In the process of replacing the A/C blowers in my car I removed the
passenger-side airbag and thought I would share some pictures and
info about that process. Once the necessary bits have been removed
to expose it, the airbag module must be disarmed to make it safer
to handle and to allow removal of the lower mounting nuts. Note I
said ‘safer’ and not ‘safe’. Treat it with great respect, don’t
place your head or other valuable body parts in front of it, etc.
In other words, treat it like a loaded gun - with the safety off.
And whatever you do, do NOT drop it. This airbag is not
electrically activated, it is activated by impact i.e. mechanical
force. To disarm the module, press the tabs (on each end/side of
the module) on the spring-loaded, rotating plate upwards while
tilting the airbag itself downward. I had to wiggle the bag
slightly as I did this because the actuator on the back of the
module (toward the front of the vehicle) was contacting the inner
dash panel behind it. When rotated fully downward the bag
will ‘lock’ into the disarmed position and the lower mounting nuts
will be exposed. Hopefully this will make sense when you see the
pictures here: http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1372523948.
Carefully support the module while the 4 mounting nuts are removed
(one upper, one lower each side)from the mounting studs, slide the
module rearward and CAREFULLY remove it to a safe place - that is,
somewhere where it won’t be dropped, knocked off (as a workbench),
or hit. I have a pdf file containing drawings and instructions for
the removal and disposition of both the driver- and passenger-side
airbags which I will gladly send in a private email if requested.
And now for the legal disclaimer: PLEASE NOTE that I share this
information for your use AT YOUR OWN RISK and DO NOT advocate
attempting this process yourself if you are at all uncomfortable
with doing so and/or don’t feel like the instructions are adequate.–
Mike Stone - 1994 XJ6/XJ40 - 162,XXX miles
Springfield, Missouri, United States
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In reply to a message from Don B sent Sat 29 Jun 2013:
Mike,
this is a valuable info you provided for us, thanks. If you
want to remove the passenger side blower, you don’t need to
get the airbag out. I removed the blower twice without
disturbing the airbag.–
Joseph '94 XJ40 (British Steel, Maiden England) Naples, FL
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I hope the info and pictures are helpful to someone. As easy as it is to remove the airbag I chose to do so to improve access not only to the the blower but also to the blend flap actuators and the big ground stud on the cabin side of the firewall. But it is good to let folks know the blower can be removed with the airbag in place. Thanks.
Mike Stone
1994 XJ6/XJ40
162,XXX miles
Springfield, Missouri USASent via Palm Centro� “Yesterday’s Technology Today”
In reply to a message from Don B sent Sat 29 Jun 2013:
Mike,
this is a valuable info you provided for us, thanks. If you
want to remove the passenger side blower, you don’t need to
get the airbag out. I removed the blower twice without
disturbing the airbag.
Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !
Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !
In reply to a message from Mike Stone sent Tue 2 Jul 2013:
Yes, that’s true. If you wanna do additional works under the
dash, the best option is to get the airbag out. Makes all
the difference doesn’t it?–
Joseph '94 XJ40 (British Steel, Maiden England) Naples, FL
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So here we are 8 years later …I’m going to take my airbag out for the same reason that Mike did; to get access to the blend door motor.
I took the passenger bag out of my parts car a few years back but I can’t remember the steps involved exactly …e.g. how do I remove the wooden srs dash panel in front of the airbag?
Curses! Foiled again!
Got the air bag out but the damn blend door motor is on the driver’s side …grrrr …oh well, was not all for nowt, replaced passenger side blower while I was in there.
Mike, are the motors grey and the potentiometers red? The grey components were on the passenger side, however they presented a smooth surface and I could see no way to access them? Did I have to remove them or remove a part of them to access the axle?
All of this work is basically to free up my jammed upper blend door.
From what I understand, the motors have a screw head that can be turned with a screwdriver to try and free up a stuck door? Is that the case?
Larry, sorry for the late reply as I am just now seeing your post (thanks to the curse of still being a working man). Sounds like you now have it figured out. Yes, if you remove the actuator / motor, which has a flat shaft that engages the slot in the end of the blend (quarter) cylinder, you can use a wide-bladed screwdriver to rotate the cylinder to free it up if stuck. While you have the motor removed from the side of the climate control unit you can also (with the wiring connected) check to see if the unit reacts to changes in the climate control settings.
hey Mike no worries, all good now, clear picture of what’s going on at last!
I dug out my spare climate control from the VERY bottom of my parts stash and had a good look at it, removing both motors so I could see exactly how it worked.
Tomorrow I’ll dive back in, (at least it’s familiar territory after doing the airbag removal) swap out the upper motor and hopefully un-jam the upper blend door.
There may not be anything wrong with the motor / actuator, if the upper blend cylinder is jammed. Some folks have had the plastic defrost flaps break and drop down into the CCU, preventing the blend cylinder from rotating.
The defrost flaps are located beneath the defrost grilles / outlets on top of the dash at the base of the windshield, one each left and right of center. AFAIK the only way to get to them is by removing the dash TOP (not the entire dash assembly). IIRC there are a couple of posts in the archives by folks that fabricated a lasting repair.