air bag removal on a 1998 obw

[dunavan]

Ok so i am in the process of a few cosmetic upgrades, one of which is replacing the vinyl steering wheel with a leather wrapped one out of a 2003 legacy sedan that i pulled at the local junk yard and bought for $7. While i was pulling the leather wheel i tried my damnest to unplug the air bag to no avail. I pushed the little yellow tab and pushed the green tab back but the plug would not budge, i finally gave up and cut the wires. So i am reusing the srs from my current wheel because it is the same as the 2003 and they wanted $50 for the srs. I can't exactly cut the wire this time, so what was i doing wrong? Anyone have pics of the srs plug apart so i can see where it pulls apart at? Thanks in advance.

[dunavan]

Seriously no one has a clue? Not one response or link?

[grossgary]

you just have to push the green tab in while pulling the yellow plastic housing simultaneously. keep trying - you'll eventually figure it out.

it's an idiotic design. "Let us design a connector for explosive equipment that's so hard to remove that you'll likely damage it when removing it and make it really difficult to repair later on...."
WHAT THE CRAP!!??!?!? bunch of goobs.

just keep at it - i don't think a picture is going to help, you'll figure it out if you just play with it and investigate which way stuff slides and presses/pulls.

[dunavan]

Actually a picture helped a lot, thanks to subh's problems with the ebay vender on his momo airbag, i was able to see what one side of the plug looked like to tell how it pulled apart. Much to my disappointment though my 98 phase 1 airbag does not fit in the 03 phase 1 steering wheel... sigh...

[Wagondude]

Usually, with the retainer tabs, I find the come apart easier if I push the connector together then release the tab and pull apart.

[dunavan]

Thanks for the tip wagon, i will try it when i can afford to buy the airbag that fits the new wheel... stupid not having a job thing.