DasBOOST

so
got an 87 951

sterring wheel has air bag in it. its the "fat" style sterring wheel
oh and my air bag light is on btw, but i didnt do that

so i need to take it off so i can take out the cluster.

basically.....i need to know how, so; one i dont break anything i dont need too, and two so i dont blow the air bag up in my face



thanx

anything helps

mortymower

clarks has a write up, two torx screws on the back i think

David Floyd

Disconnect the battery and I wait 30 min to allow the airbag brain to power down.

smac951

My mom is from Las Cruses! Good luck and be very careful.

DasBOOST

well awsome
good to see someone else from this rediculously small town. haha



Clarks?? is that a manual im not familair with? helll....ill just google that.


thanx tho

so um. wish me luck, if i dont respond in like a week ive proboaly broken my jaw with the air bag....

User 41221

www.clarks-garage.com

Be safe!

Regards,

bearone

you don't need to take the wheel off to get the cluster out/in.

do unhook the batt.

87951

gregeast

Clarks Garage for sure but the short version is:

1. Disconnect the battery for at least 30 minutes
2. Remove two Torx screws on back of wheel that hold the airbag in place. T30 (I think, don't quote me)
3. Disconnect airbag connector
4. Remove 24mm nut that holds the wheel to the shaft
5. Mark the shaft & the wheel so you can know where to align the wheel when you replace it
6. Pull the steering wheel off, snaking the horn & airbag wires through the wheel

Clark's Garage also has a procedure for resetting the airbag so hopefully when you put it all back together you can reset the system (turn the light off). With the light on your airbag is not functional.

HTH

Neverendz

As Bearone said, you do not have to remove the steering wheel. Just take your time and it will slide out.

, Bill

eniac

Yeah you don't have to take it off but it's MUCH easier working with the console if you do. I have removed the original airbag wheel many times before switching it out for good, it's quite simple. That said I have also removed the cluster with the wheel in place. Just really depends on what kind of mood you are in at the time and which part you would rather fuss with.

gregeast

Or whether I planned far enough ahead to wait the 30 minutes for the battery to be disconnected, LOL>.

eniac

I might have to hide from the Rennlist police for this but most of the time I did not wait 30 minutes, I simply unplugged the battery and pull the thing off. Of course I was carefull to be off to the side in case the bag did blow. Another time I had very limited time so I didn't even unplug the battery, that was the only time I had to reset the light as well.

No one should ever attempt what I did above. The only reason I didn't wait the 30 minutes was one, didn't care if it blew as I had a Nivola DSX wheel waiting to be installed (which I finally got around to) and two, I hand't ever seen an airbag pop in real life so I was slightly curious to see what would happen.

Obviously nothing happened so I'm considering whether I should trigger the bag now outside the car simply for my own amusment or sell the wheel here.

jerome951

Trust me, you don't want the bag to go off unexpectedly. Case in point.

DE student in a 951 ('87 I think) was bedding in new brake pads in the paddock. Hits the brakes hard and his passenger side airbag blows (luckily I wasn't in the car as his instructor). Though he's in the opposite seat, he got burns on his arm from the heat, powder in his eyes (stung like heck, he said), and a bad headache from the noise and compression.

Not to mention it spider-webbed his windshield so he was done for the event.

Chipster

A friend wore gloves, long sleeves and a full face helmet when he removed his. It looked silly, but not a bad idea.

eniac

Unexpected would be very bad indeed. I did this fully expecting the bag to blow and took precautions in case it did. Was somewhat anti-climatic that nothing happened. lol