removal of steering wheel

[chiefie]

hi all,
new to this forum but not forums, quite well known on the mitsubishi 4x4 forums.

i have been stumped by this french car my wife drives, its a 406 hdi, 2001 rapier.

i have the problem of the indicators going to indicate left instead of self cancelling from the right, so i thought i would have a look at it (have already done a search on here but cannot find the right stalk set up to replace) it seems that the stalk set up is a 1 piece and the steering wheel has to come off. what has me stumped is there is no obvious way to remove the air bag!! i know the usual is 2 screws/ bolts in through the side of the steering wheel (been a mechanic for going on 20 years but mainly on jap stuff) but there is nothing there, i can feel holes in the back of the wheel but no bolts in there.

my question is, is the air bag clipped in somehow to something in these holes or am i missing something very obvious here??


help please, i have no more hair to pull out

regards
rik

[jasper5]

Mine has the same problem, haven't got round to fixing it yet....but here is something from a post by teamster, it might be useful to you, it's not for the 406, but it is similar.

The indicator switch arrangement on the 406 is called the COM2000. Do a search for all info on the COM2000.

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/blog.php?b=2

Welcome to the forum by the way, i'm a jap car specialist myself.

[chiefie]

cheers for the reply, i have since found a pdf doc ( !HERE! <------click) with instructions for removal, it seems its held in by a spring, by inserting a screwdriver through the bottom of the steering wheel (there is an access hole ) and pushing up on the bottom of said spring, it releases the air bag, sounds easier than it is, believe me
anyway, i got it all stripped down but seeing as its all made of plastic, i am assuming it is the ball joint and socket at the inner end of the stalk that has worn over time (although my pug has only done around 50k)i cleaned it all up in there but to no avail, seems it will require replacement, marvelous!!


p.s. for anyone attempting to strip the stalk down, be careful of many problems, small wiring connector to auto lights and fog switch will come off, this means you then have to strip the stalk its self, while doing this be careful not to break the plastic clip that holds the end of the stalk to the rest of it, and it will have to be rebuilt bit by bit to the main assembly. easier to just get a new one, if you don't have auto lights anyway!!

cheers again
rik

[chiefie]

oh yes, a very useful link as the set up is very similar, the stalk set up is exactly the same (seems just the air bag is different)

cheers
rik

[Harshan]

this was a common and known issue for cars with comm, only solution in here is free replacement from the agent themselves. Try your luck with agents.

[406Iain]

Mines got horn-no-workey itis.The horn works on one spoke of the wheel only.I tried taking my airbag out to try and sort it but couldnt remove.So I gave up!

[chiefie]

if you stick at it you will probably find that its dirty contacts behind the air bag, something i did with mine while it was off as the horn stopped working aswell

[Doggy]

Thanks for the tip chiefie - mine only seems to work on some spokes too.
My inability to offer fellow road users helpful feedback is becoming a little frustrating

[steve_earwig]

There's always hand signals...

Add me to the list, it's all the ag of disarming the airbags that's put me off cleaning the contacts but no more - my indicator stalk's on its way out, I tried spraying switch cleaner in there, followed by silicon spray jobbie and now half the time it won't indicate right too - [Python]It will have to come out[/Python]

[Doggy]

There's always hand signals...

Don't work too well when the dumb sunnsa.... aren't looking

After a succession of cars with the horn stupidly located on the end of one of the stalks so you wind up furiuosly squirting the washers at them, I thought yippee! a horn you can use