RyanPerrella

This is my newest issue.

Airbag Malfunction comes on when the car is started. The airbag warning light stays illuminated once the message is cancelled.

The seatbelt light is also illuminated and i find that odd, but think the 2 are related. I believe the problem to be with the passenger seat wiring loom under the seat. I am wondering if some of the wires are connected incorrectly.

Question is, does the airbag system have anything to do with the front seat harness's? Thats my only idea as to the problem

docmirror

Okay, the airbag circuit has nothing to do with the seat wiring. the seatbelt light stays on because the airbag is faulty and will not deploy in case of an accident. There are several faults that will cause this and they all need a Bosch Hammer to diagnose. Even if you find the electrical fault, you will need the hammer to reset it so the airbag light goes off.

I don't remember the fault codes, but the two that are most common are Sensor left or right high resistance, and pax or driver ignition pill open. If you have an ignition pill fault, you'll need to take the bag out of the car and locate the wiring fault. If it's the sensor high resistance, determine which side, and chase the wiring from the sensors back to the controller in the lower part of the center console.

Did this fault come on right after you reinstalled the AC head unit? If so, you've moved, or pinched, or opened one of the wires into the airbag loom on the pax side. The sensors are very hard to see, and work on. They are mounted to the junction of the firewall and A pillar on the inside of the car, up under the dash. They can be reached by someone with narrow hands by taking out the air duct in the dash that leads to the door jamb.

Get a hammer and get the codes. Then reset the airbag fault and run the test again. If it comes back, you'll need to dig in and find the problem. I had issues with both the sensor and the pill circuit. One was a fault in the sensor connector up in the dash, and another was a wire fault down in the center console that had been pulled.

Let us know when you have the codes and we'll go from there. BTW, a weak battery can make the problem worse if it's marginal on the sensor test.

RyanPerrella

Thanks Doc,

Thats just the type of post i was looking for. Yes the issue occured once I put in the AC head unit.

Unfortunately I dont have a hammer and have no idea if anyone locally to me does. I may have to take it to some shop I suppose.

As you said the code needs to be cleared. If i simply fixed the fault then the malfunction would still appear huh? I was thinking that if the fault was fixed then the dash message wouldnt reappear. But i guess regardless i need a hammer to get this knocked out. And all this needs to happen, LIKE YESTERDAY! Damn.

SeanR

Come up next weekend for our monthly. There's a few hammers around here.

RyanPerrella

Would love to, but I am moving back to LA and will be starting that journey back west on the 30th (in 7 days)

I also have to sell this car before then .............

SeanR

I'll give you $2595.00 cash.

RyanPerrella

if my deal with my neighbor falls through for whatever reason I may need to get rid of this thing QUICK. I DO NOT WANT TO BRING IT TO CA! But that would be more in the $10,000 region......slightly more then $2,595

RKD in OKC

On my 944 Turbo it did the same thing after I changed out the seats. The air bag light just needed to be reset and the seat belt light ended up being the seat belt wire got pinched and broken when I changed out the seats. Don't know if it is the same for the 928.

RyanPerrella

Does the seat belt warning light come up when there is an airbag malfunction? I would think they are separate things. But I am imagining that both could be tripped by an improperly wired passenger seat harness. I am referring to the 3 wire harness thats on the bottom of the seat and connects to the chassis. This is for a car without heat and just the standard 8 way power.

Considering both items are on, i suspect its just one issue that somehow effects both. Would this same fault come up if i unplugged the passenger harness. I am thinking it has something to do with the fact that if the car doesn't recognize that there is a passenger seat, then it would cut the airbag system so that in case of an accident the passenger side wouldn't go off, so it kills the entire system. This is my line of thinking, but who knows.

As for the car in CA......well thats to be determined, so far the front runner is a 3.8L 381 HP Boxster S. But in the meantime i am going to buy my granny's Nissan Maxima

Bill Ball

If someone near you has Theo's 928 Diagnostic tool, it can be used to diagnose and reset Airbag faults, like the Hammer.

RyanPerrella

unlikely.......but i would love to be surprised.........ANYONE?

RKD in OKC

On the 944 it was the wire going to the seat belt buckle. And it did set off the air bag light when it broke.

RyanPerrella

sounds like a good enough hint that i need to take a look at the wiring down there under the seat.

JPTL

I agree with everything that docmirror says 100%, however I'd modify the above slightly based on my experience:
Before getting a hammer and resetting the codes, clean your sensor contacts. Then reset the codes. It costs you nearly nothing, and the sensor connections have been the culprit of many a/b faults.
The reason that I say this is that my a/b fault light had been bugging the crap out of me for over a year. Finally Dave Roberts was nice enough to hook up a hammer to diagnose the fault and clear the code. (by the way, he predicted the code based on my description prior to hooking up the hammer....passenger side sensor low voltage...or something like that).
Anyway, after getting the code - exactly what Dave predicticted - he reset it. With fingers crossed, I started her up, and no fault warning! Until 10 minutes down the road. Again, airbag fault.
I knew that it was in the p/s sensor, so before ordering a new one ($110 IIRC) I located the connection to the p/s sensor (sort of a pain to get to, but very doable) used Radio Shack contact cleaner on the contacts (which are gold plated and looked brand new) as well as the grounding point to the chassis and put them back together.
I found a Baum tool with 928 compatible software (which will also clear your faults if you can find one) to clear the code, and 2 years later, no airbag fault.
FWIW, when I experienced airbag issues w/my '91, my "Airbag Fault" warning light came on w/in about a minute from starting the car.This was in tandem w/the seatbelt idiot light.
IIRC, the seatbelt light came on immediately and stayed on regardless of seatbelts being used or not; and the airbag fault (readout) came on a bit later.
When reset via the stalk, the airbag warning light would go off but the seatbelt idiot light stayed on. Within an hour or so of driving after resetting the airbag fault, it would reappear.
I'd clean the p/s contacts at the sensor and the chassis grounding point before going after your wiring under the seat...unless you have strong evidence that it's something you did under the seat that brought this on.
Good luck w/this.
(Hey, I should have saved this post for the 911 board, figuring that it's my 911th post)

RyanPerrella

sorry what is "p/s" ? passenger seat?

I assume "a/b" is airbag

Also i see mention by Doc of "ignition pill fault" I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS OR WHERE THAT IS