KrazyKong

It's Turbo so a GTST. Getting my discs machined and new rear pads I'm sure would probably be all I need, but if it's not too expensive, if not now then later, I would like to get larger front and rear discs. I have a set of stock R33 GTR rims on my car, so having the GTR discs i think would be cool. But having said that, how much bigger are the GTR discs vs my stock GTST ones?

The front discs are still in great condition and have new pads on them, I figured I'd use them till the next change. The rears need new pads now, and either machined or new discs. Since I'm having to look at both options, it occured to me to maybe look at upgrading them. Thanks for the reply though. I'd like my car to look as stock as possible. Do people sell their old GTR calipers or are they an item folks keep and never get rid of?

I've been thinking about upgrading my front and rear discs possibly to some GTR ones. Can I still use my stock GT caliper covers, or won't they fit even with modifications? The reason being is I've recently replaced my front pads with some QFM HPX pads. The front discs were very smooth still and didn't look to me to need machining. My back discs however might need either replacing or machining, and I'm overdue to replace the rear pads. I know very little about brakes and so on. But figured if I have to either machine or replace my rear discs, why no upgrade to some larger GTR ones eh. Many thanks.

Ok cool, sounds like things are ok then Yes having a quicker speedo has probably saved me from 1 or 2 speed traps. It's not something I'm overly worried about, rather in connection with the tyre sizes, it got me originally thinking I might have the wrong sizes.

I have a set of stock R33 GTR rims on my GTST. When I first bought my car, it came with 235/45/17s on the front and 255/40/17s on the rear. I've always replaced the tyres with the same sizes. Now I'm not 100% sure, but wasn't the stock GTR Rim tyre size 245/45/17? Have I had the wrong sizes on my car all this time? I love the look of the staggered tyres and am in the process of narrowing down my options for the next set. But it occurred to me, that either I'm worrying about nothing, or I might actually have the wrong size tyres on my car. Maybe that explains why I'm about 5km under the actual speed limit on my speedo and why people seem to like to tailgate me alot.

RB30E, I currently have N3000's on my rears which have lasted over 4 years now. Other than liking the pattern, I don't want to get them again and want to try something different. My first choice is the Toyo T1R's for the rear, but I don't think they even make a 255/40/17 in that model. I'll look into the Dunlop tyres more. Which would you prefer over the Dunlops and KU31's is they were the same price?

Wow alot of great info here guys. I've narrowed down the brake pads to Remsa or QFM HPX. I'd like the one that creates the least dust. I've been told Remsa are quite dusty. The QFM A1RM sound good, but looking at them more, and readings some comments here, for a daily drive car that I maybe do one cruise a year in, and just drive to work etc., they don't seem to be the right option for me. Still trying to understand more about going with adjustable rods and getting new bushes into my stock ones. Not even sure on the price of the bushes, and where to go, to get the old bushes punched out, and the new ones pushed in. Tyres... tyres. Ahh. Iv'e had such a bad run with tyre wear, I'm almost thinking of just getting some 75% tread ones from the second hand tyre place I've gone to before. I got a brand new BF Goodwrich Sport tyre a year ago for $50 from them, but only because they had one. But I've gotten Pirelli's and other really good brands and makes of tyres for my previous cars, some near new, and all for $50 each fitted. The reason for this, is I want to be sure, really sure that this time my tyres will wear properly. So to me it's kind of worth putting on a near new set to see how they wear, before forking out serious $$ on a good set. Maybe the 595SS are a cheap enough option to just go with and see how they wear. I do like the tread pattern, seeing as how I currently have the Nexen N3000. Anyway, it's something I still can't decide what direction to go in just yet. I just can't go through another drama of paying for several wheel alignments (4 wheel variety), only to see my tyres wearing all crap and weird. Some of the places I've been to missed the fact my front tie rod ends (left side) was moving over an inch. But they all took my money to do alignments without ever noticing or telling me there was issues. My main questions right now that I am trying to understand are this. Adjustable castor rods vs stock or fixed caster rods... I'm happy with my camber, not sure I need any more caster than stock. Pros/Cons? Coil overs vs shocks... I want the ride to feel the same as stock, but maybe a smidge firmer. But not bouncy hard as nails lowrider feel. Will coil overs give me a close or slightly better feel than stock or equivalent shocks? I don't the ride being a bit firmer, a more sportier feel, but I've got to be honest and say I'm happy with my stock shocks in terms of firmness. Cornering in the front end is probably a bit not so good, but my shocks are worn, leaking and had it, so that's understandable. My car isn't lowered either and other than a few mms, I don't ever plan to lower it.

