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Air Bag Light

39K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  luckyse7ens 
#1 ·
I have looked on the forum and haven't found any info on this, my air bag light now come on at different times, sometime it goes away sometime it stays, I checked for codes and nothing. Anyone have this problem and know what to check for?
 
#2 ·
seat reclined?

My '06 airbag light came on when the passenger seat was fully reclined. Set it upright, and the light went off. Somewhere in the manual, was the warning not to fully recline the seat when the car was in motion. This has to do with "submarining" under the seatbelts in the event of a crash. I never got a trouble code. I think there is also a sensor to auto shutoff the passenger airbag if a child is aboard.
 
#3 ·
I have the same problem in my 06. light comes on when the passenger seat is messed with. I checked under the seat and found some wires. gave them the old wiggle test and the light went off. I shoved them under the carpeting as best i could and haven't had the problem since. Although i imagine it would come back if stuff were to get shoved under the seat and disturb the wiring.
 
#4 ·
You didn't indicate which light - the main one on the dash, or the one that indicates the passenger side air bag is off. :eek:rangehat:
 
#6 ·
Since it is intermittent, you'll have to find the sensors (behind the front bumper?) and check the connections, for fit and/or corrosion. Good luck. :eek:rangehat:
 
#8 ·
My light is on too but I am guessing it is related to the accident I was recently in.
 
#10 ·
When you do the key dance to read codes in the EVIC/Odometer, it only reads the codes stored in the PCM and some of the codes stored in the TCM.

There are a lot of codes for other controllers and the rest of the codes in the TCM that will never show. And the cheap scan tool that big franchise auto stores use, don't read anymore than what the key dance spits out, although they have stored information in the tool to associate with the code to tell you what the code means, instead of looking it up.

You need the proprietary tool from Chrysler to read airbag codes, that means either going to the dealer, or if you're lucky an independent repair shop near you has invested the big bucks to hae the proprietary tool or very expensive universal tool that can do almost everything the proprietary tools can, most can't afford it, or you have to pay the $8k bucks youself for the tool, that could be done with laptop and adapter cable, if chrysler would allow to happen, which they don't, NOR do any of the manufacturers.

That means you most likely will have to go to the dealer and pay them a fee, up to an hour labor, to spend the 2 minutes to hook up the tool and press a button to read the code. If no code is stored, which is possible, you still have to pay the fee and get nothing out of it.

My '02 Mini-Van still has an airbag light, I can't bring myself to pay the $100 the local dealers want to just pull it into the service bay and read the code and tell me what it is. The light does go out on occassion, it seems to be associated with temperature, when the temperature is below freezing it will go out, as the vehicle warms up, it will come back on again.

Keep in mind, the air bag system is like the Evap Purge System, the Federal Government has set unrealistic standards for the system, resulting in some ridiculous self-tests, so a perfectly good system can fail self-tests and still be good working order, and you can spend a lot of time, money and aggrevation in multiple visits trying to track down the non-problem causing the self-test to fail. For air-bags we are talking they do things like test resistance in circuits and throw a warning light if they are off a couple of ohms. OR, your airbag may NOT work at all, you really don't know, you just get a light, and it could be one of the non-problems or a real problem, unfortunately that is the only way the engineers could get the system certified with the ridiculous standards the Fed's set.
 
#11 ·
I have checked everything i can check and found nothing, One thing i have seen is that once I've been driving for about 2 Miles it comes on and stays on until I shut it off and does the same thing all the time. It will stay like that unless I get any other self check ideas, definitly won't pay a dealer for a sensor or relay switch.
 
#12 ·
Mine inadvertantly came on this morning. If I shut the engine off and restart it goes away for about 8-10 minutes. On arriving at work, I moved the seat forward and bounced in the chair for a bit. Hopefully, this will correct. I think the wife had a stack of magazines behind her chair, on our recent vacation, it might be that I'm stepping on the brake and they are sliding up under the seat bumping wires.


KKKKFL
 
#13 ·
I took the plunge and spent the money on AutoEnginuity, with the Enhanced Chrysler Diagnostics package, nearly $500.

