75ZT Community

In the next few days, rain permitting, I will be swopping my light oak / smokestone steering wheel for my new walnut steering wheel. I understand that you need to disconnect the battery for an hour prior to removing the steering wheel.

Does anyone have any further advice? I had a JVC single DIN satnav fitted to my car with the steering wheel controls (previously not connected) wired up.

Also once I have completed this task (He who took 2 years to change a clutch on a Triumph 2000) would anyone of you be interested in purchasing a light oak wood/ light ash grey steering wheel with CC switches? £100.

Cheers

Mike the Banned

List the steering wheel in the For Sale section with a picture and I'm sure it will get better visibility there.

Taking the fuse out for the Air bag is another option and wait 30 minutes or so.
(Some I know don't bother with either) make sure you have Radio Code or if Sat Nav shut down properly first.

The screws which hold the lower part of the steering wheel assembly are made of chocolate. Make sure you use exactly the right Torx tool Mike and start off GENTLY or else you'll mess up the screw head.

Drilling out a screw head that close to an explosive device is not for the faint hearted... trust me

raistlin wrote:
Drilling out a screw head that close to an explosive device is not for the faint hearted... trust me

Wuss.

No it's a serious point. Always remember you are dealing with a bomb, and handle accordingly. That's why I always cringe when I hear about the seat airbag connectors being soldered or terminal blocked.

Duncan wrote:

raistlin wrote:
Drilling out a screw head that close to an explosive device is not for the faint hearted... trust me

Wuss.

No it's a serious point. Always remember you are dealing with a bomb, and handle accordingly. That's why I always cringe when I hear about the seat airbag connectors being soldered or terminal blocked.

So what's your fix for the awful underseat airbag connectors then Duncan??

I was going to put crimps on mine covered in heat shrink???

The problem with the connectors as I understand it, is that they fall out either partly or fully.

So I would use something to keep the two halves together. Either cable ties, or put some heatshrink sleeve over the assembled connector so that it holds them together.

With any kind of replacement you have to remember you are removing the safing bar built into the connectors, that ensures you cant accidentally put a current through the firing squib. So I would always try to keep the connectors but stop the problem another way. You also need to have a permanent connection, or use gold terminals. There visn't enough current in the circuit to keep any normal terminals clean.

The early cars don't have the same connecotr and therefore not the problem. My facelift does, and indeed one of them has a broken latch so could fall out but not having rear seat pasengers mean I've never suffered the problem. However my plan to prevent it is heatshrink.

Mine's a pre-facelift.

I have checked and the connectors under both seats are firmly together but I still have the airbag warning.

I tried taking and leaving the fuse out to re-set the system but it just led to the airbag light going out for a second and then back on.

I have seen comments regarding disconnecting the battery and then after half hour repeatedly disconnect and connect the connectors to clean the terminals??

I am after more of a permanent solution. You would recommend NOT hardwiring the wires and leaving the connectors in place?

Chris

Yes, my personal view is to leave the connectors in place. They are specially designed to keep the airbag system safe when the bags are disconnected, or at least all the ones I've looked at have been.

Many people have done otherwise and at the end of the day it's your choice.

You really need to find out why the system has the light on. A testbook session will tell you, and then figure out what the problem is from there. It may be nothing to do with the seat connectors for example. Could be fascia bags, spiral link in the steering wheel, or the side sensors or rear pretensioners. May be the curtain bags if you have them.

plugging and unplugging would certainly clean the terminals, but they are gold plated so shouldn't (in theory) get dirty unless exposed to water.

Does anybody know what size the wheel nut is? Need to ensure I know this before starting changing the wheel.

I have found the size, 16mm. I do have that size of spanner, but will have to do the job tomorrow now, need the car first thing.

Do you have it as a socket? You will struggle to get a normal spanner on it, and it is quite tight.

Don't be tempted to use the steering lock to hold the wheel still while tightening or loosening. Some have done it without problems but it could damage something. Better to get an assistant to hold it.