Celica Forums Install Guides and Technical Articles Interior Guides Airbag, Passenger Side - How To Remove

How To Remove The Passenger Side Air Bag
by chameleon

Removing the passenger side air bag is extremely easy. You start by removing the lower finishing panel on the passenger side of the car. It is the piece that contains the glove box. It is held on with 5 screws, two are on each side of the panel, and the other 3 can be accessed by opening the glove box.

Now, this is very important, disconnect the battery and wait a MINIMUM of 20 sec before you go on. The air bag carries a 20 second reserve after the power has been disconnected so it can still function if it loses power during an impact. If you wait 20 sec's the power will be gone and the air bag will not accidentally deploy.

Now all you have to do is crawl under the dash where you just removed the finishing panel. You will be able to look right up at the air bag. All that holds it in place are one bolt and two nuts, they are easy to spot because they are right around the perimeter of the air bag holding it in place. Remove the bolt and nuts.

Now follow the wire that goes into the air bag until you find the connector that connects it to the wiring harness. This wire has a special connector that is used on all Toyota air bag systems. All you need to do to disconnect it is slide the little tab up and pull it apart. I love these connectors, they are much easier to disconnect than the other styles where you have to press a tab down and slid the connector apart.

Well, thats it, now just pull the air bag up and out from the top. All that's involved is disconnecting your battery and removing 5 screws, one bolt, and two nuts.

Thanks, that was easy enough. I just wanted it disabled, not removed, so it took me all of 10 minutes to find the harness and disconnect it. Thanks!

lol why would you do this so if you crach at least your passenger dies ?

Sebastian, some people use their celica for things other than Daily-Drivers - such as in Shows and Track/Race events.

Why would you want to disable it? Because you have an infant in a car seat! And the stupid Toyota dealership along with every other mechanic you asked refuses to do it EVEN THOUGH the rear seatbelts are improperly configured for a carseat and even though an infant in the rear-facing position would be killed in the front seat by the airbag if it went off! Officially, you can't put a car seat anywhere in a Celica. Like I'm going to buy some some damned minivan instead!