just wondered is it easy to change the steering wheel or do i have to get the air bag reset?

U don't need to leave it an hour lol

Just keep your head to one side of it....

Seriously though please be careful, dangerous things if they go off in your face and you're not moving violently towards it

Well said Mike.

Mac

thanks mike will leave it at least an hour.

When i worked for honda we were told by honda to disconnect the battery & wait 20 mins before carrying out any work on the air bags/srs system so 30 mins sounds fine to me,seen a air bag go off on a car that was been worked on......lots of noise,smoke & a mechanic that needed a drink afterwards! always best to be extra carefull with things like this.

Iv removed airbags in lots of diff cars over the last 10 years and never had one go off! They were removed within 15-20 mins.

CONGRATULATIONS -- YOU'VE BEEN LUCKY

FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN LISTEN TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND STOP POSTING COMMENTS THAT GIVE OUT ADVICE THAT COULD CAUSE SOMEONE A SERIOUS INJURY.

If there wasn't any danger , there would not be training courses and specific qualifications needed for the handling and management of airbag system components

I'm not telling anyone what to do I'm just saying iv never had an issue, I know how the system works I am a qualified mechanic lol

Are u a mechanic ????

Qualified as such but not working as a mechanic, and also specifically qualified for SRS and pyrotechnic management. Previously working with the police and fire services setting up road safety demos, and obviously needing all necessary qualifications to do this. So yes, I do know what I'm talking about.

You've just said that you're not telling anyone what to do -- you specifically say that you don't need to leave an hours safety time and put a LOL after that. Some manufacturers DO need an hour (maybe not VAG as I've already said) -- and it certainly wouldn't be a laughing matter if someone read your post, thought "Oh I don't need to wait that long" and triggered their SRS system by not waiting.

An airbag is an extremely dangerous item containing an explosive charge , and needs to be treated with knowledge and respect.

+1

Act in haste repent at leisure gents ; (

Qualified as such but not working as a mechanic, and also specifically qualified for SRS and pyrotechnic management. Previously working with the police and fire services setting up road safety demos, and obviously needing all necessary qualifications to do this. So yes, I do know what I'm talking about.

You've just said that you're not telling anyone what to do -- you specifically say that you don't need to leave an hours safety time and put a LOL after that. Some manufacturers DO need an hour (maybe not VAG as I've already said) -- and it certainly wouldn't be a laughing matter if someone read your post, thought "Oh I don't need to wait that long" and triggered their SRS system by not waiting.

An airbag is an extremely dangerous item containing an explosive charge , and needs to be treated with knowledge and respect.

+2 Could not agree more!!!

Once a SRS is disconnected from the battery, it MUST be discharged before any work on it or its associated circuitry is attempted or serious risk of injury or damage to the vehicle is a very real possibility!

Having been associated with electronics for many years I can tell you that for some capacitors to discharge internally by themselves can take many days - However I am sure that manufacturers will have created specific discharge paths, thus resulting in the disparity from manufacturer to manufacturer on the recommended times to leave their respective systems. Mike is correct in my opinion! If you do not know exactly what the manufacturer recommends, then one hour is the minimum that I would leave an SRS before attempting to go anywhere near the system or its circuits etc. Even then be very careful!! If you don't know what you are doing you are risking serious injury and /or extremely expensive damage to the vehicle and even rendering the system inoperative in the event of an accident (Lets not go down the path of personal injury claims to passengers and not being covered by insurance etc - etc - etc)

Iv removed airbags in lots of diff cars over the last 10 years and never had one go off! They were removed within 15-20 mins.

Theres a right and wring way of doing alot of things and you my friend have just been lucky on these occasions.

Think it more of safe guarding yourself, yes you may not actually have to leave it 1hr some could discharge in 20mins but who are you to make that call?

Coming at it as someone who knows nothing about this kind of thing, I would definitely take the "better safe than sorry" approach...much better to wait too long than not long enough. As always, err on the side of caution and it will be much better for your health in the long run! If I'd been recommended to wait an hour by a trained fitter, I can guarantee I'd be waiting at least that long.

Do not let him rise you, he probably works at Quick fit , or did, he is restrained in saying his current occupation.

Ok let me get this straight... And I am reading between the lines here...

You would rather risk serious injury to yourself than wait an extra 30 minutes (1 hour) to ensure the capacitors have fully discharged??

That my friend is in the realms of driving through the flashing lights at a railway crossing because you can't see a train coming... Doesn't mean it isn't there

As an aircraft engineer we had it drummed into us a long time ago better to be safe than sorry. A lot of us ignore what the safety limits are and take a LOT longer than stipulated. I've seen a few accidents where people weren't careful, didn't read the manual, thought they knew better, etc. ANYTHING that involves any form of capacitive discharge should be treated with caution and respect, let your guard down for a second and you could be in world of hurt both personally and financially.

if it were me and the manual says 20mins or whatever, I'd double or treble that figure. If that sounds anal then so be it, like they same, "famliarity breeds contempt" and accidents do happen. Be safe

Do not let him rise you, he probably works at Quick fit , or did, he is restrained in saying his current occupation.

Ha ur gas do u want me to scan my papers lol

Actually I'm a vehicle inspector now

Look guys I wasn't trying to **** anyone off I was just talking from experiance that's all, iv done lots of srs courses with Nissan and BMW and there is procedures to completely drain all power from the system of the car but on most cars (20 mins is lots) car u really see a mechanic in a Skoda dealer waiting an hour before removing an airbag he really wouldn't last long I can tell u.

Also I'm simply talking from my experience and NOT telling anyone what way to remove there steering wheel or how long they should leave anything. Just make sure it's done by a qualified person and u won't have to worry

Iv removed airbags in lots of diff cars over the last 10 years and never had one go off! They were removed within 15-20 mins.

+1

+1

I would of just stayed quiet

You guys do what you want end of the day your getting paid to remove all these airbags right? Well its doubly in your benefit to wait that half hour longer

I personally would wait longer than 15-20 minutes. I have removed airbags after half an hour as well, but entirely at my own risk.

If you are not qualified to and have never done it before err very much on the side of caution.

I think Mike's advice is sound, leave it an hour to be sure. Then again, if you are asking if you are going to need to reset the airbag warning light afterwards I would strongly suggest paying someone to do it!

Just out of interest, what steering wheel are you swapping from and to - if they aren't the same then all kinds of other things come in to play such as the steering wheel controller version and some physical parts as well.

When asked cos I was planning on taking the seats out, the chief service technician whom I get on with pretty well at my skoda dealer said they leave would leave a pre-fl octy 10 minutes, make of that what you will.

Surely any Skoda garage would recommend at least an hour wait, not for safety but for the extra $$$$$$$$

Ive just read this entire thread but the poor poster still doesn't know how to remove the steering wheel!

The workshop manual states that you don't need to wait more than 10 seconds before removing the airbag after disconnecting the battery

 

It also states that you should ground yourself before working with airbags