I have this awful rattle in the steering wheel. The dealer acknowledges the rattle is because of the airbag unit. However, they won't do anything because it's not a defect according to Acura. Also, they wont do anything because they don't want to mess with the airbag.

SO, anyone have this rattle too? You can heard it loud and clear by simply lightly tapping the steering wheel. Anyone know how to fix it?

My thought is to remove the airbag unit myself and fleece taping everything. But the torx screws on either side is VERY VERY tight. Anyone have advice on how to remove the airbag unit?

Thanks!

 

I would NOT recommend doing this yourself. Too many things to mess up. Often times the torx screws are really tight and there's a good chance you might strip them out. Even at the shop I often strip them, we have a special removal tool to get them out once they're beyond the point of no return.

Besides that I don't recommend amateurs (no offense) mess around with airbag components.

Are you sure the rattle is behind the airbag and not inside the column under the trim covers?

I would be hard pressed to say the airbag itself is causing the noise, it's just a one piece component.

 

my dealer took it off and used that ept stuff to insulate everything inside the steering wheel and its quiet now....i would insist that they do this or move on to another dealer...

also, i think you can open it up yourself, its just two screws and it comes off...just dont mess with anything in there....find out whats slapping around in there and insulate it....

 

did you have any problems removing the screws?

 

The screws have a large amount of thread loc compound on them and take considerable torque the whole way out. They are long so that means quite a bit of turning them. I absolutely could see them getting stripped if cheap/worn tools are used or you try and remove them carelessly.

JTS198 has very good advice. Unless you have access to the shop manual and know exactly what the prerequisite steps are prior to working with any part of the SRS system (driver's air bag in this case) you should not be attempting this.

I did have access to the shop manual and knew exactly what the prerequisite steps were prior and was able to fix my rattle. Nothing was obviously rattling and it still rattled when I put it back together. It seemed that, in my case, it was just how the airbag assy was seated. By loosening the torx bolts that hold the assy and then pre-loading the whole thing upwards while tightening them solved my rattle. Odd that just that slight difference worked.

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/pics-girls-cruise-176105/

It also might be the ignition switch. You may notice that the rattle changes (bang the wheel from the bottom) with the key in different positions.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169385

 

Do you still have access to it? And did you access it via some .pdf file available on the internet? I saw somewhere you can DL it, but it was kinda pricey, and I am almost certain that someone has it uploaded SOMEWHERE. I really need to redo the airbgs myself, I cannot afford to do much else if I pay a body shop to do 'em.

Trynna save a few $$$ so I can afford to redo the stereo sys. When I wrecked, a full cup of McDs sweet tea splashed directly on my factory unit, and it no longer even comes on. R.I.P. to some of my fav. CDs...

Oh, and BTW, I know that I will need additional things done, but I have a connect that works for an Acura dealership. Problem is he lives 80 miles away, or I'd get him to do it all anyway...

 

Working around or near airbags (within the reach of the inflation) is extremely dangerous. Airbags are easily discharged via static electricity. So much so, that "first responders" emergency folks are trained how to avoid airbags when responding to vehicle accidents.

 

Agreed. I don't like working around them. I know the procedure to make sure they're safe to work around but I wouldn't feel right posting it.

 

Update:

Ended up buying the svc manual for about $12. Same Acura/AHMC standard edition, just had each section individualized. It was also in the form of a .pdf, so it was quite clear. A few of the pages were tagged as to not print it for sale I guess, but I don't see how that would stop you if you really wanted to. However, if anyone needs a section or two, I would be more than happy to upload it for them. I have gotten more help than a lil bit on A'Zine, and would be happy to pay that forward. It covers all 2nd gen CLs (01-03), both AT and MT.

 

I hate to tell you guys, but airbags are not easily discharged. I work for a company that builds them and we have them laying all over the place, on people's desk etc... because they are relatively safe. They won't inflate if you hit them with a hammer, drop them, shock them, etc... The firing circuit will only fire if it sees a very specific waveform of voltage from the controller. Of course a fire might ignite the explosive, but other than that they are pretty harmless. The ones in the pillars and side don't even have explosive, they just have gas in tubes under very high pressure.