Air Bag Light

[MeShoHorney]

The airbag light blinks 6 times, stops and blinks again 6 times. This happend all the way to work this morning.

As per shotimes airbag codes 6 blinks means: 6 Driver-Side Air Bag Circuit - Open or High Resistance

Can anyone explian this to me, as I want to fix this problem and stop that DAMN light.
BTW. car is a 91'
TIA,
Jay

 

[sdpatt]

Search the archives for a similar topic. I detailed the procedure to remove, clean and relubricate the slip rings in the steering wheel to correct this condition.


------------------
Scott

1991, 252K miles, glass hood, police grill, SVO shifter, Catz fogs,
K&N, 73mm MAF, Superchip, PP Y-pipe, Borla cat-back, 190 lph pump
Eibach/Tokico/polyurethane, SHO Shop front & rear strut braces,
16x7.5" Moda R1, 225/55ZR16 Bridgestone RE730, -1 deg camber x 4,
Class II hitch, Silver award at the SHOklahoma Car Show

 

[MeShoHorney]

Thanks Scott. Is this the article you are talking about?

Quoting sdpatt
"Check out the SHOtimes site for the air bag diagnostic codes. The most common code is regarding the slip ring contacts not making a good connection. With the key OFF, grab the wheel with both hands (at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions for good control) and push it into the column until the rim bottoms out. Do this several times and then turn the key ON to see if it cleared the fault. Mine has done this a handful of times over the course of its 10 years and the fault has cleared each time."

This is the only one I could locate. Some of the archives have been lost I know.

 

[sdpatt]

No. There was one around the August 30, 2001 timeframe where I detailed the procedure for taking the wheel and slip rings off and cleaning the rings. I will try to find it too.

Scott

 

[sdpatt]

I found it in the LSSHOC mailing list. Not in the Forum. Sorry to make you look, but the practice is good.

Here is the procedure copied from that 8/31/01 response to the LSSHOC Topica list:

The code 6 refers to the contacts at the slip rings in the steering wheel hub (Driver-Side Air Bag Circuit - Open or High Resistance). If you have a Gen I (which I assume since the Gen IIs and later had 2 digit codes), to access them, remove the four nuts within the recesses in the rear face of the steering wheel. I think these were 10 mm nuts. With the nuts off, the air bag insert will come out the front of the wheel.

You can now unplug the connectors that route to the air bag module and cruise control and set the air bag aside. Unscrew the hex bolt (can't recall the size - 15 mm?) holding the steering wheel on the shaft. (I saw a '93's and it was about a Torx 30 or 40 bolt). Use a wheel puller (or the same damper puller and bolts used to remove the crankshaft damper) to remove the steering wheel from the shaft. Carefully route the two electrical connectors through the opening on the right hand side of the wheel and place the wheel aside.

With the wheel off, remove the 4 (?) screws holding the black plastic slip ring to the hub. Notice its orientation with the wires routing from the right side. Unplug this assembly. Once this is removed, turn it over to see the three brass contact rings and all of the dried grease used to lubricate them. Use a solvent (Goo Gone, carb cleaner, etc.) and Q-Tips and paper towels to remove all of the grease. Now use about 600 grit emery paper to clean the glazed finish from the rings.

In the steering column, you will see the three spring loaded brass pins that contact the slip rings. Clean the grease off of these and use the emery paper to remove the glazed tip.

Now apply a dielectric grease to the slip rings and reinstall the slip ring assembly with the wires on the right side. Remount the wheel but first pass the two connectors through the opening to the right of the hub. Retorque the shaft bolt. Reconnect the airbag connector and reinstall the air bag into the wheel. Retorque the four nuts holding the air bag to the wheel.

No more AIR BAG light flashing six times in a row.

Scott

[This message has been edited by sdpatt (edited 12-03-2001).]

 

[MeShoHorney]

Scott, thanks for the info. One thing, I'm kinda queezy about working with the airbag (I don't want it to launch out on me). If I disconnect the battery for half an hour would I disable the airbag?


[This message has been edited by MeShoHorney (edited 12-04-2001).]

 

[sdpatt]

You could unplug the battery, but as soon as you unplug the connector behind the bag, it is no longer armed. Hnadling the bag is safe, just don't kick the impact sensors.

Scott

 

[jthomas68]

Jay,i also have to pull my air bag off to change out the wheel.I just went over this with Mark N a few hours ago because i thought it was trick to work with them,but it`s no big deal.Just take off the 4 bolts in the back of the wheel,pull off the air bag cover,unplug it,and you`re all set.
So how do you like the Gen I compared to the Gen II?

------------------
Jeremy Thomas
Modified 91+
Pic Of The Week:

 

[srfdude]

While undoubtedly Scott and Jeremy are correct, the manual is pretty adamant about warning of the danger of an exploding airbag. I suggest disconnecting the positive bat. cable, and grounding it together with the neg. for about 5 min. Of course, I wear suspenders with my belt, too. ;-)
Mike

 

[MeShoHorney]

Thanx for your help guys. This will be my weekend project along with my half shafts.