pjg

Anything is possible I guess, the car is all stock with only 62k original miles.

h011yw00d

...since they replaced the dash

TheoJ

what software version is the Instrument cluster? The cluster is quite intelligent (or is that sophicticated?) It uses the diag bus to interrogate the ecu's. Apparently yours thinks the airbag is not responding and posts an error. It is not unlikely that the software version does not match the car MY and equipments.
I think yours should be a K18.

pcar928fan

LOL! TO funny!

Gretch

or the car dislikes you and has farted in your general direction........

Gary Knox

You should be able to delete the "message" by just pulling the stalk that controls the digital readout toward you. No need to scroll through messages if the "message" system is working properly (well - we know it isn't to start with!!! - ha).

Gary--

TheoJ

A very annoying red airbag light will remain on in the dash even after cancellation with the stalk.

So... is there proof of an instrument swap? if so, you're in trouble since replacing the software in the instrument clustor is a nasty task if at all do-able.

It is possible to remove the airbag light but only that one. The generic alarm message is software inside the cluster and can not be easily fooled. We could do that I suppose... by making a dummy device on the diag bus. That would be the first time, but it would work I think. It would tell the instrument that the airbag is fine and that's it.

Hilton

Interesting.. original 89 dash is software version K18. 1990+ got K25.

Its likely a hardware-related configuration, as I've got a K25-version cluster from a 1990 GT that didn't have airbags (RHD cars didn't get airbags until 1993) - I bought it so I could have metric (kph l/100km etc.) readouts, as my 89 is ex-UK and had mph and imperial gallons.

TheoJ

hi Hilton,
K18 does not have airbag failure detection and is used in the first series starting 1989. K25 might, I'm unsure. Same for K26 and I heard/read that there is also a K28. I'm sure K29 has airbag failure detection, so one of those versions changed. You got K25 and get an airbag warning since your car does not have an airbag?
Would you be interested in a dummy Airbag-device to get rid of failure reports? Just crossed my mind yesterday that this would be a possibility since replacing the software will not be easy.

SQLGuy

I'm not sure if others already know this, but I do not:

How long have you owned the car, and when did you start seeing the airbag warning?

Hilton

Paul - if you disconnect your battery, and then reconnect it, just after reconnect your dash will briefly show some numbers.

Can you let us know what they are? They will be something like "TYP.NO: 12" on the left-pane (the 12 part might be different), and "19.05 1988" on the center pane.

It'll give us clues as to whether your cluster was changed for a later one at some point, and which year cluster it is.

pjg

TYP.NO:4 19.05 1988

pjg

Less than a year, it always came on when starting, its easy to clear it so its not a big deal.

Hilton

Well I'm pretty sure the center pane codes indicate its a correct MY89 panel, so either something is up with your board, or someone's busted the wiring. Given the unique nature of your problem, either you're leading the curve for board failures, or (more likely) someone's hacked your wiring.

The airbag contact is on plug 3 - identified by pin 1's wire being brown with black stripe.

1989 diagrams:
Pin 10 - parking brake - brown w/ yellow stripe
pin 11 - airbag - unused
pin 12 - central locks - green with yellow stripe

A quick check of 1990 diagrams for comparison shows:
pin 10 - parking brake - brown with yellow stripe
pin 11 - airbag - green with yellow stripe
pin 12 - central locks - green with red stripe

I'd start by checking the wires are correct at the plug, in particular the green/yellow one - or whether perhaps a 1990+ harness has been fitted to your car? If pin 11 on your harness has a wire in it, then its time to start tracing the wires to see what its connected to. If not, then it may actually be a board failure due to failed resistor/cap/diode or corrosion salt-bridge.

edit: I can't remember how much play there is on the connectors on my 89 as its been years since I had that cluster out - I'd also unplug and re-plug that connector to make sure it isn't seated slightly off to one side and bridging two of the fingers on the board contact.

pjg

Update: Doing some CE panel maintenance I replaced a bunch of the #53 relays with new ones from Roger , the airbag malfunction error appears to be fixed, not sure which relay was the culprit.

This is an 89 without an airbag so it should never have been a problem to begin with.