My front rotors are smooth. I asked the guy doing the car check about them, and he said they were fine. He even let me in under the car whilst it was hoisted up and I felt them as well and did not feel any ripples or grooves or anything. So getting new pads on ASAP will save me getting the fronts machined. The rears ones have a few small grooves on them, but the pads are still at 1/2, so he said to just leave the rears for now. Thanks I'll add these names to the list and look into them a bit more. Once it's setup and aligned etc., how will adjustable rods benefit me? I don't track the car or anything like that. I'm on the Gold Coast in QLD Are any of the brake pad brand names available from Super Cheap/Autobarn/Global Auto etc., stores? I could research all these parts for weeks before making a decision, but I need to get some pads on the car within days, so even if it's a cheapie set that won't last for years, at least I have something on the car. I've had a quick look also on eBay and see: Remsa $88 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/REMSA-FRONT-BRAKE-PADS-DB1170-NISSAN-SKYLINE-R32-R33-R34-BRAKE-PADS-4-PISTON-TRW-/310907358908?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item486385cebc QFM HPX $79 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/QFM-HPX-High-Performance-Brake-Pads-Suit-Front-Nissan-Skyline-R33-GTST-/371030325608?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5663217968 QFM A1RM $119 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/QFM-A1RM-Street-Track-Brake-Pads-Suit-Front-Nissan-Skyline-R33-GTST-/370761844251 Not knowing anything about pads, what are the pros and cons for these options? I can't find any Lucas ones with my initial searches. I also have stock rotors too. If price isn't an issue I'd probably get the A1RM, then Remsa, then HPX ones. Is that an accurate guestimate of their ranking?

Thanks for your reply GTSBoy. The tyre place I went to is not Pedders. In fact I went to Pedders and paid for a car checkup a year ago, and then pretty much threw their report in the bin. They said my rear tie rod ends were totally shafted and needed immediate replacement. A year later they seem fine, and this place checked them and said they did not need replacing at this point in time. I know of a friend who installed adjustable shocks himself. Seems they are easier to do than the regular ones? I have heard of people going to places to get the caster bushes pushed out and replaced. Actually taking out and refitting the rods does look doable to me. So the Whiteline brand makes a better bush than Nolathane? I know I need a proper alignment afterwards. I had been holding off all year thinking I'd go ahead and get around to tackling all these things myself, but I never got around to it. If I only save myself $100 by doing the work myself vs paying a shop it's not worth it. But if I can bring that $1800 down to say $1000 and do the labour myself, I'm keen to try. I mean I can do brake pads ok too. I can't afford to pay $1800 all in one go anyway, so I think first off, I'll do the brake pads myself, then get the front shocks and caster bushes sorted. It still might even be cheaper to go and get some $50 near new tyres on the car to buy me some time until everything is sorted for new proper tyres. The last thing I want to do is put new tyres on again and see them wear badly and scallop like they last 2 sets have.

I've had bad tyre wear now for a few years. I've been putting things off and rotating tyres etc., but it's now finally time to get it all sorted. Here's the report I got back from one of the local tyre places that I trust. Front brake pads are worn to pretty much nothing, so that's an obvious thing to get done asap. Q: Does it matter what brand, if there is even a brand they put on? Was quoted $125 for the front. The front radius bushes are shot. This was also contributing to bad tyre wear. Q: Does brand matter here? Whiteline, Nolathane? What the type of rubber material/rubber used? Was quoted $171 for the pair. The front shocks, especially the left one is totally knackered. So will get both front's replaced. The back ones are ok apparently and I think are still stock. Q: I think they will use Pedders brand shocks. Don't know what model or variety. How do these rate? I don't track the car, but do go on a cruise one or twice a year. Plus I don't mind taking corners hard, flying down the motorway etc. Was quoted $420 for the pair. The center bearing needs replacing. This is in the driveshaft apparently. They don't have a price yet and will get back to me on it. And I need 4x new Tyres. Fronts 235/45/17 Rears 255/40/17 Right now I have Nexen N3000's on the rears. The fronts are some junk brand called Gemstone, and I've already replaced the front left with a BF Goodrich Sport tyre to keep me on the road. I don't think I want to go with the Nexen's N3000. They are suggesting I go with a Nexen N'Fera RU5 tyre for the fronts and rears. It looks too plain jane for me from the pics I've seen of it. Quoted $418 for the rears and $290 for the fronts. I do love the tread pattern of the Nexen N3000 tyres though. I've seen the Federal 595s which look good, but after reading more about them, I'm not too keen on the wet driving aspect of them. The only other tyre I know that has a very similar tread pattern is the Toyo T1R. I can't seem to find any info on the 255/40/17 size accept references from the U.S. I'm sure they will be more expensive then $418 for a pair. The Kuhmo KU31 look interesting. The Toyo T1R's are probably out of my price range anyway, but I'm open to suggestions on tyres. Toyo T1R Toyo Proxes 4 Kuhmo KU31 Federal 595SS Nexen N3000 All up including labour the whole lot accept the center bearing which they will get back to me on, comes to just under $1800. I'm wondering if any of these things I can do myself to try and save on costs. I've put my own intercooler, fuel pump, heater core., radiator etc. But I havn't done anything major like shocks, radius bushes etc. Will these all need special tools, air tools (I only have regular socket tools)? Thoughts & comments are most appreciated.

