air bag code 44

[justin mccluske]

any one know where my primary crash senser is ?my car likes to flash air bag 44 if i let it sleep in my garage more than a few days but if i drive it every day than i never see it

 

[rangerj]

Is it flashing 44 or 8? There are three air bag sensors in the front of the vehicle. On is in the middle and the others are on the left and right. Before you do anything regarding the air bag DISABLE it. Disconnect the battery for several minutes (ten to be safe). Locate the sensors and clean the screws that hold thenm to the body. The screws serve as the "ground" and a little corrosion will cause a loss of contact. Try this first.

 

[justin mccluske]

its ether 44 or 4 it blinks 4 times and pauses

 

[rangerj]

Verify the code 4. If it is a code 4 then the place to look for the problem is the rear safeing sensor. I'll look into the diagnostics and get back to you later today.

While I'm doing that you think about your mechanical abilities. The air bag is one of the most dangerous things on the car to work with. It must be done correctly. There is no room for error. As long as it is disabled it can be worked on safely. When you disconnect the battery you remove the source of power from the air bag, but only after you waite for the back up power supply to bleed off. The back up power supply is located behind the glove box. I prefer to disconnect the back up power supply after the battery has been disconnected (removing the negative battery connection is sufficient), and the back up power has been allowed to bleed off a few minutes. For safety I give the back up power supply a 1/2 hour after the battery is disconnected.

So, think about this. Do you feel your skills are up to working on the air bag system? If you are not sure, DON'T.

 

[ohioshodude]

all i've ever done is take the prongs off the battery and touch them together for a few seconds. that will **** all power left in the system. no need to wait 30 mins for a few small capacitors to drain off.

 

[Rockledge]

We are left to guess as to the year, but if it's a 1992 or newer SHO that we are talking about, then the code has to be two-digit, which in all likelyhood would make it a 44.

44 - Primary Crash Sensor #1 Not Mounted to Vehicle Properly

 

[justin mccluske]

its a 91 and im pretty confadent in my mechanical abilities iv worked on the air bag system befor with one of my other sho's another weird thing is it started doing this only when i didnt drive it for a week or more now it does it when ever it wants to .i also went threw a few altenators around the some time this prb started and i notice every time my altenators started going out the airbag light and the abs light would come on due to high or low voltage given from the bad altenators witch was traced back to a mixture of bad battery and altenator also the pause between lights are the same so im guessing its 4

 

[rangerj]

According to the Ford (Helm) Shop Manual "The power supply is a capacitor that will discharge approximately 15 minutes after the battery is disconnected". I choose to be conservative and follow the manufacturers recommendations when dealing with the air bag. I would rather not trivialize something as dangerous as an air bag. This is especially important when making a recommendation to someone who may not have much experience, training, or knowledge about the subject.

Again, the recommended (by Ford) way to deactivate the air bag is to disconnect the battery negative cable (or both if you want), waite at least 15 minutes (per the above), and then disconnect the back up power supply(located above the glove compartment).

Justin,

Verify that you have a code 4 and I'll post the diagnostics for a code 4.

 

[justin mccluske]

im sure its 4 i looked at the code thread and there was no 4 so i assumed it was 44

 

[rangerj]

Disable the air bag. The most common problem found for a code 4 is an open circuit at one or more of the crash sensors. The rear safing sensor is behind the left kick panel (verify for your model year), the front sensors are at the left and right where the body connect to the bumper, and the center sensor is at approximately the center of the radiator.

Make sure that the screws that attach the sensors to the body are not rusted and are making a good ground connection. Also check the wire harness connections to the sensors for any looseness or corrosion.

When you have done this reactivate the air bag and check for the code. If the code is still there we will do more diagnostics. I'll be away from my computer until friday .