I've replaced dozens of broken clock springs and never pulled an air bag fuse. Every connector in the "initiator" circuit will be bright yellow and has a gold-plated shorting bar inside to prevent static electricity from setting off the air bag. As long as those connectors aren't damaged, you will be safe from accidental deployment, even if you are careless. To put it another way, to light off an air bag on purpose, as in when doing a demonstration, you have to really work at it.
Pulling fuses doesn't do anything to make you safer. All that does is prevent the computer from firing the air bag. It's not going to do that anyway with the ignition switch off. To state THAT differently, if you are reckless or don't simply use common sense, pulling fuses isn't going to help.
For demonstration purposes, a nine volt transistor battery is sufficient for firing an air bag. Any static electricity shock that you can see or feel is at least 3,000 volts, and in some cars you can generate that by sliding across the seat fabric. That is why there are shorting bars in the connectors.
All you need to do is unbolt the air bag, unplug the connector, (that one usually isn't bright yellow), set it on the passenger seat, and go about performing your repair. As long as you plug the air bag back in before you turn on the ignition switch, no fault code will be set. When you're done, touch a metal part of the car just in case you developed a static charge, plug the bag back in and put it together.
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Saturday, June 23rd, 2012 AT 8:47 PM