Got a little life out of the odometer on the way home. It worked for 0.5 of a km, and the stopped. By the time I had got home after a stop at the servo, it reads 1.5kms on the trip counter. So it's looking like when it does decide to turn over, it only works for 0.5km. Has anyone else dealt with this issue before? or have tips on what else I can do to get it working again. Everything else in the cluster is now working as it should including the speedo, but alas the odometer does not want to play.

I've had all sorts of problems with my dash cluster since I got my R33 some years back. From a tacho meter that went dead, then got more spastic as the years went on, to my speedo not working, to the fuel gauge sitting at minus 50%. I've taken the dash cluster out a few times over the years to see if I could fix it, but nothing lasted very long. So I finally went all out and resoldered all the joints on the speedo and it's been working now for over a year so that's good. I never could get the tacho working properly, but finally had a go and resoldered all the joints on it last night, and so far so good. A few weeks back my odemeter stopped working. After checking and resoldering all the joints last night, it still doesn't work. It splutters every now and then, and might tick over 500m, maybe 1km if I'm lucky, then will stop for a week or two. Looking at some posts here, it's possible it's a broken gear inside of it. Now my question is, in order to get to it, I have to pull off the needle on the speedo. How do you make sure you put it back exactly how it was? By that I mean I'm confident I can push it back onto the shaft ok, but what if it turns and isn't in the exact same position as it was before I took it off. Will it reset itself? or is it going to be like if you did a timing belt, and didn't check that all the pulleys and shafts were at their set notches and positions.

I'm going to book the car into a proper steering, suspension place and get a check done. Was recommended a place nearby that charges $20 for this check so seems worthwhile to me. Then hopefully I'll have some more information as to what needs replacing. I still think I might be better off going with a cheaper front tyre and letting them wear until I see my issues are sorted vs getting some more expensive ones and finding out they are still wearing badly.

Wow ok sounds like a decent amount of work is required. I don't have airtools or even stands at this point, but it sounds like it may be cheaper to do this myself. I've found a company called nolathane.com.au that makes replacement bushes for the front and rear. Seems like it might be worth it in the long run to do first the front then rear. I'm more than willing to get my hands dirty on this, but only if it could save me heaps. Guess I'll need to get some quotes then for a workshop to do this, then compare that with buying the tools and parts myself.

Wow that sounds like a lot of things to check and or replace. Can this sort of work be done by myself? Or do you need airtools and all kinds of stuff to accomplish this?

Oh I forgot to add something here. When I'm reversing out and then hit the brakes, I feel this knock of slight movement through the brake pedal. That I believe is what the mechanic referred to as the wheel movement. So it sounds to me like there is either a major problem or a minor one that requires replacing worn somethings.

