Xantia steering wheel & airbag

[citroDane]

Hi everyone,

The steering wheel on my 99 Xantia is falling apart (rubber worn) and living in Croatia I can't seem to find any used spare at the junk yards down there (not many Xantias in general). I'd go with any other that fits from a C5, C4 etc and there are plenty of those. It's just I'll need to buy the airbag together with the steering wheel and given electrical connectors / signals and possibly electronics are involved I'm wary of compatibility issues.

Does anyone have any experience with this and/or any recommendation as to any other models' airbags that are compatible?

Thanks a lot in advance,
Gabriel

[red_dwarfers]

I've just had a quick look on the service Citroen website and the C5 steering wheel itself appears to be a different part number to the S2 Xantia. Something to bear in mind is that Xantias are non multiplexed whereas C5s are, I'm assuming this means that signals and things could well be different.

It might be worth pursuing a car breakers in the UK or France. I know of one Pug/Citroen one that citronut uses http://www.pcr767676.co.uk/ but I don't know if they do international post. eBay might be another place to look.

[addo]

The small plug into the back of the airbag itself, seems very common across European makes, or at least those with Autoliv systems. Also, considering you fool most airbag ECUs with the same resistor value (around 2-3 Ohms) when airbags are deleted, there shouldn't be too much worry.

If you are creative and can buy/borrow another Xantia wheel for now, it may be possible to rebuild your original with a DIY elastomer mix like Flexane, and then have it stitched in leather.

[citroDane]

Hi fellas,

Thank you both.

Addo, I'm curious...how do I fool the airbag ECU with the resistor value of 2-3 Ohms? But essentially you're saying the signals for the airbag on most European makes are more or less the same?

I am creative all right and may try to rebuild my wheel...will need to read about that Flexane thing first though. Nothing too hazardous to the lungs, I hope.

Or I might look for a used one in UK or on ebay as Kev suggested.

Cheers,
Gabriel

[addo]

Autoliv, who were originally Swedish, own the designs for a good chunk of the airbag and seatbelt supply to Euro manufacturers. It makes sense that they would adjust standard items to suit a specific application, rather than start with a clean sheet of paper each time.

People who defeat the airbag module often just join across the pyrotechnic plug terminals with a small resistor. Lowest value I have heard is 1.5 ohms (but I think he also uses a diode), most common cited is 2.2 ohms, never heard more than three. This applies to the seat belt pre-tension canisters, too.