Warning! Steering Wheel Fire Hazzard!

[MKDR33]

Having problems with my stock steering wheel, its been making a clicking/thumping sound when i turn it, and yesturday something snapped inside and now the horn beeps everytime i turn over 180deg left or right(had to disconnect the horn)..

I have an R33 GTS25t S 1.5 with drivers side airbag, this is where i need help removing the steering wheel..

Also, is there any other help on this problem? Removal of Steering Wheel?

EDIT:

WARNING FIRE HAZZARD!!

well, i got home last nite, left the car outside which i dont normally do, anyway, i wasnt goin out anywhere so i went back outside to put the car in the garage, and i witnessed one of the most paintful events in my life, the whole inside of the car was filled with smoke and i noticed a small flame on my drivers side carpet, i quickly put it out and i popped the boot to disconnect the battery..

it turns out the horn which I unplugged was tryin to engage the whole time and i didnt notice this as it was unplugged.. wat happened was there was a short somewhere behind the steering wheel which caused my whole wheel and compartment to melt on the floor and start a fire.. i FREAKED as ive never witnessed anything like this,..

so today ive been running around ordering things i need.. the only thing thats gonna be f**cked to repair is all the wires which were burned and split, and all the plugs which were melted from the loom.. im installing an aftermarket steering wheel with the stock R33 compartment behind it..

i hope this stays as a warning to everyone with this problem, cuz ive had one of the worst days of my life.. im lucky the whole thing didnt burn or blow up in my driveway..

Edited September 30, 2006 by MKDR33

[NA power]

yer my one dose the same. i just pulled the plug on the horn.

good to no how to fix it???

Edited September 21, 2006 by NA power

[MKDR33]

ive just googled some stuff on disarming the air bag, from here on in its not to hard to remove the steering wheel and see wats causing the thumping/clicking..

Disarm and Removal of AirBag Unit Information

R33 FuseBox Codes

Feels like im doing another D.I.Y. hope it helps..

Edited September 21, 2006 by MKDR33

[Lukas]

For interest sake, I was flipping through the latest Hot 4's mag today and noticed a section on removal/fitting of steering wheels and boss kits.

[MKDR33]

For interest sake, I was flipping through the latest Hot 4's mag today and noticed a section on removal/fitting of steering wheels and boss kits.

what kind of car is it done on? and does it involve removal of airbag unit?

[mad082]

it is just a pain that since the wheel is an airbag wheel that you can't put an aftermarket non airbag wheel on. my wheel is taty and i want a new 1 but don't want to pay for a new airbag wheel.

[MKDR33]

WARNING FIRE HAZZARD!!

well, i got home last nite, left the car outside which i dont normally do, anyway, i wasnt goin out anywhere so i went back outside to put the car in the garage, and i witnessed one of the most paintful events in my life, the whole inside of the car was filled with smoke and i noticed a small flame on my drivers side carpet, i quickly put it out and i popped the boot to disconnect the battery..

it turns out the horn which I unplugged was tryin to engage the whole time and i didnt notice this as it was unplugged.. wat happened was there was a short somewhere behind the steering wheel which caused my whole wheel and compartment to melt on the floor and start a fire.. i FREAKED as ive never witnessed anything like this,..

so today ive been running around ordering things i need.. the only thing thats gonna be f**cked to repair is all the wires which were burned and split, and all the plugs which were melted from the loom.. im installing an aftermarket steering wheel with the stock R33 compartment behind it..

i hope this stays as a warning to everyone with this problem, cuz ive had one of the worst days of my life.. im lucky the whole thing didnt burn or blow up in my driveway..

Edited September 29, 2006 by MKDR33

[Munkyb0y]

fark !!!!

that's crazy.

edit that warning into ur first post.

so what exactly got burnt in the end? steering column plastic surround and wiring in there?

[MKDR33]

fark !!!!

that's crazy.

edit that warning into ur first post.

so what exactly got burnt in the end? steering column plastic surround and wiring in there?

YES.. the wiring is the only thing im worried about, its all melted and some of the wires are stripped.. Steering column shouldnt be a problem, as i ordered another one its comin in on tuesday $150, after which i will go to JAYCAR electronics or Dick Smith and try and locate male and female connectors for the wiring.. I Thank God that it didnt melt my dash and surrounding components..

