i just got a 2000 civic dx, i want to paint just the accsents of the inside, i had a 94 sunbird and had a completely finished custom interior but i dont want to do anything drastic yet..but anyways..i want to paint the plastic piece that covers the air bag on the passenger side of the car, if i remove that piece, will the air bags go off??? i dont want to take the fuse for the air bags out, i heard that might set them off. any way i can take that piece off without making them go off? tell me if you have done this...thanks

 

taking the fuse out will not set them off. when i worked at nissan as a tech thet was the 1st thing we did before doing any air bag work. if you have ever seen one go off you dont want to be near it when it does. when we replaced them under warranty we would have to set them off before sending them back to nissan and it was a lot of fun, but makes me real weary of being right in front of one all the time. now more on the topic of painting. i really doubt you can if it is anything like the one in my 93 civic it is rubbery and could possibly be dyed, but i doubt painted

 

hey..thanks for the information, so u say that I should take the fuse out before taking that plastic piece off? or if i take it off without taking the fuse out will it matter? because i dont think that theres a senser or anything there..thanks

 

there is no sensor there. the only sensors are in the bumpers. but like i said. if you have ever seen one go off, being near one when it happens isnt a chance you want to take. you also want to wait a few min after taking the fuse out cause of any stored energy. i dont know how true it is, but that was the procedure for nissans

 

the problem isnt taking the fuse out, its when you repower-up the air bags. just make sure you dont have any body parts in front of them when you plug it back in.

 

thats true, i should have mentioned that

 

i dont no about this anymore..i dont want the air bags to go off, some guy just took out a chunk out the back of my car with a big truck, $3,250.00 is how much is gunna cost to fix it at Honda repare center, but the guys paying for is so i dont care, but ya, if i get in fixed there,im just gunna ask the guys if they can take that piece off for me because they no all about that stuff, i dont really feel like risking my air bags going off on me..thanks for the info

 

lol, im the master at this because fr some reason my car is a wreck magnet for idiots. Take it to the dealership or the BEST body shop in town. Get the highest qoute, rack it up.

 

you can actually paint that piece it is a pain but you actually have to take the whole air bag out. take out your glove box and you will see the bolts that hold it on under your dash and the plug that powers it then after the bolts are out get a flat head screw driver and go under the lip of the plastic on the top and pry it up. then you have to pry it off the hooks on the air bag. i did this without touchin any fuses or any of that but to b on the safe side just disconnect your battery. to prep the piece we used wax and grease remover then scrubbed it with scotch brite pads and scuff stuff due to all the chemicals that are used on dashes like armoral and such i used base coat clear coat on all my interior pieces even the dash were it is soft like vinyl you might have to prep the pieces a couple of times to get rid of the fisheyes.....thats my 2 cents

 

so..just to make sure i get this..take the glove box out,take off the blots that hold the piece to the dash,then i should be able to pop the top off with a flat head..when i take this piece off, does the air bag flop out with it? because u sead that im going to have to take the whole air bag out? and when i remove the glove box, will the bolts be easy to see, or do i have to more the air bag around or something? and what about the plug that powers it?? what am i sopposed to do with that, sorry for all the questions,i just want any air bags going off....bye the way..did u do this work before? is that how u no this?