Reinstall action for steering wheel air bag on 2003 Chevrolet cavalier

Remove the right front wheel liner, its mounted to the body towards the front.

renew the air bags with some from a scrap vehicle ,its that simple

Disarming the System

Print

CAUTION The Supplemental Inflatable Restraint (SIR) system must be disarmed before performing many in-vehicle service procedures. Failure to do so may cause accidental deployment of the air bag, resulting in unnecessary SIR system repairs and/or personal injury.

1. Turn the steering wheel so the vehicle's wheels are pointing straight-ahead.
2. Turn the ignition switch to the LOCK position.
3. Remove or disconnect the following:
   
   Ignition key AIR BAG fuse from the instrument panel fuse block Left-hand sound insulator Connector retainer and yellow 2-way connector at the base of the steering column. Right-hand sound insulator, if equipped with passenger side air bags Connector retainer and yellow 2-way connector from the passenger inflator module pigtail, if equipped with passenger side air bags
   
   

   Fig. Driver-s side Yellow 2-way air bag connector retainer location
   

see the diagram attached and proceed according for to fix, use the VOM.
God bless you.

no connection between air bag and horn operation
the air bag is in a section but that whole section presses to activate the horn
can be on either side bottom or top will work the horn
probably right that there is no air bag
you will have to remove the wheel to check the horn contact under the center bit
check for a horn relay operation first

First thing is to remove the negative battery cable. Then pull the air bag fuse, then take off steering wheel cover, and pull the wiring harness of the air bags. Just pulling the fuse is the first good thing.

could be a steering wheel sir coil,,,behin d the steering wheel there is a sir coil which electrically connects the air bag to the car thru this coil that allows the steering wheel to turn with out getting twisted wires,but sometimes that coil and have intermitent contact and give a air bag light at times,could be other things , but most likely that,no way to check it,,,get the trouble code and that will lead you more in a direction on it,,prob just gotta replace it, i would take to dealer if you misinstall the new one you can wreck it,,

It's a pretty long procedure to type out,so go to autozone.com,register and input your vehicle info,then you can access their online repair guide,they have the procedure to disarm the air bag(s),they are under the chassis electrical heading,follow them to a tee so you don't set the air bag off,the cover maybe screwed on thru the back of the steering wheel or may just be held in place with tension clips,the repair guide isn't clear on this so look for srews first,if you don't see any you should be able to pry gently off with a screwdriver,the horn switch will be in the cavity underneath or possibly attached to the back of the air bag itself,it's just a small springed tab with a wire attached that touches the metal of the steering column.I hope this info helps and please be careful to follow the instructions.

You may need to call several salavage yards, but there should be one out there that will sell you one without the air bag. If your steering wheel isn't damaged, you might be able to disconect the air bag from the steering wheel.

I'm not sure if the air bag is bolted or clipped on. But to disable the bag, just unhook the battery first and wait 5 minutes before you disassemble it. I think it is bolted to the steering wheel with torx.