VE Steering Wheel Removal - How To Take Off The Airbag

[Troy711]

Alot of people have been asking how to remove the steering wheel on a VE.. so here is a bit of a guide on how to do it.

Step 1:
Locate and remove the airbag fuse (look in the passenger footwell). I like to switch the car to 'on' after I have pulled the fuse just to check that I have the right one. It will come up with 'Airbag Fault' if you have done it correctly. Some people say to remove one side of the battery too, that is entirely up to you.

Step 2:
Turn the steering wheel 90° left

Step 3:
Feel behind the steering wheel and locate a square hole (circled in red)


Step 4:
This is where it can get fiddly. Put a flat blade screw driver in the hole with the blade running horizontal (as shown by the red line in the previous picture).

Basically you are trying to pull the retaining clip away from the airbag hooks. The clip system has been traced in red (on one side only) to give you a better idea of how it works. The green circles are the springs which hold both sides of the clip system together.


This is a close up of one side of the clip.


The screw driver blade will go behind the red circle and the two red arrows are where the airbag hook underneath. When you lever the screw driver upwards it will pull the clip across enough to 'pop' out one side of the airbag.

Step 5:
Turn the wheel 90° right and repeat. The airbag will now come off freely.

Step 6:
Unclip the blue and orange plugs that go to the airbag.

Step 7 (for total removal of steering wheel):
This is only going from memory (but it isn't too hard to work out what is going on).
Unclip the white plug in the center of the steering wheel

Step 8:
Undo the big torx nut in the middle using a T45 torx bit and you are done.
EDIT: I've been told a T50 works better but I haven't tried it myself.


Like I said, it is very fiddly and might take some time to actually get the airbag off but once you know what you are doing and how the clip system works it is pretty easy. If you have any questions or if I haven't explained something properly here just post and I will try and answer them.

[NickVR]

Well done. Great post, if we still had rep points you would one more right here.

[Troy711]

Cheers bloke

[DJ Ice]

Nice work...two questions though when you undo the torx nut in the centre I assume you have to give the wheel a bash from behind to remove it like earlier Commodore wheels ? Did it take much force to remove ?

[davey g-force]

Awesome write-up Troy!

In the VY, turning the ignition on whilst the airbag fuse was pulled out was a big no no, as it would log an airbag fault which could only be cleared using a Tech2. Is this the case with the VE?

[Troy711]

Nice work...two questions though when you undo the torx nut in the centre I assume you have to give the wheel a bash from behind to remove it like earlier Commodore wheels ? Did it take much force to remove ?

Mine actually slipped pretty much right off. I think I may have given it a tiny wiggle side to side to get it going but it required bugger all effort.

[Troy711]

Awesome write-up Troy!

In the VY, turning the ignition on whilst the airbag fuse was pulled out was a big no no, as it would log an airbag fault which could only be cleared using a Tech2. Is this the case with the VE?

Good question... mine didn't show a fault and hasn't done yet. (Fingers crossed)

[redmick]

Great post thanks a lot i just bought a new Red hot wheel for my VE Calais and thanks to your post i had it fitted in 20 minutes the wheel itself was not a problem to pull off as it is on a parallel spline so once i undid the torx bolt it pulled straight off on it can only go back on in the same spot due to the design of the spline.I decided just to disconnect the battery rather than remove the fuse it was simple.The bigger the blade on the screwdriver the better as i just turned it but the screwdriver has to be short enough to fit behind the wheel with out being too long and the dash getting in the road.
Cheers
Redmick

[davey g-force]

Troy,

I started doing this today, following your instructions but didn't get very far. I'm hoping you or someone else here could help out.

Firstly, I couldn't find an airbag fuse in the passenger footwell in my car (SSV). I then checked the fuse box under the bonnet and found a 10A fuse marked "airbag" there. Thing is, when I pulled that fuse out and then turned the ignition on, I didn't get the "airbag fault" message. I didn't want to risk the airbag deploying, so thats as far as I got.

Can anyone tell me exactly where the airbag fuse is on an SSV? If not, is it good enough to simply disconnect the battery? The problem is, I need to re-connect the battery half way through to turn the car on so I can turn the steering wheel 90°! Is that risky if the fuse is still in?

