Horn Membrane Replacement
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,683
Likes: 144
From: Memphis Tennessee
Horn Membrane Replacement
Usually showing its issue in the coldest of our last three winters, my horn membrane completely lost its mind this year.
I found a couple of vids on YT, ordered the membrane from a online source and finally got around to the job this evening.
The hardest part is removing the T30 bolts that hold the airbag on which are on the back-side of the steering wheels. The are very tight and very, very hard to access. You have to turn the steering wheel 90* and take each one off in the from the lower half. I had to use "Allen Wrench" style of the T30 due to no room for any socket or dedicated tool. Oh, did I mention that you have to have battery power to unlock the column-lock.......... X2.
The disassemble of the airbag is quite easy, four 10mm bolts, a wiring tab and its apart. Separation is straightforward as well. Getting the OEM locking tabs off the membrane is a different story. You must cut and clean where they melted the tabs to hold it all in place from the manufacturer. This is not impossible but is quite tedious and time-consuming. Then after you slide the defective unit out and the new one in, you have to redirect those mauled up tabs back into the small retention slots to hold it in place. I wish I had some TIPS here but it is just trial and error. You WILL get it eventually.
Re attach the bolts, run the wiring out the slot, and begin the process of putting the airbag back on the wheel. Wiring harness and horn contacts are easy. The before-mentioned (hard to turn) bolts made me think. So, I added a bit of petroleum jelly to the threads to help with the re-assembly. That turned out to be golden as they went in so much easier that they came out. Far fewer nasty words. Success !
Tightened the bolts, replaced the horn fuse, re-attached the battery terminal, unlocked LOC the radio and tested my work. Now I can honk at my neighbors again.
It was a good day for the AE.
I found a couple of vids on YT, ordered the membrane from a online source and finally got around to the job this evening.
The hardest part is removing the T30 bolts that hold the airbag on which are on the back-side of the steering wheels. The are very tight and very, very hard to access. You have to turn the steering wheel 90* and take each one off in the from the lower half. I had to use "Allen Wrench" style of the T30 due to no room for any socket or dedicated tool. Oh, did I mention that you have to have battery power to unlock the column-lock.......... X2.
The disassemble of the airbag is quite easy, four 10mm bolts, a wiring tab and its apart. Separation is straightforward as well. Getting the OEM locking tabs off the membrane is a different story. You must cut and clean where they melted the tabs to hold it all in place from the manufacturer. This is not impossible but is quite tedious and time-consuming. Then after you slide the defective unit out and the new one in, you have to redirect those mauled up tabs back into the small retention slots to hold it in place. I wish I had some TIPS here but it is just trial and error. You WILL get it eventually.
Re attach the bolts, run the wiring out the slot, and begin the process of putting the airbag back on the wheel. Wiring harness and horn contacts are easy. The before-mentioned (hard to turn) bolts made me think. So, I added a bit of petroleum jelly to the threads to help with the re-assembly. That turned out to be golden as they went in so much easier that they came out. Far fewer nasty words. Success !
Tightened the bolts, replaced the horn fuse, re-attached the battery terminal, unlocked LOC the radio and tested my work. Now I can honk at my neighbors again.
It was a good day for the AE.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,430
Likes: 4,829
From: BEST Corn-Nation
2015 C5 of the Year Winner
Awesome job. I did mine a while back too when I got a new steering wheel cover done. The airbag did make me sweat a bit as I never really trust that thing when it's out of it's hole.
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