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Old Mar 25, 2024 | 08:05 PM
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From: Austin Tx
Default Good steering wheel puller

I have a horn that likes to start blowing at 3AM with car parked in the garage. Prev comments point to the membrane inside the steering wheel needing to be replaced. Trying to gather all the tools needed. I've seen many comments/videos of the steering wheel not wanting to come off.

Found a few tips to help with this including heat, penetrating oil and hammer to help break the bond with the splines. Now looking for a decent puller.
OTC sells one but you have to buy the L-Shaped rods to engage the steering wheel separately so total price is close to $100.
Found a Lisle brand puller that looked promising but user comments say it doesn't work on a C5.

What brand puller are you guys using for this?

Back-up plan is to drill a couple of 5/16" holes and tap them for puller bolts but want to avoid that method if possible.
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Old Mar 26, 2024 | 10:04 AM
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You don't have to take the steering wheel off to replace the membrane. Just the air bag.
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Old Mar 26, 2024 | 11:26 AM
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Originally Posted by zz28zz
I have a horn that likes to start blowing at 3AM with car parked in the garage. Prev comments point to the membrane inside the steering wheel needing to be replaced. Trying to gather all the tools needed. I've seen many comments/videos of the steering wheel not wanting to come off.

Found a few tips to help with this including heat, penetrating oil and hammer to help break the bond with the splines. Now looking for a decent puller.
OTC sells one but you have to buy the L-Shaped rods to engage the steering wheel separately so total price is close to $100.
Found a Lisle brand puller that looked promising but user comments say it doesn't work on a C5.

What brand puller are you guys using for this?

Back-up plan is to drill a couple of 5/16" holes and tap them for puller bolts but want to avoid that method if possible.
As pointed out in an above post you don't need to pull the steering wheel.
But I have a couple different pullers you can borrow if for some reason you're going to pull the wheel anyway. Send me a PM.
Auto parts stores also have them available to borrow, usually for a minimal deposit.
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Old Mar 27, 2024 | 03:04 PM
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From: Austin Tx
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You're right. Memory faded.. I put this on the back burner a few years ago by pulling the fuse and only re-install it for inspections.

I originally didn't think the membrane could cause my particular issue (horn stops if wheel is rotated just a few thousandths of an inch) so I wanted to dig deeper into the clock-spring area. Guess that's what got me thinking abt pulling the wheel. Thx for the offer on the puller loan. I still want a puller and I don't mind buying one, just wanted to see what brands have been successfully used.
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Old Mar 27, 2024 | 05:12 PM
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This is my smaller one (part of my dog's nose for scale.) I had to change the wheel on an early 60s tractor that spent most of its life outside. The main puller bolt is deformed on the end and this one would not dislodge the steering wheel. My bigger one that did work is apparently still packed in a box somewhere since my move from Leander a couple years ago.

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Old Mar 28, 2024 | 11:30 AM
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I bought this one off eBay and it worked great. I think it is a knock-off of the one GM recommends

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Old Mar 28, 2024 | 04:01 PM
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From: Austin Tx
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LOL..My dog is the same, always wants to be involved.. I've been living in Leander for ~15 yrs. G'town for 10+ years before that. From the videos I've seen, the 3-jaw pullers seem to be a PITA to use on the C5 wheel due to a plastic piece behind the wheel where the jaws need to go. You have any issue with that?

That Jonesaway puller looks more like what I had in mind. Thx for that reference.
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Old Mar 31, 2024 | 03:37 PM
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Got a new horn membrane and the Jonesaway puller on order JIC.
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Old May 24, 2024 | 04:24 PM
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From: Austin Tx
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Used the Jonesaway puller this week. It worked but was a bit tight getting the legs into the steering wheel holes. If the distance between the 2 legs was 0.030" thousandths wider, it would have been a lot easier to install. After forcing both legs into the slots, they need to be rotated 90 degs. This is where I had the most difficulty. Attached a small pair of vise grips to each leg to rotate them to engage. Wasn't easy since the legs were binding due to being pulled away from each other and limited room for the vise grips. I could have ground/filed the steering wheel slots but didn't want the mess. May do that next time I have the wheel off.

May be that the distance between slots varies slightly from batch to batch of steering wheels but this was my experience with a 2000 coupe.
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Old May 25, 2024 | 06:43 AM
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I bought a puller from Rock Auto. Was in the process of pulling the wheel when one of the arms broke. Went to an Advance Auto and got one of their loaner tools which was made much better and it worked fine. I would suggest getting a loaner tool and saving your money.
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Old May 25, 2024 | 01:08 PM
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I did notice it was just a bit tight getting into the slots. I didn’t have any issue rotating them into position on my wheel though.
Glad it worked for you too!
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Old May 25, 2024 | 02:53 PM
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From: Austin Tx
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Originally Posted by seturner
I did notice it was just a bit tight getting into the slots. I didn’t have any issue rotating them into position on my wheel though.
Glad it worked for you too!
I'm just happy it worked and nothing broke. I've seen many tales of broken steering wheels using a puller. In retrospect, probably should have added a drop of oil to each arm where it rotates.
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Old May 26, 2024 | 05:13 PM
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From: Austin Tx
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The last time I had the steering wheel off, I touched the slots with a high-speed grinder. Puller arms fit fine now. I did notice the arms dug into the backside of the steering wheel a significant amount. Not sure how many more pulls are left in it.

I believe the issue I originally described where the horn would blow for no reason and stop when steering wheel was rotated slightly was due to a bad membrane AND an intermittent grounding issue with the steering shaft. See this post:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...el-ground.html
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