[andyman]

id personally disconnect the battery, that way you know the car has lost all of the power, you are assured there will no mystery circuits that may still keep parts of the air bag system active,

great write up there troy

[davey g-force]

id personally disconnect the battery, that way you know the car has lost all of the power, you are assured there will no mystery circuits that may still keep parts of the air bag system active

Fair call.

So, when I get half the airbag off and I need to re-connect the battery to start the car, to turn the wheel 90° the other way, is there a risk of the airbag going off?

[azkwazere]

Fair call.

So, when I get half the airbag off and I need to re-connect the battery to start the car, to turn the wheel 90° the other way, is there a risk of the airbag going off?

Dont see why there would be, its not like your touching an airbag sensor or anything...

aZk.

[Troy711]

I dare say the fuse would be the same across the board. Did you look on the underside of the panel and look at the fuse diagram?

[davey g-force]

I dare say the fuse would be the same across the board. Did you look on the underside of the panel and look at the fuse diagram?

Yeah, I checked the diagram on the back of the removable cover in the footwell. Unless I'm going blind, I definitely couldn't see anything relating to the airbag there.

[grayzpd]

[quote removed to keep thread tidy]
I'm gunna give it a go on the weekend ....looks tricky ....probably need to get in touch with you....thanks for your help
grayzpd

[Troy711]

It's really not that hard.. when you work out what the lock mechanism does and how it works you will get it easy.

[davey g-force]

I never ended up getting it. I wrestled and cursed for three hours and then gave up.

[08 ss]

Hello All

New to the site. Found it while looking for info on changing steering wheel spokes. Just wandering............
Is the t45 bolt a normal thread or reverse?? Tried to get it off and made a mess of it!!!!!!
The torx part is rounded off now.
Need some advice.

Thanks.

[08 ss]

Hello All

FYI

It is a normal thread ie anti-clockwise to loosen.

Got it out - blue locktite made it really tight - need your muscles

Happy Days.

[CSP]

When I did mine (and susequently told Troy how to do it ) I disconnected the battery instead of the fuse just to be sure... Easier to access and easier to do too.

[Sabbath']

Hello All

New to the site. Found it while looking for info on changing steering wheel spokes. Just wandering............
Is the t45 bolt a normal thread or reverse?? Tried to get it off and made a mess of it!!!!!!
The torx part is rounded off now.
Need some advice.

Thanks.

Think you'll find it's a T50 aswell.

[didoamanda]

Hello to you all...
Firstly Troy Thanks so much for this post I just bought a new leather wheel of Ebay and your post was just brilliant easy step by step (i'm a girl and know nothing about cars and i did it no worries)...
Just a few things i'd like to add ... I too couldn't find my airbag fuse in the passenger side of the car but under the bonnet I pulled out the F40 10 A and then disconnected one side of the battery, Once one side of the airbag was released then connect the battery back on to start the car and move the steering wheel 180 to get the hole on the other side, disconnect the battery again and do the same this side as you did the other...I also found it much easier using a nail punch than a screw driver as it fitted better and didn't get in the way of the dash at all (airbag just popped off nice) also found I needed a T50 torx not a T45 and once that unscrewed the wheel just pulls out very easy...

[RiCeY]

Airbag fuse in passenger footwell is number one fuse top left from memory and is probably called SRS

[BigBoss]

Hey
I just picked up a new statesman/caprice steering wheel from ebay, stupidly i assumed it would fit my omega.... don't know y. Needless to say it did not, all was going well until i tried to put the backing and the airbag back on. Neither fit (well the airbag fit but there is a big gap below it) :-(. Can i pick up a new airbag cover that will fit (just the cover coz don't wish to buy a new bag)? the caprice one is a bit longer. Also can i get a new wheel backing? and where from?

[RiCeY]

Hey
I just picked up a new statesman/caprice steering wheel from ebay, stupidly i assumed it would fit my omega.... don't know y. Needless to say it did not, all was going well until i tried to put the backing and the airbag back on. Neither fit (well the airbag fit but there is a big gap below it) :-(. Can i pick up a new airbag cover that will fit (just the cover coz don't wish to buy a new bag)? the caprice one is a bit longer. Also can i get a new wheel backing? and where from?

Airbag is a complete unit cover is not changeable.

What do you mean by the backing?