I got an old Nissan Pulsar steering wheel which fits right on and its pretty much brand new, might just fit that on until i get an aftermarket one..

[quiksta]

I notice something similar on my series 1.5. Sometimes when i start it up i can hear a sound from behind the steering wheel. It sounds like an electronic motor of some kind switching on and off. It also does it when its idling after driving sometimes. I have a standard steering wheel. What could this be?

[MKDR33]

I notice something similar on my series 1.5. Sometimes when i start it up i can hear a sound from behind the steering wheel. It sounds like an electronic motor of some kind switching on and off. It also does it when its idling after driving sometimes. I have a standard steering wheel. What could this be?

this doesnt sound like the same problem i had.. with mine, it was a thumping sound and u could feel it when u turn the wheel at over 180deg.. turned out it was a metalic frame which had broken off from behind the airbag unit in the steering wheel and was touching the positive and negative terminals for the horn.. when i left my car in the driveway, the wheel was turned at over 180deg, so the plate was touching both terminals causing sparks which then started to melt the plastic surrounding it and starting a small fire..

[R34-GTT]

Your a lucky man thats all I can say

[Kinks]

dude that sucks

lucky you got to it before it did more damage though.

[PuppaDuck]

YES - I knew someone else would have this problem on SAU.

Sounds like the Nissan guy who was tasked with screwing in the R33 S 1.5/2 airbag components together wasn't screwing 1 of the bolts right down. Perhaps he had a mental condition that didn't allow a particular bolt to be tightened as tight as the others.

Here's my story:

- Been hearing a very rare and very subtle rattle for years. Too insignificant to worry about at this stage.

- Must have a got a little more frequent and louder over the years, as I knew it was there, but never remembered to have a look at it, as it only happens when I'm on a bumpy road, and by the time I get home, I've forgotten all about it.

- Just did a road trip from Sydney to Surfers and back.

- Half way there, I got pissed off with hearing it so much on the bumpy road (and it was much louder that it couldn't be ignored), that I pulled over at a rest stop and pulled the steering column panels off to look for it.

- My theory is that the bolt was a little loose and a washer was jiggling in the gap. DAMN that jiggling noise. It'll make me hate Santa this year.

- Found nothing in the column that would be loose, as it's all steering column and wiring harnesses.

- Gave the airbag cover a tap to find it was in there.

- Took the side flap off and poked around there with a screwdriver to see if the main piece was loose. Must have touched the connected on the horn with the screwdriver, as it beeped.

- Figured there wasn't much more I could do, so left it.

- Went all the way to Surfers listening to the jiggle.

- Came all the way home listening to the jiggle.

- About 3 kms from my house and I hear what sounded like the bolt that came all the way off.

- Now I have the same noise you described above in post 1.

- Forgot all about the jiggling noise, so can't remember if it is still there, but perhaps the washer is still there.

- Finally, when I turn a 90 degree corner, I hear the bolt rattle around in the air bag area until it eventually touches the horn.

- Finished the last 3 kms going home with the horn randomly going off like a road-raged goon.

- I just started waving at everyone like I pretended to know them.

I'd like to figure out how to pop open the front panel/flap to see if is as easy as I theorise it is to find the bolt and washer and resecure it to the bag or module or whatever is in there.

Had a quick look on google for anything on any car. Some people found a star screw on each side which when undone allowed the airbag area to slip off the wheel.

Another honda or bmw had a spring clip that you could poke at which would allow the airbag flap to open.

Glad I didn't unplug the horn like you did though, otherwise I haven't been back to my garage for a few days so the fire would have engulfed it by now for sure.

I'm going to check out those links left by the helpful people on here as my next step.

Thanks everyone.

[s13_Skyline_inside]

im surpised the fuse didnt blow, next time you'll know and hopfully a warning to other people reading this thread, if you disconnect wires, tape the bare ends up with electrical tape or disconnect the fuse if you know which one it is, but yeh f!*kin lucky you went back out to the car

[Simon-S14]

yes, the fuse should have blown, the fect it didnt means that sonmeone has either changed the wiring or put a bigger rated fuse in there

[~R33AzzA~]

My old r33 used to get a puff of smoke coming out of the steering collem now and then. I shit my self the first time it happend as i had no insurance back then.