I've not had a good run when it comes to the tyres on my R33. It took me x4 wheel alignments to discover my left tie rod end was moving an inch! Even then it was my neighbour who actually discovered this. So much for the Tyrepowers and all those who happily took my money but didn't bother to even put a hand on the wheel and try and move it. Thus this started the whole decline of my bad tyre wear, as the tyres at that point had already scalloped. When I first got my car it came with brand new Gemstone 235/45/17s on the front. To get full use out of them, I've had the tyres flipped and rotated to the other side since they are directional. This bought me another year of use out of them, but the noise, oh the noise lol, it was like driving a truck. The issue I'm faced with now, is I don't know what to do. My front left inner is wearing badly. I have to replace these tyres, but fear I'll again suffer scalloping, and inner tyre wear on the left side. Thus I've put it off for as long as I can, but I don't have much time to delay before the tyre gets dangerous. The car steers ok, so it doesn't track or do anything weird. It's just that I can see the left inner is wearing way quicker than it should be. There is movement in the tyres however under breaking and acceleration. I was told this by a mechanic who had me sit in the car and inch forward, hitting the brakes, releasing etc. But the reason as to why it's doing this, I don't recall him saying as it was months ago now when I did this. Should I pay for the $15 safety check thing that Pedders does? I've seen the ACA/Today Tonight stories on them and don't trust them. Will they actually check my bushings, control arms and all the things related to steering? Or should I book the car into a proper and competent tyre place and they look at it? My shocks are standard and seem firm. Could this be causing tyre wear issues however? In the meantime, I'm trying to make a decision on tyres for the front. I can't spend more than $150 per tyre. Thus the Michelins and really great tyres are not within my reach. I've had many alternate names thrown my way like Toyo, Nankang, Kinforest etc. I can actually get a second hand pair of Yokohama A.Drive R1 235/45/17 fitted for $150 total. It looks like 3/4 tread is left on them, but one of the tyres has a tiny bit of wear and scalloping on the inside. But flipping and having that on the right outside should negate that I would imagine. Anyone running these tyres? Are they good? Is that a decent second hand price for this type of tyre? Perfect world would be I'd get whatever is causing bad wear and movement sorted and fixed, then look at tyres. But I'm in this go between stage where whatever tyre I put on now before things are sorted will probably be wearing badly too. Thus even figured maybe just get a $50 second handy to tie me over until things are right. As the last thing I want to happen is to get some good tyres, put them on, and then see the same issues appearing again with uneven tyre wear, scalloping etc. Hoping for some advice and direction there. Thank you.

So today arrived, and I got to work assembling all my paperwork, typed up and printed out the history of what has all happened. On the way to see legal aid, I stopped by the mechanics place who currently have my car to see if I could get a short statement of what thought had happened and what was currently wrong. Now what happened next surprised me greatly. It turned out the apprentices who had been doing the the bulk of the work re-fitting the timing belt hadn't quite got it right. Though they did use the correct alignment points on the cam gears and other places, the cam gears themselves were actually on the wrong sides of the engine. So how this previous owner managed to get the car started is beyond me still. But... right before my eyes, the head guy at the shop started the car, and would you believe it the engine started! Far out brussel sprout man. So they still have a few things to put back on the engine, and had to get the mobile mechanic out to retap a 3rd hole, I can't really complain at this point as the car is running. I still decided to go to see legal aid and see if I could learn anything. It turns out you guys were right, by putting a car through the auction it waives any and all previous issues with a car. In fact you can go so far as to break any and every law possible when it comes to motor vehicles. Once it's sold, the person who sold it through the auctions is blameless. Unfortunately I happened to get a real jerk of a lawyer that saw me today. He was condescending and treating me like I should have known all of this. I'm not even sure why he was there, as helping people in need seemed to be the absolute last thing on this guys mind. Now if I had bought this personally from the owner, and had asked if it had in fact had the service done at the workshop listed on the car stickers, and he said yes, then at that point I would have been able to go after him. At any rate, even being careful in the future, it would be hard to detect issues like I've faced during the 1-2 weeks you are allowed to return a car bought from the auction. There has to be a safer way to buy things from the auction, other than buyer beware, take it or leave it. At any rate, I'm happy the car is running. Fingers crossed there are no more issues and I can get it back soon.

This car in question isn't a Skyline btw. It's another run around car I bought to fix up and sell. Once I find out more from legal aid tomorrow I will post back and let you guys know what I found out. Considering a correctly installed timing belt has a suggest lifespan, let's say 100,000km, and it breaks or comes off after 2500km because it was not installed correctly, then yes I believe whoever installed the belt is responsible. Especially if they went out of their way to pretend a legitimate warranty backed workmanship garage had done the work. Your example is a good one however, but let's say those 5 people all purchased the car based on this same info as well, that the car had had a major service done. The first 4 people aren't going to care if something happened as they sold the car already. Person 5 will however. A car changing hands should not negate incorrect mechanical work being done on a car, and that work being passed of as legitimate warranty backed workshop work. It's not as though you know it's been done incorrectly right away, it takes time often for dodgy work to rear it's head. Ethically I've been defrauded, but the big question is will legal aid agree or see that by some law I have been.

