I've replaced my passenger seat with another I grabbed off of Kijiji, but the problem is that with the new seat installed, my airbag light is flashing. I tried the reset procedure and that did not clear it. Reading online, it seems like if the airbag light is flashing that none of the airbags will work, so I ran some tests.

The first thing I tried was to confirm whether it was the airbag plug on the new seat, so I put my old seat back into the car and only plugged in the yellow airbag cable. Reconnected the battery, tried the reset procedure, still didn't clear it.

Then I connected the rest of the cables (on my original seat), reconnected the battery, did the reset procedure, flashing light turned off. It's been a day now and there is no longer any issue.

Now there's one major difference between my old seat and the one I bought. The one I bought does not have a reclining motor, it reclines manually. There is one cable that had no plug to plug into on the new seat, which I presume controls this motor. Based on the sequence of tests I ran, it appears though that with this cable unplugged, it affects the airbag function? I would have though this cabling should be in parallel, but apparently not?

I'm not an electrical expert at all, but is there anything I can do with that 4th cable as to set up the new seat without having any airbag issues? The whole reason I bought it was due to the reclining motor not working in my original seat. Thanks!

 

Put the SRS system into diagnostic mode and see what code it's throwing.

 

So in diagnostic mode, it flashed once quickly and then 5 times slowly. I take it that means 15?

Not really sure how useful that is though - don't see how it would be anything other than the passenger seat airbags.

 

That's not a correct flash pattern, it will always start with a 7 second on, 2 second off, THEN the flash pattern. There is no flash that's
7on, 2 off, 5 pulses, repeat.

It could be the module or the classification switch. The correct flash pattern will tell you which one it is so you know what to fix.

Check the FSM, section SRS - Supplemental Restraint Systems.

 

cleric,
is this the procedure you are referring to in order to get the codes?

3 times to enter Diagnostic mode, 3 times again to return to user mode;

ignition to "ON" 7 seconds until SRS is off.
"OFF" for 3 seconds.
repeat this 2 more times.

now ignition to "ON", you are in Diagnostic mode.

it will flash the codes as needed.

now repeat about and it goes back to User mode with codes all cleared/reset.

I have an Autel tablet scanner, will this pull the same codes or no?

 

Some scanners can do SRS codes, some cannot. Plug it in and see if it pulls up the code. SRS codes all look like B####

Here's the self-diagnosis steps. If you're having trouble reading the flashing code just take a video of the flashing SRS airbag light and post it to youtube, then put the link here and I'll help you figure out which code it is. The chart is in the FSM section SRS - Supplemental Restraints near the middle/end of the document.

 

Thanks cleric. I did pull some of the B codes when I scanned. I have a few code pics below, not great quality though. These codes are with engine off. It was in a front-end collision previously so it could be that the bags deployed and were never replaced. The price I paid for the car allows me to go into it for another $1200 without being hurt though. Again, I appreciate your input.

 

The Wife's coupe airbag light is flashing as well.
i am waiting on new seat skins before going in; I want to kill two birds with one stone.

I am not interested in reading x$#% blinking lights.
I am researching on getting an srs reader for her car and my mustang, preferably one that loads to my android phone and can be updated if need be, and one that reads through a bafx obd2 or similar device.

Anyone who knows what I need to get, please advise.

 

Ohh boy that's quite the list,

B1035 - Crash zone sensor, inspect the crash area to see if it's just unplugged and needs a new sensor installed, if the sensor was tripped then it will throw that same code. As long as the wiring looks good just install a new one.

B1019 - Passenger side (right side) seat belt pre-tensioner, likely deployed in the accident, replace the entire seat belt assembly and inspect the wiring harness but the wires are probably fine.

B1134, that's the one in the steering wheel, probably just need to replace the airbag module.

C1929 - VDC/ABS system malfunction. This can be caused by the RAS system malfunctioning since RAS is technically part of the VDC system.

P0725 - TCM not receiving proper engine rpm signal via CANBUS. On the front/top/middle of the engine timing chain cover are two ground wires that land on bolts remove the bolts, wire brush the lug, the bolt, and the mating surface on the timing chain cover. Hopefully this fixes but if not then unplug and inspect the transmission harness right at the transmission and look for corrosion on the pins or any damage on the wires under the car or harness. Possibly a bad TCM.

P1815 - Manumatic switches, probably just needs to be cleaned out with contact cleaner.

C1155 - Low brake fluid level, fill it up.

C1137 - RAS system malfunction, this might just be from the other brake system code causing the RAS to be disabled. This will be the last item to diagnose after everything else is fixed.

 

It's easiest to just put the system in diagnostic mode which will tell you what component is malfunctioning. However any code reader that can handle SRS codes and has ISO protocol 9141-2 will work with this car. EDIT: I'm not aware of any android apps that are full function like this.

 

Thanks cleric, this helps.

I checked the steering wheel airbag, it is there and connected, I'll see what our local pick-n-pull yard has on these.

 

Looking at ML629 OR AL629. They read transmission codes as well.

 

shurur - mine is an Autel that runs on an Android tablet but I don't think this is what you're looking for. I paid $500 for it about 4 or 5 years ago but so glad I got it.

 

AL629 appears to work!

 

I wanted to get back to you on the assortment of codes I pulled on the car. I got all of these cleared with the exception of B1019 even after changing the complete seat belt tensioner. All of the SRS codes are showing PAST except for the one mentioned. I think I will have to have my SRS module cleared/reset in order to get rid of the remaining hard codes. I'm not able to do it with my scanner.

A little stumped right now and ran out of daylight so will have to pick it up again Friday or this weekend. Appreciate the input received.