Well it finally got done, as 2 members know as they had a sneak preview. I got my wheel back from Jack at Royal's on Friday and, having got the extra lighting cable from Soper's on Wednesday, Saturday afternoon was fitting time.
Firstly I made myself a tool to unclip the airbag from the steering wheel ( what was wrong with using 2 screws?) It consists simply of a short length of "Steel" brake pipe, I salvaged a bit from the bin at work. All you need to do is cut/file a groove in the end as you need to push two clips back to release the airbag from the wheel. I fitted a piece of rubber tubing to the end as after several attempts your hand gets sore, I had a second wheel to practice on.
The tool ...
Here's how it works,
After removing the battery earth lead you need to wait a couple of minutes before removing the airbag.Once the airbag is off you need to disconnect the black and green electrical connectors and place the airbag on one side out of harms way. Now the airbag is off you need to unplug the wiring to the squib (slip ring) Undo the centre bolt 16mm and lift the wheel off the column. Before doing anything else it's a good idea to put a piece of tape across the squib and top of the column to stop the squib turning. MOST IMPORTANT!
Observe the mark on the steering column which you align your wheel with when refitting.
In the next picture you can see the main airbag wiring connector at the centre top of the squib and to the right of that is a white plug which carries the audio control wiring.
At this point I had to fit the extra cable from below the column into the light switch multi-plug to illuminate the MF switches. After which it's time to fit the steering wheel. If, like me, you need to fit the extra cable you will need to remove the clocks, just make sure when you refit them that you plug in the connection properly or you may have to remove them again.
Lining up the marks.
Centre bolt fitted and tightened, just requires the airbag to be connected and clipped back on the the steering wheel, a little bit fiddly but when it snaps on you know.
The finished article, well pleased with the outcome of this job.
I'm almost looking forward to going to work tomorrow!
Tony.
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