Interesting. It seems to me the previous owner does not have to know the person they sell an item to, to have commited fraud though. For instance, if he's wound the odometer back and falsified information on a car, and pretended a workshop has done a major service, when they have not, that to me seems like fraud. As for not being covered because I got it at an auction, that's a bummer. I will still be going to see legal aid on Monday however. There are a few avenues to follow. For instance if the workshop is a member of the MTAQ. The many mechanics I have spoken with that I know, have all told me that no matter what the workshop is telling me, ie. they are genuinely not invovled, or are simply saying that it's one of their employees at fault, and hoping I will go away, that at the end of the day, it could still come back on the workshop due to the employee connection and having their name on my car as having done this work. I hope legal aid will know the answer to this as well. The company did not give me any money, it was Mr X who did. And the prior owner is Mr X. He put the car through the auctions, though not in his personal name. But his conversation with me was that he sold it through them. So either a friend, family member or someone attached to him was the "person" who put the car through the auctions.

I'm in a spot of bother at the moment and wanted to ask others if they have ever been in a similar situation. I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but I do need to explain somethings so it's possible this will be a long post. It's interesting so if you want to keep on reading, you might get a chuckle out of it, hopefully not at my expense though . Please don't be mean either. I'm not after legal advice, so I want to make that clear. Rather I am trying to find out what process others took to get to a resolution they found acceptable. Let's begin... Two months ago I purchased a used car from the dealer auctions. It had things missing in the trim, various other internal things like power antenna not working, ac not blowing cold etc., but what convinced me this car was ok to take a punt on was that it had a Gates timing belt sticker under the hood showing it had litterally just been serviced less than 1000km previously. This sticker had a reputable workshop name written on it. It also had an oil change sticker on the windscreen with their name on it, and one of those business card magnets garages often have and put on vehicles after they have serviced it. So in three places and most importantly on the timing belt sticker this same workshop name was present. Over the course of the past two months I have been restoring this car. I've gone to several wreckers and some many times over, to find all the missing bits and pieces. Slowly the car was coming together with my hard work. I had a part of the car resprayed as a bog patch on it had cracked and bent out, had the ac regasssed, steering aligned, replaced an old engine mount and spent countless hours fixing this and that. I was one day away from listing this car for sale. Now I'm not a dealer, just a regular joe trying to make a living. This was my first car I've bought with the notion of fixing it up and reselling it. On top of the purchase price of the car, I had to pay a dealer his fee to purchase this car through the dealer auctions. After all the work I had done, there was still a little margin I could make on this car. Not anymore. The final time I drove this car I was coming home from work. It was dark, raining and not very pleasant outside. Suddenly the car lost drive. The engine was still going though. Then after a few moments, the engine stopped and I'm coasting down the motorway wondering what's just happened. So I pull over to the side of the road. I try starting the car, and I hear it turning, but it has a weak battery. It also doesn't feel like it's going to fire either. So I pop the hood. Now I'm smelling this burning smell like it's a clutch or something, but it doesn't take me long to see that the plastic timing belt housing has been ripped open and the timing belt, still in one piece is poking out of the top. Oh crap. So the next day I ring the garage that has their name as doing this major service on my car. They are perplexed a little as they only work on one brand of car, and mine isn't that brand. Finally the guy then has his aha! moment and says oh, that's X's old car, he works for us. I enquire why their name and stickers are on the car as having done this major service and they deny ever doing it. They state that X must have done it at home and taken some of their stickers. Now whose to know if this is accurate or not. I know I've seen plenty of cars recently at the wreckers with Gates timing belt stickers on them, but none of them had anything written on the workshop/garage line. They only had date and kms fitted. So they put X on the phone, but not before putting the phone down. They did not put me on hold, so I can hear him speaking in the background. I hear this manager guy speaking with X and telling him "we don't want this coming back on us... you tell him you did this work at home". Now a few moments ago he didn't even recall anything about this car, then all of a sudden, without even asking X "did you do this work at home, or in the workshop?", instead he tells him to tell me "you tell him you did this work at home". Finally X comes on the phone and I explain what is happened. He claims he did the work at home etc. Then tells me the engine in the car isn't the original engine. He put the timing belt on the engine before mounting it into the car. That was his claim. He then puts me on hold. Several minutes later he comes back on and his demeanor is totally different. He's no longer combative, or defensive. He states he will repair the car at his cost. He asks for my cell number, address etc. and says he'll be down first thing Saturday morning to look at it. Saturday morning arrives, which is only the next day after I spoke with him. 11am rolls about and I'm send him a txt asking when he's coming down. He rings back and tells me it's not his problem, I should have checked it out before I bought it and to take it back to the auctions. I ring the workshop back and end up speaking with the 2nd in charge. He was a nice chap and was surprised about my conversation with X. He stated X would probably be losing his job over it and that they had told him he needed to take care of it and fix the car. Sorry to go into so much detail guys, I'm trying to keep it short but also keeping an eye on not missing out any crucial parts of the story. I end up speaking with X again, and he tells me to get some quotes to get it fixed as I live a good hour away from where he is. Thus he will send me the money to get it fixed, and I can get it done by someone of my choosing. So I get the quotes, send them to him. He txts me then calls me telling me he's broke and can't afford the full cost and asks I work with him. Also says he made no money on selling this car, like that's any of my concern at this point. Jump ahead and I get $700 out of the guy which he deposits into my bank account. I go ahead and order a new timing belt kit and water pump. Then once the workshop has time available, they start work on my car. I pop in each day to have a chat and see the progress. They find out one of the bolts in an idle bearing has sheared off, and then mention that none of the bolts were at correct tension. They had never seen bolts done up so tightly and thought X had probably used a rattle gun or something other than using a tensioner to do them up to the correct tightness. They had to get in someone who drilled the bolt out and retapped it using a helix core I think it was called. Another bolt also just came right out with the thread on it, and they had to retap that one as well. Finally yesterday all the new parts were in. I was in the workshop at the time. They had the timing belt on and looking good. So it was time to fire it up to see if it was alive. No compression. Happy days. I had Googled, and rang around to engine rebuilders before all of this to see what kind of engine I had. Apparently I had a non-interference engine, even the mechanic working on it looked it up and was convinced that was the case. Thus we all thought it just needed a new timing belt. Now it's looking like bent valves, or who knows at this point. It's got no compression so needs either top end rebuild replacing the bent valves, or additionally a new piston or a full engine rebuild. I'm not too pleased right now about it all. I've made an appointment to see legal aid on Monday. I will be taking all my correspondence, receipts and anything related with this car with me. I'm trying to also think of questions to ask. The goal of this post is to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and what steps they took to get it resolved. At the end of the day, I feel I am a victim of fraud (this joker also wound the speedo back btw). I bought this car on the strength it had had a major service done (timing belt), which X has gone to lengths to make it seem a proper workshop had done the work. If it was done by a proper workshop, it would be covered under a warranty. I hope I get some clarification on monday and pray it's not all bad news for me. Thanks for reading. Hoping to hear back from others who have gone down this road and make it out alive... and not bankrupt.

