im trying to send my ecu and immobilizer off to hondata for a reflash, but im having problems getting the steering column off. i took the three screws off on the bottom of the column, yay, but now i cant seperate the top and bottom part of the column. the covering is very loose, but it seems that the top and bottom wont seperate. i know you are supposed to squeeze in to seperate it, starting from the bottom of the column, but its not working! can someone explain this in more detail for me?

 

just use a screwdriver with duct tape over the blade and gently pry it into the space between the two covers. it's super secure but once you get going, it pops off.

 

mm i tried that for a second, and i think i perma. fucked up part of my column lol.. not working. how am i supposed to do this? surely im not supposed to break it off..

**please guys, i need an answer fast, im trying to ship this out today if possible**

 

Rotate steering wheel 45 degrees to expose the top piece of plastic. Press in wth your thumbs on the top piece of plastic closest to the steering column.

 

closest to the steering column? wait so im pressing on plastic thats not on the column?? im sooo confused, does anyone have pics? i rotated the steering wheel, no dice. gah. this is so much harder than i thought it would be.

 

these might help:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24905
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=403854

 

they dont help
the first one is the instructions ive been following, and the second one has no pictures, so not helping. im posting some pictures in a sec of where im attempting to press in with no luck, maybe someone can point out what im doing wrong.

 

ok heres some pics:


this is where i took out the screws underneath the column, hopefully i got that part right.


the red arrows are where i put pressure in to try and take the top off of the column, thats not working. i also tried to stick a screwdriver inbetween the two pieces, you can see in the left picture that i screwed that up. am i pushing on the wrong part of the column?

 

After this rotate wheel to the right and press thumbs in at the 1 o'clock position

 

dammit i moved my wheel too far to the left before, and now its locked there (something clicked?), and i cant turn my car back on cause i have the ecu out.

 

ok how do i unlock my steering wheel? do i have to plug the ecu back in?

 

I think it's just a mechanical lock that's deactivated with the key. Just jiggle the wheel a little bit as you try to turn the key.

 

oh my god thank you. ok so i got the top bit off now. but the bottom wont come off, it will tilt down though. arent i supposed to remove the bottom part of the column?

 

Lower the lever you adjust the height of the steering column with. Make sure the column moves freely up and down. That should give you enough play to remove the bottom piece of plastic.

 

ahhh yes i finally got it all off. yay. now im just having a great time trying to take out the screws in the immobilizer, which seems almost impossible. anyone have tips on gettin the damn things loose? i cant even turn them. and thanks everyone for helping me with getting everything off. :-)

ps: is it harder to put all this crap back on? that part is starting to worry me.

 

You're almost there. Tilt the steering at an angle that gives you enough room. You need to find an extra short phillips screw driver. Or you could use a small ratchet with a coupler to phillips head. Just make sure that you have the phillips head sitting flush into the head of the screw before you try to turn it.

And don't worry, it is much easier putting everything back together.

 

hmm its not that i dont have enough room to get to the screws, but i just cant seem to turn the screws because either a) the head of the screwdriver wont catch in the screw (which damages the threads ahhh) or b) i just cant seem to turn it hard enough to move the screw. the ratchet idea is smart, ill try that, but anyone have any other ideas?

 

One question: Do you guys have to jack up the car to turn the steering wheel? I imagine you'd have to have some muscles with the power steering off

 

not at all. im a 140 pound 17 year old skinny ass computer geek.

 

i cannot get these screws off at all, i took 4 trips today to home depot buying different kinds of phillips(bought an extra small phillips head #2 and #1) and cant get the screws to turn...the phillips just rolls off. help =(

 

^^You have to be very gentle with the screws. I believe I found a #1 Phillips screwdriver worked best. Whichever you use, #1 or #2, go slow and carefully break the screw loose. They're not in there that tight, but they're easy to strip.

You really have to apply a lot of pressure into the screw head. The only way I was able to do it was on my back with my legs hanging out of the drivers door and a flashlight clenched between my teeth so I could see. That way I was able to press in hard enough to avoid rounding out the screw head.

Try that.

 

been trying and it's not budging, the phillips just keep rolling off =\ i'm afraid i already stripped them...

 

yesss got it out finally, man those 2 screws were a pain..i have like 10 phillips in my car now lol
well looks like i gotta wait till monday to send it in for reflash. hopefully ill get it back wednesday =)

 

ahhhh, the 06 reflash....let us know how it feels

 

Depending on how damaged the heads might be, you might want to even consider getting replacement screws. Probably cost you a quarter

 

sure thing =D

yeah i'm gonna replace them. i hate screws like those

 

I want to thank you Adam for going through this. Now when I'm ready to remove my ecu I can learn from your mistakes. No jokes or insults this really helps. Thanks for taking one for the team

 

Glad to see you got them out. They are a big PITA. Be sure to post your impressions of the reflash.