DIY 98-00 RSX Steering Wheel Single Stage Conversion

Solidus

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YOU CAN HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONAL RSX AIRBAG, HORN, AND CRUISE CONTROL IN A 98-00 ACCORD.

I am not responsible for any vehicle damage, injuries or accidents/death, or any other related events or incidents that might occur while doing this modification. It is your car and you are responsible for anything that goes wrong. Always safety first. Always seek professional help whenever it comes to SRS Units and Airbags.

First you want to make sure you have all the tools you need. For this you will need….

Accord Steering Wheel 98-00
RSX Steering Wheel 02-06
Long thin pliers
Adjustable Wrench
Allen Wrench (Dont remember what size)
Metal Cutter
Electrical Tape
Electrical Wire (For ground)

First you want to take every safety measure possible if you decide to attempt this. Remember if you decide to do this it is your decision alone and no one else’s. Only you are responsible for anything that goes wrong or may go wrong. ALWAYS SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP.

You want to unplug your battery. I did the negative cable. You must wait a minimum of 30 minutes before attempting anything. After unplugging the battery and waiting the 30 minutes proceed slowly to the next step which is removing the 98-00 Accord steering wheel.

Valet has a great write up of removing the Accord Steering Wheel and installing the RSX Steering Wheel. This is the link. http://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42151

So I will focus more on the conversion.

1) Make sure you are not near anything electrical and do not wear clothing that can create static shock cause this could cause the explosive module (which you will be removing) to explode.

2) Take the 98-00 Accord airbag and look at the back. You will see the Single Stage Explosive Module and the four bolts that hold it in place. You want to remove these four bolts. For the Accord Airbag I used a combination of the adjustable wrench and Long Pliers to remove the bolts. These bolts do require a good amount of torque to remove as they are not meant to come off hence their triangular shape.

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3) Once you remove the bolts carefully remove the explosive module and place it somewhere safe and away from everything especially electrical.

4) Next you want to remove the Dual Stage Explosive Module from the RSX Airbag. To do this it will require you to remove the rear metal bracket using an allen wrench so you have more space to work with in order to get enough room for your Long Pliers to remove the explosive module bolts.

5) After removing the rear metal bracket you want to remove the four bolts holding the explosive module in place. For this I used the long pliers because even with the metal bracket off its still a really tight space and once again the bolts are triangular in shape.

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6) After removing the four bolts from the explosive module on the RSX Airbag carefully remove the explosive module and once again set it somewhere safe, away from everything especially electrical.

7) Now with the RSX Airbag (Explosive Module Removed) take your metal cutter and cut a little bit of the horn connector off. This is because the Accord Explosive module is a little more square and requires a little more room to fit.

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8) Next take the Accord Single Stage explosive module and test fit it carefully in the RSX Airbag. It should fit perfectly flush with the airbag. IF IT IS NOT FLUSH DO NOT INSTALL WITH BOLTS. Make sure it is completely flush before properly securing with bolts.

9) Once you have the Accord Single Stage explosive module flush with the airbag and everything looks as it should secure the module with four bolts as tight as possible without being overly tight.

10) Once you finish securing the module, reattach the metal bracket you removed earlier with your allen wrench.

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11) Now you have a Single Stage Conversion RSX Airbag.

From here you can simply follow Valet through the link above regarding reinstallation of the steering wheel and airbag in the vehicle. As for the horn you need to create a wire with which to attach the 2 horn connectors so you can have a functioning horn. As with anything electrical always use plenty of electrical tape.

Hope this helps and Happy Modding. Rep Appreciated
 
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Brad2274

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doing this after i swap in my other clock spring, i tried to wire the dual stage as a single with crimp connectors :lawl:
great write up, rep added
 

VancouverAccord

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Very nice. This will open up much more options for both single and dual stage vehicle owners. Thanks for the info!:favorites13:
 

Solidus

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^You are welcome. Im sure it will.

doing this after i swap in my other clock spring, i tried to wire the dual stage as a single with crimp connectors :lawl:
great write up, rep added

Yeah you definitely don't want to mess with that. Thank You
 

DBO867

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I think my airbag came with the wrong explosive module. Mines a hex shape and it doesnt sit in the rsx airbag slot at all
 
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