Steering Wheel R&R

[PaulW]

Hi Folks,

My new wood steering wheel should arrive in a day or two. Anyone have instructions on removing the standard wheel and replacing it with the wood one (including swaping over the airbag and controls) or is this a dealer only operation (i.e. special tools, etc.)?

Thanks,

Paul

[mav]

Paul, You will need to disconnect battery to remove the driver's airbag according to the workshop manual. By removing the battery, you will need to reset all your 30+ control units in your car. This the resetting work need Porsche System Tester 2 and up to have the job done. So... you will need to see your dealer for that. If you still want to do it yourself. Then PM me.

[scalendine]

Paul, You will need to disconnect battery to remove the driver's airbag according to the workshop manual. By removing the battery, you will need to reset all your 30+ control units in your car. This the resetting work need Porsche System Tester 2 and up to have the job done. So... you will need to see your dealer for that. If you still want to do it yourself. Then PM me.

Well...not really! I just replaced my steering wheel with the wood and everything was just fine when I reconnected the battery. Some settings may revert back to factory pre-set(audio bass, treble, etc.) but nothing that a dealer has to recode!

The hard part is getting the air bag off if you've never done it before. In the back of the existing steering wheel there are access ports or holes near the base of each horizontal spoke. You can feel it on the back of the wheel hub if you turn the steering wheel 90 degrees so the spoke points up. To get the air bag off, leave your key in the ignition after turning the car off. Access the battery under the driver seat and un-seat the ground cable(instructions in the manual). Wait at least a minute after power's off, according to the tech. manual, to be safe to unhook the air bag. :eek: Don't worry...it won't blow on you!!

Insert a short thin flat screwdriver into the port on the back almost at a 45 degree angle down. Engage wire clip and lever it down very firmly to disengage; took me several tries and some cussin' :cursing: ; rotate wheel and repeat behind other spoke. you'll feel the air bag(top) release when you catch the clip right. Tug gently but firmly on the top edge of the AB unit until it rotates part way out. Disconnect wire harness and it's off. You need a "XZN" or "triple square" socket wrench to remove the wheel bolt. These look like the Torx wrench but with more tines(12). Remove center bolt, take off old wheel, put on new & replace bolt. The airbag then is replugged to the wire harness, lined up and reattached at the bottom first then rotated toward the top. It takes some effort to re-engage the clips at the top of the airbag...you intermittently push on the airbag with the left then right hand and test for attachment by tugging on the top edge. Power up and you're done!!

Edited January 21, 2006 by scalendine

[wingless]

The proper avenue is to have all the appropriate manual sections on-hand, prior to starting. These should be read and understood in advance.

[retna]

The proper avenue is to have all the appropriate manual sections on-hand, prior to starting. These should be read and understood in advance.

did mine (carbon fiber/leather, 3-spoke) on my 996, i agree dont start unless you've got all of the tools, and anything else you might think you'll need in front off you. otherwise, it might be hard to explain to the officer why your steering with a pair of pliers... :P :rolleyes:

eric