fpena944

I recently went to the dealer to get my "airbag" light reset but was told that the light being displayed is actually the "seatbelt" light and that my airbag light is completely out.

Now this is why I am completely confused - I thought that the little light of a man with a slash through his chest was a combination airbag/seatbelt light. In the 2+ years I've owned the car I have NEVER seen a separate "airbag" indicator.

You see, in the past I had this same light so I took it to another dealer and they "reset" the light so it went away for a while. But then about two weeks later it just mysteriously returned. I've been driving the car with the annoying light for a while now but I finally decided to get it addressed.

In any case, the mechanic told me that there is actually a separate indicator that states "airbag" along with the symbol you seen in my attached photo.

Is this true? If so how do I go about fixing the "seatbelt" light? I checked the connection from my seatbelt and it seemed to be connected correctly. Checked all fuses, they seemed okay - so what shall I do to troubleshoot?

I hate this light being on!!!

Shutemup

no idea.

if it's a seat belt light there should be a circuit made with your drivers side seat belt when it is connected.

not that is the fix.....but just me...lol

streckfu's

It's your seatbelt light. If it were airbg related, the worrd 'AIRBAG' would be illuminated on the oil/batt gauge.

fpena944

So the fact that the light does not even appear when I start up the car means that I have a burnt out bulb?

Anyone have any idea on how to kill the seat belt light then?

streckfu's

I would assume so. How long have you had the car? The PO could have removed it......

Quote:

Anyone have any idea on how to kill the seat belt light then?

Sorry but no. You'll have to get into the wiring diagram and find out what's wrong. It's better to fix than cut the signal line. Don't let anyone talk you into that.

fpena944

I've had the car for 2 1/2 years so maybe it is possible the previous owner disabled the bags. But then my question is what was "reset" when I took it to the dealer the first time?

And I agree about finding out the cause for the problem instead of just cutting the signal line.

Thanks for the help so far!

brad-cam

I have exactly the same problem in my '87. I've never seen an indicator that says "AIRBAG", though everyone always talks about it. I have driver and passenger side airbags in mine. My seatbelt light is on all the time. I've checked the seatbelt wires and they are fine. I've tried the airbag light reset procedures on Clark's (the Molex connector) and the seatbelt light goes out for a few minutes and comes back on.

I've always thought that in some cars (early ones with airbags?) the airbag light was shared with the seatbelt light, though I can't find anyone that knows anything about this.

Any more information out there ? I too am tired of looking at this light !!

streckfu's

If you want to take the time to do this....

Remove your instrument cluster and che to see if the bulb for the airbag indicater is missing.

You can shine a flashlight through the back of the instruments to see if you can identify if there is a location for the airbag light.

fpena944

I guess I will try the shine the light method - but in the meantime does anyone have any idea how to take apart the seat belt buckle to see if maybe the circuit within the unit is worn out?

I tried looking at it yesterday before posting the message but it seems sealed. No screws anywhere and of course I don't want to damage it since it's performance is essential to my safety!

markoS2

I have the exact same problem with my s2 cab. I took it to the Porsche dealer a couple years ago and they charged me $95 to tell me the air bag bulb was burnt out. Never bothered to trouble shoot the seat belt light. I've been hoping that it will burn out too, but it's still going strong after two years....

streckfu's

Have you tried the airbag reset procedures?

Read about them on http//www.clarks-garage.con

Look it up under Shop Manual

Dave in Chicago

Having just pulled my driver's seat out recently, I would be suspicious of that little wiring harness having been somehow disconnected. Not hard to check, requires 8mm hex-head socket, a socket-knuckle, and an extension or two. Be careful, easy to strip out those six little bolts. Once the seat is out and you can turn it a bit, lap belt is accessible and held in by a single 17mm hex bolt. Can't remember if it has wiring within it or if it just grounds to the seat for connection, but it should be somewhat evident looking at it.

Dave in Chicago

Oops, meant 8mm hex-key (allen wrench) type of socket. Don't want to confuse anyone.

By the way, the airbag circuit does have separate light located just above "Check Engine" between Oil Pressure and Voltmeter. Should cycle, become happy, and go out. The trouble-shooting section for airbags in the factory manuals is pretty looooonnnnnggggg.

fpena944

The 91 S2 uses the same airbag module as the 968 so you need to take it to the dealer so they can reset it with the Bosch Hammer tool. I wish I could do the airbag reset procedure, I'm not very fond of dealer visits.

Dave Swanson -

I looked at the seat belt buckle this evening and found that the little wiring harness is quite easy to see right under the seat without removing it. It seems the wiring comes out from the bottom of the buckle and at least mine shows that it is connected properly. But from there I need to trace it's path to see where it leads since there may be another junction somewhere under the carpet.

Marko - So does your instrument cluster look like mine with both the "!" and the little man lit up? Or is it just the little man? At night those lights are damn bright and somewhat embarrassing!

brad-cam

Well, I fixed my airbag problem - I think.

I had the seatbelt light on all the time, and had never ever seen the AIRBAG light on. Well, first I cut the "white" wire from the airbag controller - that is the one that drives the seatbelt light. The light went out - good.

I took my gauge cluster out to fix my dim dash light problem and replace
the main gauge bulbs - this operation was done independently of the airbag issue. I removed the bulb holder for the airbag indicator and proved to myself that I did in fact have an AIRBAG indicator. The bulb looked fine so I reinstalled it. When I put everything back together and
went to test my new dash lighting, the AIRBAG light came on for the first time !!! WTF !! Must have been a bad connection on the bulb.

Anyhoo, now the AIRBAG light wouldn't go out, so I followed the airbag diagnostic procedure on Clark's to pull the codes and got a CODE 31, which is an indicator bulb burned out. It had stored the code that the AIRBAG bulb had been out ! Now that the bulb was working, I used the AIRBAG light reset procedure on Clark's to reset the AIRBAG light and it went out. Victory I think - time will tell !!!

So, I think what happened is:

1. AIRBAG bulb had a bad connection, AIRBAG controller raised a 31 code
2. Seatbelt light was always on to indicate that the AIRBAG system had a fault code - kinda a backup as the primary bulb was out so couldn't indicate it.

I haven't hooked the seatbelt light back up (reconnect the white wire), but I suspect it will go out now....

Sorry for the long post - hope this helps someone else here....