I took the plunge to install a 996/Boxster 3 spoke steering wheel in my 96 NB 993...

Without disconnecting the negative battery terminal but pulling the horn fuse (thinking the horn and airbag might be on the same circuit), I removed and replaced my 4 spoke, for the 3 spoke wheel which I sourced from ebay. I purchased the wheel from one reliable source, and the airbag from another.

Now, after the swap, I have an airbag light on my dash!

I tried plugging in my 4 spoke airbag thinking maybe the air bag light was due to an incompatibility with the 993 clock spring elect. assy., but now the airbag light remains lit even with the correct air bag attached!?!

Can someone please offer some thoughts or recommendations on the situation?

Thanks in advance to the rennlist guru's!!!

 

Hi nine9six,

Oops, but it is as as you say it is; you should have disconnected the batt.
You can reset your airbag light, with a correct airbag connected, either with a Bosch Hammer or some other diagnostic tool for your 993.(If no other new faults are present of course)

Good luck.

Best regards,

Marco

 

You don't need to disconnect the battery to install an airbag as long as the car is off. In your case I would bet on a faulty 3 spoke airbag or perhaps you didn't connect it properly.

Unfortunately you will need an OBDII scan tool to clear the airbag code. It won't go away on its own.

 

Yes, my mistake. I assumed the contact has been set to on at some point, with a disconnected (or as mentioned by above poster;a faulty) airbag.

 

I have done it several times w/o setting off the light. The trick is to unscrew the airbag then make sure the ignition is completely off. Unhook old bag, plug in new one and then you are good to go. Just cant cycle key at all when bag is disconnected.

 

OK fellas, I am certainly after the fact...Stupid is, as stupid does, in this instance.

I have an OBD II scanner but its not a Hammer. Do you think I can plug in the new 3 spoke air bag, and try resetting the light via the OBD tool?

Will a bad air bag also trip the air bag light?

I ask because, I thought about re-attaching my known good 4 spoke air bag and then attempting to reset the light via my OBD scanner.

P.S. I have an Actron CP 9580 OBD Diagnostics tool.

 

Put the 4 spoker back in, see if the scan tool resets the airbag light. If it does then try installing the 3 spoker again.

 

Update...
With the 3 spoke airbag connected, my OBD II tool does not record any errors.

With this being the case, is there any sense in attaching the 4 spoke air bag since the OBD tool does not appear to be capturing the air bag function light on the dash?

 

I would guess no. Airbag fault codes are tricky and some scan tools can't read them. Try to find someone with a Durametric or VAG-COM/VCDS scan tool and see if they can help.

 

If the steering wheel/airbag is compatible why would he need to reinstall the original 4 spoke to clear the airbag warning?

Personally I would try clearing the airbag warning with the OBDii reader with the new 3 spoke still installed (as long as you know it's installed correctly). If that didn't work then I would re-install the 4 spoke, clear the warning, remove the battery term then install the new 3 spoke.

Be aware your Readiness Indicators (OBDii system) will most likely need to be reset after this.

Disclaimer: I have replaced (2) 4 spokes with 3 spokes and not had a problem but I removed the neg. battery term before I did it. I have not had to clear an airbag light before so take my suggestions for what they're worth.

Edit: I was typing this while you guys were posting the above posts....

 

We don't know if it's user error or a faulty 3 spoker airbag. That's why asked him to put the old one which we know is good and then clear the code. Unfortunately for him the scan tool he has doesn't recognize the airbag code.

 

I am currently updating the software to my scan tool...

Will try again after the software upgrade.

Unless my OBD scan tool recognizes air bag faults, I see no logic in swapping out the air bags at this juncture. If my tool could see the fault and I tried clearing with no effect on the dash light, then I could see the benefit by swapping the bags as mentioned above.

Thank you to the respondants for your guidance and help; will keep all advised...

P.S. I hate being the dumbass that creates issues such as this, by not researching prior to performing. All the posts made it seem very simple and straight forward; which it is, cept for my failure to review procedure prior to start of work.

Again, my appreciation along with my aploogies...

I will be checking back from time to time, so if anyone can offer anything additional, that would be great!

 

I forgot to mention, any rennlisters local to Socal (LA or OC) that have an OBD II that reads and resets air bag faults, for possible quick scan and reset this weekend, at your convenience, would be most welcome :-)

Cheers,
Paul

 

I did this too. I will bet you turned the key on without the airbag installed. Maybe to unlock the wheel? I actually drove the car without the airbag installed around the block when I put on the 3 spoke. I took it to my indie who turned the light off for free. Lesson learned.

 

Damn! Updated the software for my OBD II tool, but still no recognition of air bag fault codes.

Again, any locals with a scanner that recognizes air bag faults that can clear them, would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers