I know not many people will do this but seen as I bought a leather punto evo wheel to replace my plastic/rubber one which I hated, I had to remove my wheel and airbag. This is something I found useful which was posted in 2004!!!


Before removing and refitting the Air Bag module the following preliminary operations must be carried out.

For the punto evo you will need a Torx Bit Socket T50 to actually remove the wheel once the airbag is out.

- Position the vehicle with the front wheels straight.



- Turn the ignition key to the OFF position and extract it.

- Disconnect the battery leads and insulate them.

- Wait for 10 minutes before continuing.



FOLLOW ALL THE RECOMMENDED SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS




See IMAGE 1

1. Insert tools (1a) fully home in holes (1b) on the steering wheel.


See IMAGE 2


1. Push tools (1a) on the metal wires (1b) until they are released from the steering wheel retainers (1c).
This can be quite frustrating but you are basically feeling for a strip of metal to push down on at an angle until you here it release - quiet click sound - I used a flat head screwdriver

2. Move the Air Bag module slightly.

3. Disconnect the electrical connections (3a), (3b) and (3c).

4. Keep the Air Bag module.


Place the Air Bag module in the special cupboard resting it on a free surface with the bag facing upwards.

BEFORE REFITTING THE AIRBAG BE SURE TO TAKE THE CAR FOR A LITTLE DRIVE SO THAT YOU CAN TEST THE WHEEL IS STRAIGHT... I DID NOT DO THIS AND HAD TO DO IT ALL AGAIN TO REMOVE WHEEL AND LEVEL THE WHEEL

Refitting ( Removing )
- Observe the following precaution.


Handle the Air Bag module very carefully. Make sure that the battery is disconnected.



- If a new module is being fitted, position the labels. Remove the detachable part of the adhesive label from the new module and place it in the special folder containing the vehicle details (model, registration date, chassis number) and the serial number of the old module. The file should be kept for future checks. A new adhesive plate comes together with the module and should be stuck on top of the existing one. Beforehand, however, it should be perforated at the month and 14 years after the year in which the module is being fitted (e.g. 2005 for 2019).

- Position the Air Bag module connecting the electrical connections.

- Push the airbag module into its seat and engage the metail wires with the two steering wheel retainers.

- Connect the battery.

- Use an Examiner to check that the system has not acquired errors during the operation.

This process took me about 40mins but it would take me less that 5mins now

Here are some images of me replacing the wheel that you may find useful... or not.

Thanks for all theses great informations and pics

eddieyeo said:

Here are some images of me replacing the wheel that you may find useful... or not.

Click to expand...

did you have to drill 2 little holes in the back of the wheel to remove the air bag?

Andy Monty said:

did you have to drill 2 little holes in the back of the wheel to remove the air bag?

Click to expand...

Yes there are 2 little indents behind the wheel which do need to be pushed through. They are very thin and therefore you don't need to drill, I used a philips head screwdriver and just pushed through.

Hello, there is no need to drill any holes, you can remove the steering wheel quite easily using tools you can make by yourself.

The only thing you need to do is to remove the plastic cover underneath the steering wheel and release two clippers from the back of the steering wheel. You cannot use a screwdriver, you need to bend a piece of metal to do that.

Have a look at this video at YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=-7PFvGh5610
Those clippers are the ones to be released:


These are the tools I used:


Good luck!

And of course, disconnect the battery a follow all safety instructions!

I have done this successfully however after reconnecting airbag and wheel, i now have a 'airbag failure see handbook' message along with airbag light. This wasn't happening before i took the airbag out. Do you know what could be wrong here, could clearing the code work?

Cerwyn said:

I have done this successfully however after reconnecting airbag and wheel, i now have a 'airbag failure see handbook' message along with airbag light. This wasn't happening before i took the airbag out. Do you know what could be wrong here, could clearing the code work?

Click to expand...

If you turned the ignition on with the airbag removed, it will report that no airbag was found, hence the failure message. That message will need to be cleared, as it does not clear automatically when the airbag is refitted. If airbag now fitted as it was, clearing the code should sort it.

Yes ill try sometime next week clearing the code, However i didnt turn the ignition on when the airbag was removed as the battery was disconnected for the entire time.

I have received this message with a low battery or after stalling. It goes away by itself. If it doesn't, I wouldn't play with a safety critical device.

Cars are only certified for crashes up to 35mph, we often are going much faster.