Urgent: Air bag spring once loose will need to replace?

[willos]

I was trying to get the steering wheel out and it was fitted too tight and I pulled too hard to the point where the airbag spring unit sprang out. Does it mean I will have to replace the whole spring unit?

[willos]

Just to be more clear on what I mean by loosen, the top cover of the clock spring came off. Still figuring out how to put it back and whether it is reusable at this point.

[wvicary]

If it's not sprung the ribbon cable from the unit I would try to refit the plastic top. Maybe post a pic so we can have a better understanding of whats happened.

[willos]

See attached photo.

The instructions I have with removing steer wheel is to tape the clock spring to avoid it rotating......I now know why.

[willos]

The photo.....

[willos]

One thing I did different than what is shown in the instructions (http://www.whiteson....c/obc.stalk.pdf) was that my steer wheel is not in neutral when I pull it out.

I had it turns to the 90 degrees so that I have more room to use the Torx driver to unscrew the airbag. I could not take it back to neutral because the steering wheel locks up if I turn without powering up the car.

Is this non-neutral the cause or just take I pulled too hard?

[willos]

Just an update to wrap this up. Push the top back into place and it is functioning as normal -- though I have to re-calibrate the clock spring.

The cause is probably because I forgot to take off one of the cable before pulling the wheel off. Good thing is that the coil and connectors are not damaged. The horn still works and no airbag light-up afterwards.