Citroen C1 Steering wheel removal

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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I was driving my Citroen C1 when I let the steering wheel spin through my fingers, as you do after you have completed a turn. I cancelled the indicator just as the steering wheel column was going to automatically cancel the indicator signal, and the result is the mechanism has jumped passed the indicator cancel pin. This has happened to me many times on my old Citroen AX, and it is a simple fix, simply re align the cancellation pin. But the thing with the Citroen C1 is it has an airbag fitted, I just don't want the airbag to go off while fiddling with the steering wheel! I now want to remove the steering wheel.

I was wondering, if I simply disconnected the battery the bag can't go off, as no power. Is this correct? I know the indicator cancellation is a simple fix, so I have not bothered to take it to a garage. I know I will have to let the indicator self cancel do it's job, just a bad habit I have got !

The result of this is the indicators are not working, as the indicator stem is now miss aligned.
 
I don't think it is that simple, based on the fact when I had my crash, the fire service went to a great deal of effort to disable airbags as none had gone off before even considering cutting the car apart, now if it was just a case of disconnecting the battery they would have done that in a couple of minutes flat
 
if its anything like my old saxo, disconnect the battery, look on the rear of the steering wheel for the airbag retaining bolts (normally torx).

undo the bolts and remove the airbag unit, disconnect orange connector. you should now see the steering wheel retaining nut (large torx).

as an aside we later threw the airbag unit against a wall a few times for a laugh. nothing happened.

that said...

*** DISCLAIMER - I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR INJURY FROM THE AIRBAG UNIT ***

(remember the airbag contains a small explosive charge)

:)
 
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neil_g said:
if its anything like my old saxo, disconnect the battery, look on the rear of the steering wheel for the airbag retaining bolts (normally torx).

undo the bolts and remove the airbag unit, disconnect orange connector. you should now see the steering wheel retaining nut (large torx).

as an aside we later threw the airbag unit against a wall a few times for a laugh. nothing happened.

that said...

*** DISCLAIMER - I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR INJURY FROM THE AIRBAG UNIT ***

(remember the airbag contains a small explosive charge)

:)
Click to expand...

I got as far as removing steering column panels for better access, but the daunting task of taking the airbag out panicked me a little, I put it all back together again. As I was doing this, I thought what a horrible daunting task bomb disposal people have doing their job. Here is me worrying about an airbag going off in my face ! I have trawled the net for any hints, but not found anything of use!

Might give it another go when I pluck up the courage again, but this time I will leave the battery disconnected for about an hour or so, just to make sure there is no power in the system. I know in the post by Matthew above, says battery does no make a difference, but it will make me feel a little better.
 
jonbeeza said:
I got as far as removing steering column panels for better access, but the daunting task of taking the airbag out panicked me a little, I put it all back together again. As I was doing this, I thought what a horrible daunting task bomb disposal people have doing their job. Here is me worrying about an airbag going off in my face ! I have trawled the net for any hints, but not found anything of use!

Might give it another go when I pluck up the courage again, but this time I will leave the battery disconnected for about an hour or so, just to make sure there is no power in the system. I know in the post by Matthew above, says battery does no make a difference, but it will make me feel a little better.
Click to expand...

To be clear on this John my auto knowledge extended to fuel goes in at the back and goes bang at the front, then magic pixies make the car move...if the magic pixies go on strike I get the magical overlords at the garage to thrash them back into shape

Anyhow I'm not saying isolating power will not help, I was only saying what I heard in my situation, okay I wasn't exactly listening word for word what was said :(
 
pull the plug on the air bag sensor module it will be under the dash i would leave the battery of for about 2 hours just to be on the safe side and there is about 2 or 3 tarox bolts that hold the air bag plus the conector plug mind when you fit it all back on when connecting the battery make sure no ones in the car as i have heard of them going off on re connecting them back up
 
hoochy1 said:
pull the plug on the air bag sensor module it will be under the dash i would leave the battery of for about 2 hours just to be on the safe side and there is about 2 or 3 tarox bolts that hold the air bag plus the conector plug mind when you fit it all back on when connecting the battery make sure no ones in the car as i have heard of them going off on re connecting them back up
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Now I was getting a little more confident, until I read the bit ( i have heard of them going off on re connecting them back up ) :confused: just looks like I will have to get passed my fear of the bag going off in my face, and get on with it. Or drive the car up to my mates house, and get him to do it. This does of course mean I will be using hand signals !
 
