disconect the wiring harness. If you have an Airbag Delete Tray you can now start bolting that in. It just bolts in in place of the airbag.

13. Now you can start installing the new wheel. The adapter you need for the steering column is actually one for a Chevy S-10. You slide it on so the bolt pattern is in a pyramid pattern. ( Upside down from the way it says to put it ) Now if you follow the directions for installation for whatever wheel you got you should be good from here. Just remember the Ground wire for the horn gets bolted to the column itself and the Positive for the Horn gets connected to the single wire from the back of the hub you removed ( black wire with a red stripe ).

If you have any questions you can Reply them, PM me, or E-mail me at Archametes@hotmail.com. I'll do my best to help out. If you live close to the Springfield, MA area I'll give you directions here and do it for you if you want. -Mike

In some States they may not pass inspection without the AIrbag. You'll probably want to check first before going through this job. If you don't care then have fun, if you do care print this and save it for another day. I hold no responsability for your damaging any parts on your vehicle due to your error. I have made this How-To as clear as I can.

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Post by 98DOHCSport » Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:13 pm

aww, no pictures. LOL. good write up.
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Post by vielecustoms » Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:27 pm

Do you HAVE to disassemble the whole column to change the wheel or was that just to get the other things out?

Most cars I've worked on you just pop off the horn cover or airbag, undo the nut and pull the wheel and the adapter goes right on.
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Archametes
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Post by Archametes » Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:38 pm

NOT evrything but to remoe the Airbag sensor you do. I also removed the weight from the column which was about 5 lbs in itself...

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Post by cruzecontrol88 » Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:42 pm

:ttiwwp:
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Ianguilly
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Post by Ianguilly » Sun Sep 25, 2011 11:13 am

Not hard to figure it all out, maybe I'll post pics when i get the time.
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