Hey, folks - brand new to the forum, long time Ford enthusiast. Trying to change out the clockspring on a 1998 Ford Windstar, and cannot determine how to get into the steering wheel. (I moved, can't find my Helm service manual, and it's now out of print. *Grumble.* ) To back up a bit more... both the horn and the cruise control are non-functional, so I'm assuming it's the clockspring. But the airbag warning light comes on at vehicle startup and then goes out, which I find confusing. Maybe only some of the connections on the clockspring are gibbled? Or could something else be at fault? Any clarifications would be welcome. >Charlie

 

If you are going to remove the steering wheel , you need a steering wheel puller. BUT, before you get involved in that ,read up on how to disable the air bag system ,or you could be sitting with an exploded air bag in your lap.. There is a special procedure to do this.

 

Thanks for the reply! After my post, I found a Haynes manual online available for download. So I did that, and discovered that there are two screws at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, covered by plastic trim pieces. To neutralize the airbag, Haynes says to disconnect the battery and wait 2 minutes. The airbag can then be disconnected and removed, revealing the bolt that holds the wheel on. Remove that, and then attach your steering wheel puller and go to town. I own a puller, so no prob there. Anyway, I think I've got a handle on this. If I have any further questions, I'll post 'em here. Keep rockin!

 

Please make sure you read up as much as you can because some OEM manuals say to disconnect the positive cable, why not sure, better to have all good info.

 

You might need a special tool to depress the piece that holds the steering wheel in the locked position so you can remove the lock ring that holds it all in place under spring pressure.

 

Hey, Hanky - thanks for your continuing interest. I appreciate it. As I find time in the next few days, I'll take a run at pulling the wheel, and maybe take pictures. The last time I tried posting something with pictures my post just disappeared; the message was something along the line of 'sent for validation by a human being who will determine that you're not trying to post **** to our website'... or something like that. Anyway, that post just disappeared, forever. So I'm not sure how useful it would be to take pictures and try to post them. Pictures seem to result in the post being vaporized. C'est la vie...

 

I hear you, maybe , we may not be following the proper procedure, from time to time some posts disappear.