Loose Steering Wheel (airbag removal)

[umakegoodcookies]

My 2015 3.8 AWD premium seems to have a loose steering wheel. I only recently got the car and didn't notice it in a test drive but on a hard turn recently I noticed a scary feeling clunk or click in the wheel. After playing around I discovered that i can rock it back and forth a little bit. I'm assuming it must be a loose steering wheel. So, I have to get in there and tighten it.

I looked up airbag removal and did not a thread that said there are holes behind the steering wheel that you can put something in to get it off. However, as near as I can tell those require rotating the wheel back and forth. But isn't that kind of impossible with the battery disconnected? (as would be needed before attempting anything with the airbag)

Also, before I get into this and realize I don't have the right tool, can someone tell me the size of the socket needed to tighten it?

 

[joegr]

What you are describing is play in the steering. It's not a loose steering wheel. The wheel goes on a splined shaft. Even it the nut were somehow loose (never really happens), the wheel still wouldn't rock back and forth.
There are several common causes of play in the steering. The first thing usually checked is the outer tie rod ends.

 

[umakegoodcookies]

What you are describing is play in the steering. It's not a loose steering wheel. The wheel goes on a splined shaft. Even it the nut were somehow loose (never really happens), the wheel still wouldn't rock back and forth.
There are several common causes of play in the steering. The first thing usually checked is the outer tie rod ends.

Thanks for thinking about the problem. However, I’m pretty sure it’s not loose in the way you’re thinking.

When I say it rocks back and forth I don’t mean in the plane of rotation. It happens if I pull away from the dash on one side and push toward it on the other orthogonal to the rotating plane. it’s not rotating back and forth in any kind of loose way suggesting an actual steering issue. I’ve replaced dozens of tie rods. I know what loose steering feels like and what a loose steering wheel (or maybe column?) feels like. This is definitely the latter.

And yes, it shouldn’t be moving on the splined shaft. However, it does Just a tiny amount, maybe not even 1mm at the Edge of the wheel. But it’s sudden and disconcerting when driving, usually when going around a fast turn on a ramp. At first I thought that it might be the column but I think that it’s only the wheel moving. It’s Hard to tell when it’s so small though.

 

[joegr]

I haven't removed the wheel on your specific car, but I have removed one on another Hyundai. The holes to access the airbag release should be far enough out that you don't have to turn the wheel to get to all four, with the wheel extended out. The releases are very easy to to trip, once you get the trick, but it did take me a little while to figure out the first one.
It is possible to unlock the wheel, and then disconnect the battery. You can turn the wheel without power. It is also reasonably safe to trip the four releases while the car is still powered, disconnect the battery, wait a while, then unplug the airbag. Please note that the two air bag connectors have locks that you have to release before you can disconnect them. It is pretty easy to damage the connectors, so do be very careful. Please update with the confirmed cause of the looseness, as this is very curious.

 

[ntmehan]

Thanks for thinking about the problem. However, I’m pretty sure it’s not loose in the way you’re thinking.

When I say it rocks back and forth I don’t mean in the plane of rotation. It happens if I pull away from the dash on one side and push toward it on the other orthogonal to the rotating plane. it’s not rotating back and forth in any kind of loose way suggesting an actual steering issue. I’ve replaced dozens of tie rods. I know what loose steering feels like and what a loose steering wheel (or maybe column?) feels like. This is definitely the latter.

And yes, it shouldn’t be moving on the splined shaft. However, it does Just a tiny amount, maybe not even 1mm at the Edge of the wheel. But it’s sudden and disconcerting when driving, usually when going around a fast turn on a ramp. At first I thought that it might be the column but I think that it’s only the wheel moving. It’s Hard to tell when it’s so small though.

This exact same thing was happening to my '15 5.0 right after I bought it about 13 months ago. Do all the switches and everything around the wheel, that are mounted to the column move as well? If so, I have a few posts about it in more detail on the forum, but it ended up being one of the mounting brackets for the whole column that was, according to the dealer, "bent" and they were able to bend it back into the right shape and retorque it. Totally fixed the issue. Wish I could be more specific, but they didn't tell me any more than that. I'm wondering, as the first owner of my car was a bit older, maybe it has to do with using the wheel to help get out of the car?

Definitely don't take apart the wheel and deal with the airbag, check out the column mounting brackets first!

