Steering wheel removal

Chat about your MKV (6N2) Polo GTi
Post Reply
gazmangti
Getting There!
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 7:34 pm

Steering wheel removal

Post by gazmangti »

does anyone know how the steering wheel come of the gti. Want to take it off and re-align it.

cheers

gaz
VR6 South
Bronze Member
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Waterlooville

Post by VR6 South »

It's not easy and a fiddly job which I tried to do but gave up! You have to disconnect the battery to stop the air bag activating and then relese the two clips which are only accessable via the two holes at the rear of the wheel. Sounds straight forward but it's not :)
andyg
Silver Member
Posts: 431
Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 8:58 pm
Location: UK

Post by andyg »

I have removed the steering wheel not so long back, I have to agree with VR6 South, its a real pain in the arse! Took me a while.

The hard part is removing the airbag, once that is off you can take off the wheel pretty easy. The airbag is held in place by these spring clips. There are two holes at the back of your steering wheel that you access these with.

1.) Disconnect the battery
2.) remove the plastic cover to the steering wheel column
3.) remove the airbag yellow wiring connector (this will stop you breaking it when you pull the steering wheel off).
4.) Turn your steering wheel 90° and use a flathead screwdriver to turn the spring clip, whilst pulling a little on ur airbag, it will pop off.
5.) Turn the wheel 180° so you can access the other spring clip. You will need to wedge something to keep the airbag from clicking back into the first spring clip that you undid, I used a small piece of wood
4.) Have an assistant help you while you disconnect the horn wiring plug and the airbag plug (yellow)
5.) Place the airbag padded side up and make sure you are VERY careful with it, dont drop it!
6.) Unscrew the steering wheel nut, but don't undo it completely, you should leave it on a bit so that you can pull off the steering wheel without smacking yourself in the face.

Don't make my mistake: Make sure you keep the battery disconnected the entire time, if you reconnect the battery while the airbag is off, the ECU will crap itself and you will have a warning light on your dashboard (which will need a reset).

As a side note, be very carful while doing all of this. Be aware that even with the battery disconnected, there is a chance of the airbag going off. I made sure my head/face was well out of the way whilst I reconnected everything.
VR6 South
Bronze Member
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Waterlooville

Post by VR6 South »

I gave up as I had probs releasing the spring clip :(
andyg
Silver Member
Posts: 431
Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 8:58 pm
Location: UK

Post by andyg »

Yeh its difficult, it took me about 30 mins to release it, lots of swearing and shouting. Once u get the hang of it, the other one is much easier!
VR6 South
Bronze Member
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Waterlooville

Post by VR6 South »

andyg wrote:Yeh its difficult, it took me about 30 mins to release it, lots of swearing and shouting. Once u get the hang of it, the other one is much easier!
That's where I went wrong. I gave up after 29 minutes :lol:
Post Reply