# MK4 Steering Wheel Airbag, Dash Airbag Blown. Help?



## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

So this is my first VW, and I do not have a lot of experience with newer cars. I've had a 63 chevy pickup and still have a 59 chevy belair. And those are cake to work on. This is ...different...

So yeah, the ******* I bought the car from stuffed paper towels in the steering wheel and sealed it with bondo maybe? Same with the passenger airbag. Im pretty sure he completely ****ed up the dash by doing this, so i don't really know which route to take to make the interior look OK again. 

Heres a few photos of the hackjob http://imgur.com/a/fopox

Any advice would be great. I'm in the San Diego area btw.


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## shadowfire (Oct 2, 2009)

first of all - that's terrible. how could you buy this without knowing/noticing? Isn't your airbag light on? 

Passenger side - judging based on your pre-2002.5 gauges, the passenger airbag cover is a split piece. It was until (i think) 2004. on 2004+ dashes its moulded into the dash, but I don't think yours was. I'd pull off the panel on the passenger side that you can see when the door's open (like where the fuse box would be if it was on the passenger side). Just pull, you might break a clip, but you should be fine. Once you pull it off, you should see the top of your glovebox on the bottom, and the airbag assembly on the top. I'd guess you airbag is missing. So hit up the mk4 classifieds, and find someone parting out a car. Buy a passenger airbag and see if you can buy the dash cover too. What i'm thinking is that you could buy the dash cover, cut out your dash the size of the cover, and put the new one in place. Hopefully, the "bondo'd" area at that point would be just a thin circle. 
Your other option is to replace the whole upper dash... have fun with that if you want to go that route.

Driver's side- (again guessing model year based on gauges) i think that steering wheel is from a 2003+. I could be wrong, but I think the original wheel for that car looks like this:








You can probably get an airbag and cover for that 3 spoke wheel. That'd be the cheapest route. Again, you can probably get one from a partout on the mk4 classifieds. Follow the first part of this diy:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?764870-Removal-of-OEM-steering-wheels-(moclov)
to get the cover off your wheel. The you should be able to replace the middle part of the wheel, and it should look good as new.

That's how i'd go about it. good luck!


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## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

First of all i apologize for not putting the year -.- its a 03 GTI

Yes the airbag light is on, a long with the check engine light, and fluid light. -.-

The reason i purchased it was because it was real cheap, and I needed a daily driver asap. But that's a different story. 

By looking at it, it looks like when the airbag deployed on the passenger side, it stretched and warped the ( leather ? ) and looks as though it may be none repairable. Does this mean i will have to replace the dash?

So for the drivers side, that entire "middle" piece IS the airbag? There's not a airbag, and then the piece that goes over it? 

Thanks for your help!


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## shadowfire (Oct 2, 2009)

before i go on, have you ever seen the mk4 diy thread? it has links to guides on how to do just about anything. you can find that here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...urself-Guide-Please-consult-before-posting***

The cover is a separate piece from the airbag itself, but it pops off to take the airbag out. What i'm saying is that you could replace it (as well as the airbag) and it would look fine. The process is supposedly the same for all styles of steering wheels. Read this: look about halfway down the page for the pictures, that's where the diy is... http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2541684

as for the passenger side, if you can't cut and replace the warped section, the yes, the whole upper dash would have to be replaced, as it's all one piece. I think it's a separate piece though, and that piece looks like this:








if you cut out the warped part and put that in, it would be easier.

*can somebody with a 2003 get in on this discussion? i have a 2001, and some stuff is different. i know most of the differences, but it's easier if somebody can walk outside and look for exact answers.*


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## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

Again thanks for the quick reply. i can also go outside and take any other pictures if more info is needed. I took those with my cellphone ( altough they were pretty good ) but i can bust out my DSLR when i get home.

Also something to keep in mind, this is my daily driver so im trying to figure out something i can do over a weekend. Lol. God i shouldn't have purchased this car... :banghead:


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## shadowfire (Oct 2, 2009)

don't feel bad about buying the car, they're fun... way better than modern american cars
i could gut the entire interior in a weekend, lol. you can do almost the entire job with a T20 torx :thumbup:

i would start with the driver's side. it's easier and fixing that airbag could save your life if you got in an accident... try not to crash though, that's never good :laugh:

i found somebody in the classifieds with a wheel and airbag, you really don't need a whole new wheel, but it's not a bad deal with the airbag: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5436877-FS-3-Spoke-Sterring-Wheel-and-Air-Bag

too bad we live on opposite sides of the country, i'd help you out.


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## WannabemkIV (Feb 24, 2011)

Where are you located? I have a dash and a passenger side airbag for sale for cheap. Im about an hour north of nashville TN. I'm not shipping the dash as it is too big and somewhat fragile and I have no idea what the legalities of shipping an airbag are. If you are somewhat close, hit me up with a PM.


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## WannabemkIV (Feb 24, 2011)

EDIT: nevermind I just saw that you are in San Diego. Best of luck to you.


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## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

Yeah thanks anyway wannabe


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## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

Can someone take a picture of there passenger dash if you have a 2003 GTI? I cant find any definite photos. I'm trying to figure out if mine was originally 1 solid piece or the passenger airbag has a separate pop out piece. 

Thanks


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## bizurk (Jan 29, 2010)

Bump... Anyone?


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## shadowfire (Oct 2, 2009)

back again. i thought of this because when i was browsing ecs tuning today, i saw they sell the entire dashboard assembly. it's on clearance for $100, originally $240. pretty good deal.

link: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_IV--VR6_12v/Search/Clearance/ES311576/


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