 

[umakegoodcookies]

This exact same thing was happening to my '15 5.0 right after I bought it about 13 months ago. Do all the switches and everything around the wheel, that are mounted to the column move as well? If so, I have a few posts about it in more detail on the forum, but it ended up being one of the mounting brackets for the whole column that was, according to the dealer, "bent" and they were able to bend it back into the right shape and retorque it. Totally fixed the issue. Wish I could be more specific, but they didn't tell me any more than that. I'm wondering, as the first owner of my car was a bit older, maybe it has to do with using the wheel to help get out of the car?

Definitely don't take apart the wheel and deal with the airbag, check out the column mounting brackets first!

Thanks, all my switches and everything seem to be good but... I'm not sure what you mean. They're attached to the wheel and the wheel movies. If the brackets are prone to issues perhaps I'll try to figure out how to get at them without pulling out the whole dash.

 

[ntmehan]

Thanks, all my switches and everything seem to be good but... I'm not sure what you mean. They're attached to the wheel and the wheel movies. If the brackets are prone to issues perhaps I'll try to figure out how to get at them without pulling out the whole dash.

If you put both hands behind 9:00 and 3:00 behind the wheel and pull toward you with the left then right and keep alternating, and everything that's column mounted, moves with the wheel, you know that the whole column is moving, not just the wheel. That was true of mine, and the bracket issue fixed it. I'm not positive, but I'd think if you pulled off the under-dash finisher with the light in it on the driver's side, you should be able to see, maybe 2 brackets supporting the column.

I'll also mention that the first dealer I took it to tried to tell me that movement was normal and "due to the haptic steering wheel system..." Obviously that's not right and the second dealer promptly fixed mine.

 

[umakegoodcookies]

Ugh... still trying to remove the airbag. I'm guessing there are 3 holes you have to go through, one at the bottom, and two on each side that are only reachable with the steering wheel rotated (they're more like grooves than holes, little rectangles maybe 1 cm long. I can't get anything to move through the bottom but the left and right ones seem to have a little spring I can move to get it to release just a little bit. But it doesn't seem enough.

 

[kocyk123]

If you put both hands behind 9:00 and 3:00 behind the wheel and pull toward you with the left then right and keep alternating, and everything that's column mounted, moves with the wheel, you know that the whole column is moving, not just the wheel. That was true of mine, and the bracket issue fixed it. I'm not positive, but I'd think if you pulled off the under-dash finisher with the light in it on the driver's side, you should be able to see, maybe 2 brackets supporting the column.

I'll also mention that the first dealer I took it to tried to tell me that movement was normal and "due to the haptic steering wheel system..." Obviously that's not right and the second dealer promptly fixed mine.

Thanks! I have same problem (movement is minimal but it is there) and dealer also told me it has to do with the haptic system which already raised my bs flag.

 

[umakegoodcookies]

OK, after quite a bit of effort I got the airbag off and lower panels and was able to get a good look at how the steering wheel is attached and the internal attachments of the power adjustable steering column.

First, how to remove the panels. There's one main panel you want removed below the steering wheel attached with 4 screws and a lot of clips. The first screw you need to get to is very low down, outside the normal line of sight on the right. It's the only one there, can't miss it. The other 3 are behind the panel on the left end of the dash. That panel is just clipped on but it's also held in by the weather stripping and, while you could work around it, it's easiest to just pull the weather stripping free around the panel. You should be able to see the screws to be removed after that end piece is gone. The rest of the main panel under the dash just unclips. Good luck with that part. Then you might want to remove the piece under the steering wheel. There are 3 screws here, one obvious and 2 hidden. First you need to unclip the top section from the bottom around the steering column. It just snaps off with a little bit of prying. Note that the top is the inside piece so apply pressure appropriately. Now, with the top up out of the way, rotate the steering wheel 90°. You should be able to find a screw on one side. Remove that, turn the wheel again, and take off the other one. Now you can take off the obvious screw that was at the bottom of that panel and it more or less should fall off.

Now on to the airbag. After disconnecting the battery there are 3 clips you need to move to get the airbag free. They are at 3, 6, and 9. They are all accessed through small holes in the back of the steering wheel.

You need to do the 6 O'clock one first at the bottom of the steering wheel. For this, I found that what works best is a Robertson screwdriver that barely fits in the hole (in my case a #6 - green). If you put it in about as straight up as you can with the handle away from you a bit you'll hit a lip. Move the handle toward you a little and you'll move ahead a bit further to the plastic piece that has to be pushed in. Push pretty hard and the airbag will come free at the bottom.

