Airbag Removal

tpunx99GSX · 03-22-2005

In a 97-99 eclipse gsx, how do you remove the drivers side airbag without it blowing up in your face? I havent taken anything out yet but was wondering if this was a hard job or easy one. Im going to be mounting my SAFC in the steering wheel and im sure there wont be enough room to wire around the airbag. and my DSM CD broke so i dont have any instructions on it.
BTW i would be much thankful if someone could zip up one of the cds and send it over aim for me.
Tom

LightningGSX · 03-22-2005

The easiest way for you to remove the airbag from the drivers side is to get out of the car.

Raptor · 03-22-2005

That wasn't very nice.....

tpunx99GSX · 03-22-2005

lol. but anyways, from what i gathered, Disconnect the battery and/or pull the fuse, touch the battery wires together (to discharge the SRS capacitor) wait 15 minutes just to be safe, then have at it and keep your face out of the way just in case.
Im just gonna pick up a manual on the way home from work because of my dsm cd being broken.

LightningGSX · 03-22-2005

You don't even have to do that.Just make sure the ignition is turned off, and unplug them.They are designed to short out the terminals when unplugged, making them, for the most part, impossible to fire when unplugged.The SRS is designed to be extremely safe to work on

santa · 03-23-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningGSX

You don't even have to do that.Just make sure the ignition is turned off, and unplug them.They are designed to short out the terminals when unplugged, making them, for the most part, impossible to fire when unplugged.The SRS is designed to be extremely safe to work on

Well not all systems have that safty feature. The srs does have what your talking about there called bridge bar's. Not all do either like you stated. It's accually very illegal to remove any part of the srs system. Say if you get into a reck and the insurance of course has to review the crash and the car. Say you took your airbag's out and well now they can denigh you of any claim's or anything accually. I wouldn't remove them myself if you've never done it before, also they are very dangerous at all times no matter what (even with the bridge bars they still can deploy with out warning). All of the powder that comes out can give you a nice chemical burn also. Well I'm done with my 2 cent's (wouldn't mess with them myself unless replacing them)

Kevin

LightningGSX · 03-23-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by santa

Well not all systems have that safty feature. The srs does have what your talking about there called bridge bar's. Not all do either like you stated. It's accually very illegal to remove any part of the srs system. Say if you get into a reck and the insurance of course has to review the crash and the car. Say you took your airbag's out and well now they can denigh you of any claim's or anything accually. I wouldn't remove them myself if you've never done it before, also they are very dangerous at all times no matter what (even with the bridge bars they still can deploy with out warning). All of the powder that comes out can give you a nice chemical burn also. Well I'm done with my 2 cent's (wouldn't mess with them myself unless replacing them)

Kevin

Good thing we were talking specifically of his DSM, and not airbags in general.I don't see where I stated all systems were this way

I'll stick by my statements, airbags are for the most part extremely safe.Unless you're trying to pop them, there is a near zero chance they will deploy unplugged.If you actually understood what the shorting pin or bridge bar does, you would agree

santa · 03-24-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningGSX

Good thing we were talking specifically of his DSM, and not airbags in general.I don't see where I stated all systems were this way

I'll stick by my statements, airbags are for the most part extremely safe.Unless you're trying to pop them, there is a near zero chance they will deploy unplugged.If you actually understood what the shorting pin or bridge bar does, you would agree

Yes, I do fucking understand what the bridge bars do. I wouldn't of said anything about them if I didn't know what they did. They are still dangerour no matter what. Yes its not easy for them to deploy once unpluged but still things happen that shouldn't. They are still dangerous thats for sure. The chemicals in them still can burn you if you come in contact with them.

And for your information Tom, all you have to do is wire to wires off the back of the airbag itself not where the bridge bars are.. and touch each end to a 9volt battery and boom!

Kevin

LightningGSX · 03-24-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by santa

Yes, I do fucking understand what the bridge bars do. I wouldn't of said anything about them if I didn't know what they did. They are still dangerour no matter what. Yes its not easy for them to deploy once unpluged but still things happen that shouldn't. They are still dangerous thats for sure. The chemicals in them still can burn you if you come in contact with them.

