OK, what have I gotten myself into...

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
12/11/2016 at 22:49 • Filed to: None

After a few failed attempts at trying to install a leather cover on the steering wheel of the Mazd5 I’ve decided to give up and just replace the whole damned wheel with one from a model where they don’t treat those that want a manual transmission as a cheapskate that doesn’t deserve anything nice. Who knows - I might even get the trip computer to work on this model, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

I’ve changed steering wheels on numerous cars in the past so the mechanical aspects of this job don’t scare me. I’m just curious as to how swap out the airbag. Anyone have any experience with this part? I figure that disconnecting the battery is certainly step one, but after that I’m not sure what I should be concerned about.

DISCUSSION (8)

LongbowMkII > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/11/2016 at 22:54

What year is yours?

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > LongbowMkII
12/11/2016 at 22:57

2012. 6MT. One year only Copper Red Mica.

hellriaser > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/11/2016 at 23:07

In older hondas it is very simple, once the cover comes off it’s a simple plug harness & the whole thing pops out. I would think (for crash repair reasons) they should be pretty easy. Good luck!

LongbowMkII > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/11/2016 at 23:08

Ah, nice color.

Urambo Tauro > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/11/2016 at 23:10

Of the two airbags that I’ve done (neither one a Mazda though), it was pretty simple:

Disconnect battery

Wait a minute for residual power to drain (turn on lights to help make sure it’s fully dead)

Pull airbag fuse

Disconnect and remove airbag

And then just make sure the airbag is fully installed and connected before restoring power.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/11/2016 at 23:26

I did the same with my base Forester. Aftermarket leather wrap didn’t seem like a long-term option so I swapped in an OEM leather wrapped wheel from a higher trim Legacy. Airbag wasn’t too bad once I figured out how to get the springs that secured it loose. Yes, disconnect battery is step one. I don’t know exactly how the Mazda is but on the Subaru the next step was poking a flathead screwdriver around in three holes on the back of the wheel to release three spring clips that held the airbag in. The first one was kind of a pain in the ass to get to, but after I figured it out the rest weren’t too bad. After that, the actual electric connectors were just two plastic tabs that were easily released wit a small screwdriver. Make sure to check on the directions for these - it was really easy, but if you got it backwards it would’ve been possible to break them. After that it is standard steering wheel - make sure to make a mark of where 12 o’clock is and be careful not to hit yourself in the face removing the old one if you aren’t using a proper wheel removal tool. Going back in the airbag basically just snaps into place.

Khalbali > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/12/2016 at 00:42

Disconnecting the battery is not a bad idea but I’ve done probably at least 100 Takata ones without doing anything other than unplugging the old one and plugging the new one in. Shouldn’t be able to detonate unless you cross the wires somehow but the connectors are different so that’s not even possible. Other than that just be careful with the little black tabs on the connectors, if you lose one the light will never go off and you’ll need a new clock spring.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
12/12/2016 at 06:13

Thanks to all for your great advice. I really appreciate all of the hints and tips. It sounds like this project will be fairly straightforward and nothing to fear.

I do recall watching a classmate pull a steering wheel about 30 years ago. He was the careless type that not only destroyed my toolbox by forcing the drawer shut by disregarding the interlocks, he also managed to bore right into the water jackets in the motor in his mother’s car whilst attempting a rebuild. But the most amusing tale of this walking disaster was when he was pulling the steering wheel from the same ‘60s Impala convertible. He separated it from the shaft by pulling it towards his face and he knocked himself out when it smacked him in the face and he fell out of the car. Learning from his lesson, I’ve always left the nut in place at the end of the threads when pulling the wheel so it doesn’t fly up into my face.