For 3 and 9 O'Clock clips you'll need a different screwdriver. The best would be something about 3" shaft or more, flathead, that fits in the hole with a slim handle. You don't want it to be so long that it's hung up on the bottom of the gauge cluster. Rotate the steering wheel 90°. If you look at the back of what is now the top part of the steering wheel, very close to the steering column, you'll see a few square or rectangular holes. The longest one is your target. Take your screwdriver (or similar device) and put it in that longest hole as close the the steering column as possible and as parallel to it as possible as well (keep the handle close to the steering column, thus the slim handle). When it stops you're likely at the spring. You want to move the tip of the screwdriver up a bit so that you feel it slip past the spring. Now, you can pull the handle of the screwdriver up, levering the spring down. This should allow you to pull out that side. Do the same for the other side.

One thing I found helped was not have the already released side too far out while trying to get out the unreleased side.

So here's what I found. The steering column attachments all seemed perfectly fine and tight. I didn't see a bracket that could be easily damaged by someone pushing on it hard. And, it was very clear at this point that the movement I was getting was where the steering wheel itself was attached to the column. The bolt felt tight and tightening it further didn't fix anything. So, off it came (21 mm bolt). And then I saw the problem. The wheel was very loose on the splined shaft. Either the shaft, wheel, or both were either very worn or defective on installation. I've never seen a wheel that so easily rocked back and forth on the shaft. I was hoping that maybe a washer would cinch things down a bit better but the wheel has a built in one and it wasn't bottomed out at all. So, I put the bolt back in and tried to crank it as tight as I could. I couldn't get rid of all of the movement but it was a bit better. The wheel is still rocking, just a bit, because it's loose on the shaft in the first place.

So, not totally successful. But, at least I know the wheel isn't falling off any time soon.

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[carguy75]

OK, after quite a bit of effort I got the airbag off and lower panels and was able to get a good look at how the steering wheel is attached and the internal attachments of the power adjustable steering column.

First, how to remove the panels. There's one main panel you want removed below the steering wheel attached with 4 screws and a lot of clips. The first screw you need to get to is very low down, outside the normal line of sight on the right. It's the only one there, can't miss it. The other 3 are behind the panel on the left end of the dash. That panel is just clipped on but it's also held in by the weather stripping and, while you could work around it, it's easiest to just pull the weather stripping free around the panel. You should be able to see the screws to be removed after that end piece is gone. The rest of the main panel under the dash just unclips. Good luck with that part. Then you might want to remove the piece under the steering wheel. There are 3 screws here, one obvious and 2 hidden. First you need to unclip the top section from the bottom around the steering column. It just snaps off with a little bit of prying. Note that the top is the inside piece so apply pressure appropriately. Now, with the top up out of the way, rotate the steering wheel 90°. You should be able to find a screw on one side. Remove that, turn the wheel again, and take off the other one. Now you can take off the obvious screw that was at the bottom of that panel and it more or less should fall off.

Now on to the airbag. After disconnecting the battery there are 3 clips you need to move to get the airbag free. They are at 3, 6, and 9. They are all accessed through small holes in the back of the steering wheel.

You need to do the 6 O'clock one first at the bottom of the steering wheel. For this, I found that what works best is a Robertson screwdriver that barely fits in the hole (in my case a #6 - green). If you put it in about as straight up as you can with the handle away from you a bit you'll hit a lip. Move the handle toward you a little and you'll move ahead a bit further to the plastic piece that has to be pushed in. Push pretty hard and the airbag will come free at the bottom.

For 3 and 9 O'Clock clips you'll need a different screwdriver. The best would be something about 3" shaft or more, flathead, that fits in the hole with a slim handle. You don't want it to be so long that it's hung up on the bottom of the gauge cluster. Rotate the steering wheel 90°. If you look at the back of what is now the top part of the steering wheel, very close to the steering column, you'll see a few square or rectangular holes. The longest one is your target. Take your screwdriver (or similar device) and put it in that longest hole as close the the steering column as possible and as parallel to it as possible as well (keep the handle close to the steering column, thus the slim handle). When it stops you're likely at the spring. You want to move the tip of the screwdriver up a bit so that you feel it slip past the spring. Now, you can pull the handle of the screwdriver up, levering the spring down. This should allow you to pull out that side. Do the same for the other side.

One thing I found helped was not have the already released side too far out while trying to get out the unreleased side.