And for your information Tom, all you have to do is wire to wires off the back of the airbag itself not where the bridge bars are.. and touch each end to a 9volt battery and boom!

Kevin

When you say stuff like this, it makes it very obvious you don't understand.Any current going to the bag results in a dead short at the shorting pin(or bridge bar as you call it).I know you think your smart because you go to whatever school you go to, but this is junior high physics here

A//// Guy · 03-22-2005

How exactly are you going to make all the wiring swivel with your steering wheel. Maybe if you have enough slack it will work but the wires will rub alot.

LightningGSX · 03-23-2005

I've mounted a lot of things in airbag steering wheels.TV screens, gauges, even the face from a MP3 player.Its really easy, just remove the airbag detanator, propellant and bag itself from the back side.Fill the whole thing in with expanda-foam(home depot or whatever the hell you have in Cali).Then trace and cut the hole.Hot glue it in there.And do the wiring(top secret, it took me a while to figure out how to run a gang of wires without them getting fucked up)

Jakey · 03-23-2005

Tom why exactly have you chosen to mount your AFC in your steering wheel? What is going to happen, say a year from now, if you decide to upgrade to DSMLink? You will be left with a ugly f*cking hole in your steering wheel along with no air bag.

IMHO this is a stupid idea.

tpunx99GSX · 03-23-2005

What i was planning on doing for the wiring is follow the other electrical wires. but ill have to see when i get in there.
If i decide down the road to get a dsmlink ill just get a new cover for my steering wheel and call it a day no big deal.
Im going to discharge the capacitor because Its better to be safe then have an airbag deploy on your face.

LightningGSX · 03-23-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpunx99GSX

What i was planning on doing for the wiring is follow the other electrical wires. but ill have to see when i get in there.
If i decide down the road to get a dsmlink ill just get a new cover for my steering wheel and call it a day no big deal.
Im going to discharge the capacitor because Its better to be safe then have an airbag deploy on your face.

As I look at the 2g DSM SRS schematic, touching the battery terminals together will NOT discharge anything in the SRS system.Well unless the IGN is on when you touch them together, and I wouldn't recommend doing that.

tpunx99GSX · 03-23-2005

ok then should i just let it sit for a good 10-15 minutes to let it discharge? the chilton manual says 2 minutes but that just seems too short.

LightningGSX · 03-23-2005

Seriously, make sure the IGN is off and just unplug it already.It takes in excess of 9 volts to fire it.As soon as its disconnected, the shorting pin shorts out the terminals.This makes the shorting pin the path of least resistance in the circuit, and according to a 100+ years of science, that makes it impossible for current to flow to the detanator.If it makes you feel better, just get out of the way when you unplug it.And if you don't trust 100+ years of science, wear a wrist grounding strap when you remove the detanator from the airbag assembly

LightningGSX · 03-23-2005

BTW I did have an airbag blow up in my face a few months ago, it wasn't that bad at all nor did it burn me at all

tpunx99GSX · 03-23-2005

so how do i blow it up after its out of the car, im thinking about launching a watermelon, a small animal, or my roomate into space. LOL JK

MATCHBX · 03-23-2005

Do you realize how much an air bag costs? You could easily sell it to someone that had a wreck and make some bank off of it. Why do you think so many cars are totalled if the body damage isn't too bad but the bags deployed.

Seriously, I would have to go with Jakey on this one. I've been in a few accidents and believe me, things can get real expensive real fast. Especially bodily injuries. With the way you and other people drive out there in CA, I would want all the protection I could get. And why would you want to have upside down half the time? You should put it in the rear seat since you only race in reverse anyways....

tpunx99GSX · 03-24-2005

ok the bag is off and i didnt blow my head off. Now the problem i ran into is that i cant find a way to run the wires without it wrapping around the steering column.... LightningGSX how have you solved this mystery in the past with mounting the screens and such. I took off the steering wheel and saw that rotating thingy that the srs wire and cruise control go through but how do you add wires to go through there? Any suggestions would be great.