Airbag Light

Hello, need some help. Have a 97 SC2 and had it up for sale. Daughter left the windows open and we got a deluge rainstorm overnight and the next day, it had three to four inches of water inside. To make matters worse, we had a flight several hours later out of the country so the car was secured and we left. We came back a week later and the inside of the car was soaked. It's dried out now, but since the water, the airbag light is on. I tried to reset it by unhooking the battery as well has having Autozone try to reset it like they can with check engine lights, but to no avail.

How can I get this light reset? IT's a $800 car that I don't want to take to the dealer.

Thanks

Reply to
RonP
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Does this model have a sensor in the passenger seat that senses a passenger and switches on the passenger side air bag?

If so it may still be wet or damaged and thus causing the error.

Reply to
Ned Flanders

Thanks. It doesn't appear so.

Reply to
RonP

Did the steering wheel get wet? Again, I am not familiar with this model, but when the check airbag light came on in my 91 Mustang I had to replace the clock spring in the steering column to fix it.

Have you tried posting your question to

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? Good luck!

Reply to
Ned Flanders

No, not really. The drivers window wasn't open but only a few inches though, the passenger almost all the way. Had about three inches of water in the floorboard.

Reply to
RonP

afik, the airbag circuit tests the electrical continuity of the squibs and available firing voltage at key on. A squib is similar in concept to an electrical blasting cap. When sufficient current is applied, a small explosion is triggered and the resulting gas inflates the bag. if the circuit is open or high resistance, warning light goes off.

You can trace out the airbag wiring and test with a LOW POWER ohm meter (a few milliamps maximum). Do not use a test light or it may detonate the squib. Follow all the guidelines for proper testing in the service manual.

The actual trigger for the airbags is usually buried on the floor under the center console. They used to mount this behind the front bumper but as the sensing electronics got more sophisticated, they got better results mounting it inside the passenger compartment.

The airbag trigger senses acceleration on impact. Above a certain profile and it deploys the bags. A high voltage inverter keeps a capacitor charged all the time key is on. The charge on the capacitor is dumped into the squib to fire it. The firing capacitor takes about a minute after battery cable is removed to bleed down to a safe level. After this time you can work with airbag connectors safely.

Disclaimer: The above is from memory after reading the L-series manual. Information should be verified if possible.

Oppie

Reply to
Oppie

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