AllenM

The other day as I was driving to work, the big ! warning light lit up and the airbag light is on. I was going to disconnect the battery and reset the computer, but I haven't done that yet.

Any thoughts as to why that light would come on? Nothing else is out of the ordinary, I haven't been working on my car lately, I haven't hit anything, etc.

Jfrahm

It could be the clockspring in the steering column that connects the airbag and horn to the rest of the harness. If the system sees a loss of connection to the airbag it will throw a fault code.

Sadly once the problem is corrected, on the 968 the airbag warnings need to be cleared with the Hammer diagnostic tool or the warning persists. Some people disconnect the airbag module from the cluster to get rid of this warning, but then you never know if the airbag system is working or not. In some states the lack of an airbag self-test indication also causes you to fail a road worthiness inspection.

-Joel.

AllenM

hmm. Not exactly what I was hoping to hear. Anyone else have a problem like this?

odb812

I had the same problem earlier this summer. I took the car to a shop with a Bosch Hammer and had the code cleared. It hasn't come back since.

FRporscheman

My '93 has this problem. It had the problem when I bought the car, but I didn't know, because the IDIOT PO (or rather, the dealership she always took it to) removed the airbag light AND the ! light. One day I wondered why the ! light wouldn't come on with the e-brake, so I took out the cluster....

I put the bulbs back in and now I have two red lights shining in my face, and I need to get to a dealer to have them reset it.

The real question is, do I bypass my airbags so the light never comes on again? I mean are they still good?

Jfrahm

The airbags are probably just fine. Often the light comes on due to a battery left to go dead or someone taking the cluster out without disconnecting the battery and waiting a while. If you disable the system you would want to disable the airbag module so you did not still get fault codes from battery issues and the like.

Airbags are a contentious issue, some people feel they are more dangerous than helpful. I believe you need to get permission to legally disable the airbags and if you did not you could have some liability if you crashed, perhaps with a passenger, or if you sold the car and they had a problem. I could see an insurance company not wanting to pay out for injuries they might claim were exacerbated by the airbag system being disabled intentionally. Insurance companies charge less for liability insurance for airbag-equipped cars too so I can see it being an issue for them if you took that discount but then disconnected the system.

I say leave them in and working unless you are one of the at-risk people that could be seriously injured by an airbag.

I have my cluster to airbag module wire temporarily disconnected until I can get around to getting the airbag fault code cleared but I think the airbag system is in good working order. My plan is to put a little inline fuse in this wire and get the system reset, then if I have a battery drain or intermittent fault I can pull this fuse and still get the '!' light for other issues until I get around to getting the system reset again. The big issue IMO with the airbag warning is that you have the '!' all the time and then do not have it to grab your attention for other issues, so it's good to be able to say "yeah OK I know I have an airbag code but I really need to monitor everything else now kthanx."

-Joel.

FRporscheman

Exactly. I wouldn't mind the airbag light coming on if it didn't do the ! light too. I took this car to laguna seca once and the entire time I was watching my temp and oil gauges like a HAWK, since I couldn't rely on the ! light to give me a warning. And since I was so busy watching the gauges, I couldn't focus on driving.

You make a lot of good points for leaving the airbags active.

300guy

which wire/connector is the air bad warning light?

...I could use this on my car.

Jfrahm

It is a white wire with a black stripe, coming from the airbag module behind the glove box in a bundle of 4 wires. Then after connector T41 it changes color. Then the wire is yellow/red, in position 6 of the T41 connector [see wire diag. 97-117].

In other words it is YE/RE after T41 (on the cluster side) and WT/BK on the airbag module side.

On my car it was easiest to find the bundle of four wires between T41 and the airbag controller and snip the white wire with the black stripe. Also in that bundle are BK/RE, BK/WT, BR (Black w/red, Black w/white and Brown.)

Take a look under there, no need to remove the glovebox or anything.

Now I do not suggest this as permanent solution as it will blind you to potential airbag problems that might result in serious injury or death. This is just a way to quiet the airbag warning so you can monitor your other gauges with the '!' light until you can get the airbag system fixed and the error code reset. Remember this is the internet, I could be a bored housewife who does not even own a Porsche so use your own best judgment and common sense.

-Joel.
-Joel.

FRporscheman

Joel, assuming you're not a bored housewife, am I to understand that cutting that WT/BK wire will kill the airbag light and stop the ! light from being illuminated because of the airbag code? Would this disable functionality of the airbag system? Would this throw a code on a car that currently has no fault?

Another important question is whether the airbag system will function while the fault code is thrown. Generally speaking.

Assuming you are a bored housewife, are you hot?

Jfrahm

>Joel, assuming you're not a bored housewife, am I to understand that cutting that WT/BK wire will kill the airbag light and stop the ! light from being illuminated because of the airbag code?

Yes.

> Would this disable functionality of the airbag system?

No idea. I doubt it. If a stored code could disable the system, that would be lame.

>Would this throw a code on a car that currently has no fault?

Probably not, but why would you cut it then?

>Another important question is whether the airbag system will function while the fault code is thrown. Generally speaking.

No idea. It'd probably work, if the fault is a stored code for a fault that is not currently affecting the system. I think it is also possible to have a fault code that disables the system, if the system is not confident it'd work correctly it goes dormant. I hope I do not find out myself either way.

>Assuming you are a bored housewife, are you hot?

Some things are best left to the imagination.

I have this wire clipped and plan to put a little inline fuse in it and get my system reset when I get my hands on a Hammer. Then if I can keep a code from getting set I'm good, otherwise I'll pull the fuse again until I can get it reset again. I don't think it's good to run around with this wire clipped but Hammers are hard to come by and that '!' is annoying, as is not having it work for the parking brake or other scary things.

-Joel.

FRporscheman

LOL

Exactly - I plan to get this reset but until I get around to it, it would be good to get the ! light freed.

The only reason I ask about whether cutting the wire would throw a code is, if the wire were cut when I went to get the light reset. I know, that would be retarded... but as a scientist I was trained to ask every question, even the absurd ones.

I don't know if I can bring myself to cut a wire though. Hmm...

Slayertech240z

WAS ABLE TO USE iSCAN PLATFORM TO READ AND CLEAR THE AIRBAG LIGHT ON A 1994 968. YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT PLUG ADAPTER AND THE PORT IS LOCATED UNDER THE PASSENGER KNEE BOLSTER. I HAVE NOT NEEDED TO USE THE "HAMMER" YET. DO NOT DISABLE THE LIGHT OR REMOVE WIRES. DO IT RIGHT!!

931guru

I CANNOT HEAR YOU!!!

Slayertech240z

Good I like reading on the forums on how to cut and remove and bypass this system. Do it right!!