2007 Taco steering wheel controls - do I HAVE TO disconnect the battery?

S'up guys! Pardon the abrupt question but I could not find an answer anywhere on this board. I'll admit, however, that I am very new here and not real savvy on "boards" in general.

That said, here's the question I have. "Do I HAVE to disconnect the battery just to remove the bolts on the air bag and slide it just out of the way enough to access the left side steering wheel stereo controls"?

I need to get at them as they have gone from working great, to intermittent, to weird responses to not working at all, in about 2 weeks. I purchased this truck just a few weeks ago and have since had the Pioneer H.U. out a few times working with a new rear camera. Oddly (and hopefully coincidentally) that's when the controls started to freak out.

So......... can I just be very careful moving the air bag to the side....... or am I asking for a BIG nasty surprise??? I really don't want to hassle with taking the trucks brain down for a while!

Thanks
Robert

 

Always disconnect the battery when dealing with airbags/electrical

 

If you're messing around with airbag wires, best bet is to disconnect the battery. The reason is that you don't want to set them off.
Any other wiring, and you can pretty much leave it all hooked up. Some people get spooked by working with live wires.

Little hint about airbag related wires; they're all wrapped in YELLOW. They are the only ones wrapped in yellow, and they are ALL wrapped in yellow. SO need to mess with the yellow wiring harness? Disconnect the battery. Anything else? Go at it!

 

Okay......... thanks guys. Always better to be safe...... than sorry.

 

no you do not have to

but the risk of air bag activation and breaking bones in your face or arms is reduced if you disconnect battery before digging in

 

1. So you think it's the button block assembly that's gone flaky and not the spiral cable?
2. There's a ground wire connected to the airbag that's pretty short. You might not be able to have enough working room with the ground wire connected.