Battery disconnect
 

I want to remove my steering wheel. Most posts I have read recommend disconnecting battery neg post for safety since the airbag must be removed.

Q1: Will this require recoding my stock Becker Grand Prix radio?

Q2: Will pulling the plug under passenger carpet render the airbag system safe without disconnecting the battery or will I eat plastic? I suspect disconnecting the battery is belt AND suspenders.

I've changed a couple of steering wheels. You need to disconnect the battery and you will have to input the code. You can rig a 9 volt to the cigarette lighter and it may keep the code.

AirBag Safety
 

ReCoding a radio is no big deal...

'Having your Widow collect the Life Insurance and move to Argentina with the
Pool Boy is...
That 'ole AirBag'll break your neck in a heartbeat!

Disconnect the Battery AND the Capacitor Plug.

Thank you both
 

I'm convinced. I'm going to research my radio code before I pull the wheel.

Call me reckless, but I have safely removed my airbag without cutting power several times.
I don't see why it is any more likely to detonate than at any other time.

Rocky - if you are talking about your 560SL, that radio may not have a code. Some radios of that era need a special tool to reset the radio that only a few dealers still have. But that is generally only necessary when the radio is removed while the alarm system is on. In my 560SL I disconnected the battery many times and never had a problem. However, my 560SL had a radio from an '87 installed in it at some point. There may have been a change from '87 to '88?

It is so easy to follow the service manual requirements, so why not do it? Disconnect the battery and the SRS connector plug in the passenger footwell. Leave the SRS connector unplugged for at least 30 minutes prior to doing the airbag removal.

Sokoloff. Dugald has so little excitement in his life he needs the danger to assure him that he is still alive. That may change if he can ever get his new car out of the midwest and up to the tundra.

Rocky. Follow the manual.

A phone call to Becker
 

resulted in the following information.

The Becker Grand Prix in my car and others of similar vintage will display a row of dashes after power is reconnected and the radio is turned on. It will not work until recoded in some arcane way, probably by Becker.

I was told that if one removes the radio first and unplugs the 5-pin connector from the back of the radio AND LEAVES IT OUT, the radio will operate normally. The 5-pin plug may be removed before or after the battery is disconnected so long as the radio is not turned on before removal and the 5-pin NOT replaced.

Since I am about to leave on a pilgrimage to the sun I probably won't report results until my return and the repair is completed. I'll think of all of you often while in Bermuda (snicker).

radio safeing
 

I couldn't wait. Pulled the radio out, unplugged the 5-pin connector, disconnected the battery, reconnected the battery after 15 minutes without re-plugging the 5-pin.

Radio works normally.

I bought a 88 560 last week and had to replace the battery. Radio works OK after new install.