Well, I finally did it. Someone who shall remain nameless has helped me replace the yucky, ugly GM airbag steering wheel with the elegant Momo wheel found on European Esprits.
I know some of you have been interested in changing the wheel in your cars as well and I have kind of become one of the guinea pigs.
The new wheel is about 1/2 inch smaller in diameter than the airbag one. This mean that you have slightly more thigh room or room when working in the "lotus" position underneath the dash.
The new wheel is definitely thicker and better feeling, but the thicker, smaller diameter rim obstructs the gauges a bit more.
The new wheel is only available through Lotus. As I have pointed out before, Lotus has agreements with many of its suppliers that prevent you from buying the parts directly from the manufacturers. Momo representatives told me that this wheel was designed specially for Lotus and is not available in the aftermarket. The Lotus "list" price is currently $763 US. Yikes!
The GM wheel is *very* poorly built. The rim is wrapped in imitation leather that is hand-sticthed to make it look more real. The airbag unit doesn't fit squarely into the wheel. Underneath the airbag, torn-off pieces of masking tape are used to hold the wiring in place.
The poor quality of the GM wheel is really evident in it's flimsy horn buttons. These have got to be the cheapest piece of **** switches known to man. They are made out of a very brittle, clear plastic. I have probably used my horn only one or two dozen times, yet I found both buttons cracked and they practically disintegrated in my hands. The horn button on the Momo wheel is in the proper position on the center of the crash pad. This makes it easier to press than the ones on the spokes of the airbag wheel, or the one on the end of the turn signal stalk in older Esprits. Also, I don't know how but Momo managed to keep their logo on the horn switch. Older Esprits with Nardi wheels required the Lotus badge instead.
I'm surprised at just how heavy the airbag and steering wheel package is. At just about 10 pounds, it definitely doesn't seem fitting on a car from a company famous for lightweight vehicles. By contrast, the Momo wheel probably weighs about 3 to 4 pounds.
Removing the airbag is a nerve wracking experience. I kept fearing that thing would explode in my face and kill me. I followed the steps in the manual, but it's still scary. I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to store the airbag unit. I suppose a cool, dry place is called for, but I'm not sure I want that explosive device inside my house.
Removing the wheel from the hub is (as most things Lotus) an excercise in frustration. The manual warns in several places not to apply too much force while attempting to pull the wheel off because it can permanently damage the collapsible steering column. It says that if it doesn't let go with a small wiggle, then you should use an "appropriate" steering wheel puller. Problem is there is no place to attach a standard steering wheel puller. There are two holes that could be used if only they had been threaded as in most other wheels. There is nothing else to grab onto to pull the wheel off. The parts list did not indicate a special Lotus tool either. I finally removed the wheel by fabricating my own custom puller that attached to the airbag fixing screws. A perfect example of a 10-minute job that took all day because it was on a Lotus.
Underneath the wheel is an interesting device that is used to maintain the horn and airbag connections as the wheel rotates. This unit has to be removed which requires that you remove the upper and lower (leather) steering column shrouds.
If you look at the Parts List you'll notice that there is a different part number for the shrouds depending on whether or not the wheel has an airbag. It appears the only real reason for this is that the non-airbag shroud extends a little further towards the wheel, thus covering the boss (hub) better. If you don't switch to the other shroud, a gap of about 1/4 inch is exposed behind the boss. No big deal.
The Parts list also has different parts numbers for the turn signal switch on airbag vs. non-airbag cars. I haven't had a chance to look into it yet, but I wonder if this is the reason my turn signal wasn't being cancelled after completing a turn. Maybe it just needs adjustment.
I haven't figured out how the horn connects yet either. There is a horn ring that has one wire going to the horn switch. The horn switch has another wire coming out of it. I know that I'm missing a few parts, but I still don't know where that second wire goes. If anyone has an Esprit V8/GT3 Service Manual, could they look it up and explain it to me?
Also, I haven't figured out how to keep the SRS tell tale from lighting up. I don't want to simply remove the bulb, because I want to keep the passenger airbag functional. The airbag unit only uses two wires, I'm guessing that I could connect the two wires with a variable resistor. I could then change the resistance values until the CPU believes there is an airbag in place. Once I find the correct resistance value I can replace it with a fixed value resistor. Any airbag and/or electronics experts out there think this will work?
Finally, I did a little research on the Internet regarding the laws about removing airbags. If one is to believe what one reads on the internet, what I learned was this:
You can remove or disconnect/disable the airbag on your own vehicle as long as you replace it when you sell the vehicle or notify the buyer that the airbag is not operational. All those things you hear about having to request that the government grant you permission to disable the unit have to do with having someone disable the unit for you. Even if you did manage to be one of the few who got approval to get the airbag disabled, you will probably have a hard time finding someone who will do the job. The reason is that there is too much liability at stake. Most shops are afraid they will get sued if you're in an accident and your airbag wasn't functional, even if you requested it this way.
Remember, this is all info I read on the Internet, so it's validity is questionable. If you get hurt because your airbag didn't deploy, don't come saying that I said it was OK.
From: Tim.Mullen@trw.com (Tim Mullen)
Karl Franz Marquez wrote:
Also, I haven't figured out how to keep the SRS tell tale from lighting up. I don't want to simply remove the bulb, because I want to keep the passenger airbag functional. The airbag unit only uses two wires, I'm guesing that I could connect the two wires with a variable resistor.
Not going into whether you should or shouldn't remove airbags...
From reading discussions about other cars, you can connect a shorting resistor (my '93 Honda even includes them in the harness for testing...) across the airbag connector to simulate the bag to the computer. The problem is that the resistance values are usually only 1-3 ohms or something on that order - very small. You don't want to measure the resistance of the airbag itself, because the voltage of you meter may be enough to set off the bag...
Does the manual say anything about the resistance value for testing purposes?...
Oh, and it may not be the same as a GM car even though it's made by GM. The actual airbags are usually sized for the specific car.