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if you watch what your doing you should be ok just take your time and stay away from the bag as much as poss ,or take it to some one thats taken one off before
 
Looks like I will have to play it safe, and get hold of a Haynes Workshop Manual ..
 
MWHCVT said:
I don't think it is that simple, based on the fact when I had my crash, the fire service went to a great deal of effort to disable airbags as none had gone off before even considering cutting the car apart, now if it was just a case of disconnecting the battery they would have done that in a couple of minutes flat
Click to expand...

so you banged into the back of a badly parked (abandoned) thing at roughly 60, and no airbags.... I trust you have been in contact with Mr VW!
 
Lynton said:
so you banged into the back of a badly parked (abandoned) thing at roughly 60, and no airbags.... I trust you have been in contact with Mr VW!
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Not yet, I was going to wait till I had time to liaise with my corporate accountability consultant
 
Depends on angles of impact (among other things) I believe. Airbags these days are smart enough not to deploy when they'll cause more problems (I.e angled impact could result on not hitting the bag square on etc)
 
Golden rule with airbags.
Make sure you know the radio code.
Disconnect the battery.
Go and have a coffee, make sure it takes at least 10-15 minutes. (Most garages will give it 5, but why hurry?!) This gives any residual voltages a chance to bleed off.
Remove airbag, being careful not to yank the wires out.
Place airbag under car, just in case (yours or someone elses {ok maybe not someone elses})
Fix indicator problem.
Reassemble and reconnect.
Put key in ignition, turn to pos 2.
Reconnect battery.

The reason you put the key in and turn it first is that if there is a fault and the airbag goes off when you re-apply power, it does it whilst your face is not in front of the airbag!!
Generally speaking, airbags that go off when the power is put back on were faulty from the start, or damaged during removal/reinstall. I have replaced a lot of airbags in my time, used to work with my dad rebuilding crash damaged volvos. They have a LOT of airbags.
 
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miker said:
Golden rule with airbags.
Make sure you know the radio code.
Disconnect the battery.
Go and have a coffee, make sure it takes at least 10-15 minutes. (Most garages will give it 5, but why hurry?!) This gives any residual voltages a chance to bleed off.
Remove airbag, being careful not to yank the wires out.
Place airbag under car, just in case (yours or someone elses {ok maybe not someone elses})
Fix indicator problem.
Reassemble and reconnect.
Put key in ignition, turn to pos 2.
Reconnect battery.

The reason you put the key in and turn it first is that if there is a fault and the airbag goes off when you re-apply power, it does it whilst your face is not in front of the airbag!!
Generally speaking, airbags that go off when the power is put back on were faulty from the start, or damaged during removal/reinstall. I have replaced a lot of airbags in my time, used to work with my dad rebuilding crash damaged volvos. They have a LOT of airbags.
Click to expand...

Looks nice and simple the way you have written it Thanks, looks promising I am deffo going to give it a go, when I pluck the courage up that is. If I don't reply to any posts or make any for a while, that could be because I have tried removing the airbag, and it has gone off in my face leaving me injured!

OK the last bit was a silly joke, there is nothing that will keep me away from Talk Photography !
 
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neil_g said:
Depends on angles of impact (among other things) I believe. Airbags these days are smart enough not to deploy when they'll cause more problems (I.e angled impact could result on not hitting the bag square on etc)
Click to expand...

Very true in my case. My last accident the only airbag that fired was the one in the passenger A pillar - the point of impact was just in front of the passenger front wheel at about a 45 degree angle inwards. So nothing else needed to fire!
 
Just A Quick Update, For Anybody Who May Be Interested

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I managed to get hold of a Peugeot 107 Manual as they are the same, reading through the manual the Tec terms made no sense to me, but I followed the book diligently. Dis able the airbag, by disconnecting the battery for a period of time. Undo the two Torx screws at side of steering wheel, these retain the air bag. Push the steering wheel boss assembly from the steering wheel, as this helps as the Torx screws don't remove completely. Then simply lift out the bag, then remove the center wire at rear of air bag by releasing the retaining tab, then remove earth cable from air bag. Then the whole lot comes away from the steering wheel.

Now simply remove the steering wheel, without fear of the air bag going off. Took the indicator and Wiper stems of very easy. I simply re aligned the indicator and everything is now sorted. Very simples, once you know how of course.
 
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