So here's what I found. The steering column attachments all seemed perfectly fine and tight. I didn't see a bracket that could be easily damaged by someone pushing on it hard. And, it was very clear at this point that the movement I was getting was where the steering wheel itself was attached to the column. The bolt felt tight and tightening it further didn't fix anything. So, off it came. And then I saw the problem. The wheel was very loose on the splined shaft. Either the shaft, wheel, or both were either very worn or defective on installation. I've never seen a wheel that so easily rocked back and forth on the shaft. I was hoping that maybe a washer would cinch things down a bit better but the wheel has a built in one and it wasn't bottomed out at all. So, I put the bolt back in and tried to crank it as tight as I could. I couldn't get rid of all of the movement but it was a bit better. The wheel is still rocking, just a bit, because it's loose on the shaft in the first place.

So, not totally successful. But, at least I know the wheel isn't falling off any time soon.

Was you able to pull the steering wheel off the shaft without a puller?

 

[umakegoodcookies]

Was you able to pull the steering wheel off the shaft without a puller?

If it weren't for the shaft being angled downward the wheel would have easily fallen off without the bolt holding it in place. It was very loose (for a steering wheel) and the edge of the wheel that contacted the bolt was very uneven. It looked beat to crap.

 

[carguy75]

If it weren't for the shaft being angled downward the wheel would have easily fallen off without the bolt holding it in place. It was very loose (for a steering wheel) and the edge of the wheel that contacted the bolt was very uneven. It looked beat to crap.

Seems like your used Genesis have a history. It sounds like the spines are stripped for some unknown reason. Could be a factory defect or maybe from an collision.

Do you have pics of the wheel and shaft splines?

 

[umakegoodcookies]

Seems like your used Genesis have a history. It sounds like the spines are stripped for some unknown reason. Could be a factory defect or maybe from an collision.

Do you have pics of the wheel and shaft splines?

I didn't take any pictures, probably should have. I'm not sure I could have gotten enough detail in. The splines were still strong enough to hold the wheel so that it didn't slip in rotation. But the wheel did rock against the shaft easily.

(and yeah, it looks like a history... Carfax was not useful in this case)

 

[Suburbazine]

I didn't take any pictures, probably should have. I'm not sure I could have gotten enough detail in. The splines were still strong enough to hold the wheel so that it didn't slip in rotation. But the wheel did rock against the shaft easily.

(and yeah, it looks like a history... Carfax was not useful in this case)

For the wheel to be loose on the splines...suggests that someone either impacted the wheel in a collision (no airbag deployment) or deliberately damaged it by twisting the wheel forward and back. Steering wheel installation is one of those things tested at the factory to ensure safety and this normally wouldn't escape detection. The only other alternative is that the car was also in a collision and the wheel was damaged, then replaced with an aftermarket (knockoff) wheel that wasn't to spec.

 

[umakegoodcookies]

For the wheel to be loose on the splines...suggests that someone either impacted the wheel in a collision (no airbag deployment) or deliberately damaged it by twisting the wheel forward and back. Steering wheel installation is one of those things tested at the factory to ensure safety and this normally wouldn't escape detection. The only other alternative is that the car was also in a collision and the wheel was damaged, then replaced with an aftermarket (knockoff) wheel that wasn't to spec.

I can confirm that the wheel is an OEM wheel. An accident isn't implausible. But, if the splines could really be damaged by the user, with seemingly no exterior damage, that's not a very strong system. I couldn't possible torque my Miata's wheel or my old Merc's wheel hard enough to cause that.

I've been thinking of fixes and thought perhaps I'd try a crush washer if I can get one big enough.... perhaps under and above the wheel. Because the face of the wheel where it meets the bolt is uneven this may fill in those imperfections. (didn't inspect bottom of the wheel)

 

[carguy75]

I can confirm that the wheel is an OEM wheel. An accident isn't implausible. But, if the splines could really be damaged by the user, with seemingly no exterior damage, that's not a very strong system. I couldn't possible torque my Miata's wheel or my old Merc's wheel hard enough to cause that.

I've been thinking of fixes and thought perhaps I'd try a crush washer if I can get one big enough.... perhaps under and above the wheel. Because the face of the wheel where it meets the bolt is uneven this may fill in those imperfections. (didn't inspect bottom of the wheel)

The best fix would be a new steering column or maybe steering wheel. Depending on what part has the warped spines. Hell, both may need to be replaced.