I got it all sorted. Turned the key, unplugged the battery and it did it's near silent chirping business. I got on with unplugging things, replaced the steering wheel and then reconnected everything. Once I connected the battery back again, the chirping stopped. Then turned the key to put it into normal mode and it's all working good again. This took 5-10mins. I can live with the minor fault of it not been entirely silent when the key's turned and the battery is unplugged. That's not an everyday situation either so not like I'm going to have to deal with this on a daily occurrence.. As it stands right now, the alarm arms, chirps, and goes off just fine.

The alarm works ok. If I have to I'll let it chirp for 10mins or so while I take the steering wheel off, then unplug the airbag connectors. Connecting the main battery terminals stops the chirping and everything again works as it should. So it's only during the period I have the battery disconnected so I don't trigger the airbags, that I want to shut the alarm off. Using the key on the siren shuts it off, but only 98%. Put your ear close to it, you can still hear it. If that's all I have to deal with for 10mins or less I'll live with it. I don't think getting a new alarm is going make any difference and seems excessive for simply wanting to replace the steering wheel.

This is for my parents Honda car. I want to replace their steering wheel, but need to disconnect the battery so I don't trigger the airbags. Problem is once I disconnect the battery, the alarm goes off. It's a mongoose, though not positive as to what model. I have that little key, which I used on the alarm speaker thingy and it seemed to shut it off ok. But upon closer inspection it's still actually chirping away, be it at like 2% noise instead of it's regular 100%. The siren speaker looks like this If I was to take this thing apart, is the battery backup battery inside this thing?

Thanks for the tips and info guys. Managed to clean up the spill. As for the battery it seems ok. Just topped it up with demineralized water.