1st thing I put it on was my 2002 Mini-Van that has had that airbag light on for several years now. Within seconds it pulled up the codes for the airbags, it was a code for an open circuit to the passenger side airbag. I had cleaned that connector at least 3 times over the years, and the light goes out when temps are below freezing. I decided the connector must NOT be making solid enough contact to pass the self test (just resistance too high will fail the test). Took the connector apart with a small screwdriver, and then bent the tabs to put more pressure on the connections. Put it back together (using cell phone pics as reference so the wires didn't get mixed up) and sure enough, the next start the cell bag light went out. And it has stayed out. Probably a half hour from beginning to end once I had a good scantool (Keep in mind, the scan tool hasn't paid for itself yet, I will use it a lot in the future, but if this was all I needed it for, it would have been a lot cheaper visiting the dealer).

My mini-van has a dozen connectors and they are a bright yellow color to differentiate them from other electrical connectors. I'd assume the Commander is the same way.

Cleaning all the connectors, can't hurt, but in the case of my mini-van it took a lot of time and it didn't work, which is frustrating. Soon as the scan tool narrowed it down to one connector for me, I was able to figure it out and fix it.
 
#15 ·
Found my problem... Symptoms... drive for about 7-10 minutes light came on...
Survey sez...

Looked under passenger seat and sure enough, found a filled waterbottle left over from trip to beach... everytime I stepped on the brake waterbottle rolled forward slamming wires, triping sensor.

Good to have this forum, I would have been looking for bumper sensors etc.

Too bad they're not all this easy.


KKKKFL
 
#16 ·
I also have a 06 when I have something(between 10 and 30 lbs sitting on the front of the seat the light comes on(saying its off) any other time the light is off(saying the airbags are on). When people are sitting in the seat the light stays off and when the seat is empty the light stays off! The dealer told me that there is nothing wrong with the airbags or the seat! I have looked under the seat and there is nothing caught under there. This has been an issue since March. Just being in an accident and no airbags going off worries me now! Any ideas what to do next??? Im taking it back to the dealer to get fixed from the accident with all paperwork from the services from the time I bought it but hoping one of you may have some ideas!
 
#17 ·
How bad of an accident that the air bags didn't deploy? Sometimes is good if the don't deploy as long as you made it out if the accident ok. If the airbags deploy you can pretty much guarantee your jeep to be totaled
 
#18 ·
A year ago I had a problem with my light coming on, I went to the dealer and they told me it was because I carried items in the passenger seat (which I do not) and it cost me $208 to get a new sensor. Now a year later it is back on and I KNOW I do not use the passenger seat as I made a point not to because of last year.
 
#19 ·
I always put stuff in my passenger seat and never had a problem. In fact I've never had it ever say that the air bag was off because of 10-30 lbs in the seat.
 
#20 ·
Intermittent airbag light often indicates an issue with the passenger weight sensor. It's inside the passenger seat and is supposed to sense the weight of a small person or child and temporarily disable the passenger airbag.

The sensors rarely go bad, but they will occasionally need to be recalibrated which should cost about an hour of shop time. This is a dealer only service. When you describe the problem, tell them you did an open circuit test at home and that you just need the sensor recalibrated.

Of course, you didn't really, but they will be less likely to just replace the part when it likely just needs the recalibration.
 
#21 ·
So where does it show that the airbag has been turned off is there is between 10-30 pounds in the passenger seat?
 
#22 ·
air bag light problem

If your airbag light is on, in the main dash, then it's your driver's side airbag sensor. Below your seat, there is a yellow connector which seems to trigger the airbag sensor. Try jiggling it a little bit to see if that fixes the problem. If not, then you will have to trace the wire and look for an open circuit somewhere.

I know, with the sunroof water leaking problems, sometimes the water messes with the wires below the driver's side seat.
 
#23 ·
If your airbag light is on, in the main dash, then it's your driver's side airbag sensor. Below your seat, there is a yellow connector which seems to trigger the airbag sensor. Try jiggling it a little bit to see if that fixes the problem. If not, then you will have to trace the wire and look for an open circuit somewhere.

I know, with the sunroof water leaking problems, sometimes the water messes with the wires below the driver's side seat.
Thanks!
My airbag light was on in the hud, wiggled yellow connector s and it's off now.:bdaysmile:
 
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