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Intermittent airbag light 03 Forester...

My wife has a 03 Forester. Recently the airbag light has been staying on while driving. When the light initially appeared I called Subaru and set up a time to have them look at it. They couldn't get me in till 3 days later. Well as fate has it, as we were driving to the dealer, the light went out. They check the car out anyway, but couldn't find the source of the problem. They said the onboard computer does not store airbag error codes if the light goes out. (plus, the need to capture the code to know what to fix).

Anyway, 4 days later, the light appeared again. So, I called the dealer and set up another appointment. Once again, I had to set up an appointment for Monday. Well, the weekend prior, the light went out again.

Does anyone know what could be causing this problem?

Also, I'm thinking about buying a OBD-II code reader so I can catch the error when it happens. Does anyone have any experience with these $50 units?

Here is one I'm thinking about buying..

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Reply to
Mark
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Murphy's law strikes again. Or, as I once heard a service manager exclaim, "Lady, you have to make it not work before we can make it work!"

On a more constructive note: when the light is on do you experience problems with any of the other electrical devices that are attached to the steering wheel, such as the horn or the cruise control? I once had an airbag fault on another car, and the horn malfunctioned at the same time. Problem was in the flexible wiring between the steering wheel and the steering column. Replacement was not cheap, but you're probably still in warranty. If you're lucky, it might be just a loose connector.

I'd also be interested in any insight that people might have into the Harbor Freight device. I've bought lots of utilitarian stuff from them but tend to shy away from getting precision stuff there. Was just thumbing one of their catalogs as a matter of fact. They send out so many, and all are just a bit different from each other. I sent in an order yesterday and already I need more stuff.

Reply to
BBB

Nope, I tried the horn when the light was on and it worked correctly (so did everything else on the stearing column).

I did talk to Subaru today and they said to bring it by when it appears again so they can do a quick diagnostic.

On the OBD-II thing.. I've seen that modem sold under different names. So I guess HF does not make it, they just put their name on it. If I do buy this code reader, where can I find a listing of the codes and their meaning?

Thanks for all the help.

Reply to
Mark

My AutoZone will do a code read for free. eddie

Reply to
Edward Hayes

Our 03 Forester has had the same problem. It's going back to the dealer on Monday for the FOURTH time in the last 6 months. The first time the light had gone out by the time they got around to looking at it. The next two times they claimed to have fixed a loose wire. Allegedly no computer codes were generated. I'm running out of patience with the dealership.

Good luck with yours.

JS

Reply to
JSchorn

My wife's Forester is also having this problem. It is in the shop today because of it.

Reply to
Dthree

Just an update to this problem. We finally got the dealer to read the code while the light was on. Turned out to be a bad passenger airbag sensor. They replaced the entire passenger airbag under the warranty. Good thing, cause the cost to replace the airbag part along was about $600.

Reply to
Mark

Brings to mind a statement attributed to a local service manager - "Lady, you have to make it not work before we can make it work!"

Mark wrote:

Reply to
BBB

Well, Let me tell ya....

I also had problems with my 02 WRX grinding in 1st gear. So, I tell the dealer that "Driving in 2nd gear, slow down and press in the clutch. As you slow down, shift into 1st gear. As you put the car into first gear it will grind". So what does the service departmart do??? They take the car onto the highway and drive at 55MPH come back and say, "We can't reproduce it". WTF?

Most of these [lack of] service guys don't have a clue how to diagnose a problem. In the case of a warning light, they need to see the code to tell what caused the problem. However if the problem is not spelled out in flashing lights (no pun intended), they can't (or more likely, won't) use their brain to *think* about the problem.

Reply to
Mark

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