wassup everyone... needed some help...
my driver side airbag deployed in a small accident i had 2 months back...
wanted to swap out my airbag... found a 95 max being parted out...

anyone here ever changed their airbag?... i need some help guys. so far i know that i need to change the air bag module. any directions are welcome... thanks

 

It depends. The 95-96 years had a different steering wheel design than the 97-99's, which of course led to a redesign of the airbag shape in the middle of the steering wheel. So, if you do have a 95-96 Maxima, yes, the center piece of the parts 95 steering wheel will swap right into your steering wheel. If you have a 97-99, you'll have to find an airbag from a 97-99. You'll need a size 50 Torx security bit to take off the airbag from the steering wheel though. Make sure you disconnect the battery completely when working with the airbag though. Just for added security, unplug the SRS fuse. You'll see two black panels that should pop off of each side of the steering wheel. Pop those out to gain access to the Torx bolts. You'll have to remove the cover on the cruise control on the 97-99 to gain access to the Torx bolt. Once you remove the Torx bolt from both sides of the airbag on the steering wheel, the airbag will pull out from the front. Disconnect the airbag and cruise control. And Voila! Repeat backwards for installation.

After you replace the airbag, you'll probably have to reset the airbag light. There is a guide on the ORG showing you how to reset it too, search for it. Note: there is no need to take off the entire steering wheel. So don't worry about that.

Overall, it's really easy to swap airbags though, but just make sure you get the right year, otherwise the shape of the cover on the airbag won't fit on your steering wheel. Make sure you work safe!

 

^^ That about sums it up.

I'll add that you're supposed to wait 10 minutes after disconnecting the battery before tampering with airbag related items.

Also, disconnect the yellow harness plug under the steering column for added safety. Reconnect after new airbag is fully installed and secured. Then reconnect battery as the last step.

 

is it honestly that easy? i need to do this as well

 

tcaughey - thanks alot for the detailed directions... really appreciate it man.
wizard - will search for and unplug the yellow harness... thanks

one question though... someone i talked to mentioned that i have to reprogram the computer... any information on this?...
and all i have to do is swap out the center of the steering wheel?... no replacing anything else?... thanks.

 

AFAIK if the airbag was deployed, you also need to replace the SRS module. Get FSM it has all the details about airbag replacement. And yes, you'd want to wait 10-15 minutes after battery disconnect before messing up with SRS.

 

do you have to do anything with the airbag clockspring? im about to get parts just making sure of what i need.

 

It's a good idea to replace it as well. The heat generated by the airbag deployment can sometimes melt the wiring inside the spiral cable assembly. This could possibly be unseen from the outside. But I have seen it happen before.

 

Just curious, is it possible to replace a 98 maxima passenger srs with a 97 passenger srs?