Passenger Airbag Removal Not-a-Howto

Ok. So I'm in the middle of reinstalling my airbag and think I finally figured this thing out. I don't have time/will to write a full how-to, but I can give the gist of it for future people.

First, follow the airbag removal instructions I found somewhere around here:


Step 3 is a doozie, which is what this post is about.

What they don't tell you here is that there are 4 bolts holding the airbag assembly into the dash, two easy to get, down near the bottom, and 2 more up on tabs at about the level of the air vents.

Undo all four of them.

Next, rotate the airbag assembly downward by pulling the tabs for the lower bolts forward. The back side of the airbag will rotate down and be held in place by the glove box mount protruding from the metal frame in the middle of your view from the bottom. Doing this will give you access behind the airbag assembly up to the top of the dash, where you will see:



There are 3 gold color bolts that hold the airbag cover to the black metal stay. Remove these with a 10mm socket on a long extension.

Now you can remove the top cover by pulling the part closest to you up a little, then sliding the whole cover forward and out.

Now you have access to remove the airbag unit from the top. This is a trial/error/cuss process. Fiddle with it enough and it'll make sense.

Let me know if this is too clear of a post and I will attempt to muddy it.

 

Hey brother, your post helps a lot but I've gotten to a point where I removed 3 bolts holding the back of cover on and the airbag 4 bolts as well but when I'm trying to maneuver the assembly out, the tabs on side of the assembly won't get past the dash opening. Did you also have to remove the instrument panel stay completely in order to get airbag out?

 

Thanks for this, as I'm sure it will come in handy...however, I'm having a difficult time even finding a replacement.
FleaBay has one for 1998, and another for a 2001.

Where can I find out if any are compatible with my 1999 ?

 

You look up the part no. for each year. 1998-2000 should be the same, but check the part no.'s.