Technical Steering wheel removal. Any tech expert help plz?

[romorez]

Hi,

So.. got my abarth kit on my 2000 basic punto.
Got a 2005 new leather steering wheel with airbag (sooo nice) to replace my crappy basic punto wheel.
Ive been told to either:

1) disconnect the battery for at least 10 mins (id prob leave for an hour ) And then unscrew, unwire, remoove airbag, remove locking nut, remove wheel. Replace with new and do in reverse.

or

2) Go to a dealer.

Is 1 safe? or should i do 2, and if 2 how much wud it cost u reckon?

Thanx.

 

[MATT 68]

No. 1 is good advice, No. 2 is even better advice! but dont take it to fiat as they will more than likely charge way over the odds, most garages should be able to do this. If you go for option 1 be carefull, airbags can be v. dangerous if youre unsure about what youre doing!

 

[romorez]

cheers matt,
If i do this myself then, (i watched them take off the new steering wheel i got) when i reconnect the cable into the back of the new wheels airbag, will there be any risk that the airbag light will stay on in the dashboard or will it go off or anythin? Or is it safe because the battery has been disconnected?

 

[thefishdude]

i belive even after disconecting there is a small chance of air bag going off as it carries a small charge to fire the bag out. its advised to handle with care and place gently on ground facing away from people dont toss it in teh footwell. DONT DROP IT.

 

[romorez]

so...
My car was due in for service so i took the lovely new steering wheel with me. At the end of the service the fiat garage monkeys said:
1) i shuldnt have been sold it as you need a firearms license to sell them!
2) It's not compatible with my punto
3) he wont be able to change it.
4) it's only because he's 'alright' that he let me go with it and he should really take it off me!

What a bloody cheek!
So the end result i said bugger off to ye! and paid them for the service and went!
Now... is any of that true? Or will a different garage 'not fiat' be able to fit it. The steering wheel is the leather type with the little fiat badge in the middle and my car is the basic 2000 reg punto. Should i have a 'blast' (lets hope there isnt one!) at this myself now or what?

 

[Duxy]

Hi.....I m thinking of doing exactly the same as your doing!How did it go in yhe end?did you get the steering wheel fitted or not end up doing it?

 

[faster4_tec]

if your original punto wheel doesn't have a bag then FFS don't fit one with a bag, as the bag stands a minute chance of going off from static build up etc.

I found this out with a coupe turbo wheel I got, what I wanted to do to make safe was remove the front panel with bag, take the leather/plastic face off teh front of the bag, then take the bag out side iwth its cage and blow it up, remove all the bag and bits, then refit the plastic/leahter front back onto cage and back into steering wheel, BUT it couldn't be done as it was basically moulded to the front of the bag , and I can't just buy a replacement panel bitr without the bag, so I didn't fancy it and have stuck with my original wheel./



Oh in the end we did blow the steering wheel up anyway, it only had one connector so we assumed the casing was the earth (tick) and set it up like that, then ran about 250yards away (big field), had plenty of slack, and touched it on a car battery terminal, WENT OFF LIKE A 12BORE SHOTGUN AT 50YARD RANGE:slayer: :devil: , with the bag facing down and wheel up it shot about 80yards into the air and landed again, the force of the exposion or the landing bent the steering wheel really badly (metal ring in them).

 

[dave]

did mine myself, did wait any time after i disconected the battery either :devil: