steering wheel removal-dash face

[biododge1]

This is a writeup I did for a fellow member regarding wheel removal and dash face replacement. Hopefully, this can help others to



The dash replacement is real easy with the wheel off.

First, lets do the wheel removal.
1. disconnect the 12v batt and wait say 10min.

2.Turn the wheel so the tires are strait ahead.

3. on the wheel (left side) there is a cover. you will see a small recess for a flat screwdriver-pry out, it removes easily. the right side is the same, but the cover is 1/3 the size.

4. on the left side of the wheel, you will see the yellow airbag connector. to separate them, in the middle of the plug(the widest part) slide this back away from the airbag with one hand, and pull the plug out with the other.

5. next, use a torx t30 driver or socket and remove the brass bolt that is near the plug that you just removed. there is one more on the right side of the wheel (where the cover was).

6. now carefully pull the airbag toward the rear of the car. you will see the yellow plug pull through the wheel. the wire has little plastic grips holding it. Just unrout the wire-you'll see what I mean.

7.unplug the black horn wire from the wheel.
Now loosen the wheel nut(in the center, brass color) a few turns-but don't remove yet. At this time, make sure the wheel is still centered.

8. place hands at the 3 & 9 O'Clock spots on the wheel, with some force, pulling toward you, wiggle the wheel until it pops out-when loose remove the bolt.

9.with the wheel off, the column covers can be removed. the bottom one has 3 bolts-the top has none. To separate the two covers is a bit tricky. each side has 3 molded in clips. 2 of the clips point up ( the middle and one close to the wheel. the rear clip faces down, and is on the upper cover) to undo them, at the seam, starting closest to you press in on the bottom cover while pulling up on the top cover. the rear press the top cover in and pull the bottom down..When they separate, the bottom cover will come out easily. the top one is a tight fit to remove, If you want, loosen the steering column bolts(2) under the dash to give some room.

10. Now at this point you can remove the dash "face" and put your new one in. There are 3 screws. 2 by the gauge cluster and one hidden in the middle right vent-a cover is over it. the rest of the dash is just pop in friction clips. (you'll see them on your new one that you have).

Thats it. Just reverse the steps and your good to go

IMPORTANT please remember the first step.. you don't want that airbag to deploy. When removing it,and on install. try not to put your self in the blast zone, should it deploy--well, you know

hope this helps
Eric

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by biododge1

This is a writeup I did for a fellow member regarding wheel removal and dash face replacement. Hopefully, this can help others to



The dash replacement is real easy with the wheel off.

Oh, you're going to hate me for this, but I just replaced my cluster. There is a MUCH simpler way.

1. Unbolt the four nuts holding up the column and let it drop down to the floor (with the wheel attached).

2. pull out the cover on the right side (in the vent). This exposes a screw.

3. Remove that screw and then just pull the surround off.

Five minutes, and you don't have to worry about setting off the airbag.

[biododge1]

[QUOTE=ogregev;137294]Oh, you're going to hate me for this


Mods, can we have a smiley choking someone?


Ha ha, go figure. On the bright side, I now know how to get the wheel off. The whole time I was thinking,"this is stupid, there has to be a better way". The rest of what I said would get me banned if i posted it:

[Artric]

Well, this helped me!

Quick question - do you need a Torx 30 to replace this? It seems from what you posted that you can use a socket. Can someone confirm?

[joecvt]

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair

Oh, you're going to hate me for this, but I just replaced my cluster. There is a MUCH simpler way.

1. Unbolt the four nuts holding up the column and let it drop down to the floor (with the wheel attached).

2. pull out the cover on the right side (in the vent). This exposes a screw.

3. Remove that screw and then just pull the surround off.

Five minutes, and you don't have to worry about setting off the airbag.

I have done this method several times in the past and it is the best way and very quick....I believe that I posted this method a long time ago when someone complained about having to take the steering wheel off to get to the instrument cluster. Sometimes the service manual is not always the best method.

JoeCVT = Just your average CVT owner

[Kevin Dougherty]

Aren't there two screws in the "Ceiling" of the gage pod?

[joecvt]

Yes....All you need is a screw driver with a short length....

JoeCVT = Just your average CVT owner