SOLVED! Airbag Light

[krunal88]

Hello all. I have the airbag light on after replacing the steering wheel. I replaced the wheel with a nice leather acdelco wheel, purely cosmetic mod.

The airbag light stays on. I did disconnect the battery before the install. Also pulled the fuse and disconnected the battery a second time in effort to reset the light but no luck. Do I need a scanner that can read airbag codes to reset?

 

[TollKeeper]

You do need a scanner capable of reading SRS codes.

Are you sure you plugged in the 2 pigtails on the AirBag? Did you possibly turn any part of the system while the old steering wheel was off?

Could be a Yaw needs a calibration, or worse case scenario, a clock spring.

 

[krunal88]

Ok. I will unplug the pigtails and replug. I didn’t turn any part of the system from what I can tell.

 

[TJBaker57]

IF the vehicle is older than 2008 an OBD2 adapter and an app like Car Gauge Pro can read the SIRS codes.

Alternately an OBD2 adapter and a serial terminal app along with some guidance and one can learn to read any codes from any module in these pre 2008 trucks.

 

[krunal88]

I unplugged everything and did a replug in with fuse and battery removed. No luck. Code is still there. I will pick up a srs supported scan tool online to pull the code.

 

[Mooseman]

What wheel did you use? Did you reuse the original airbag? If you used a wheel from another truck or a wrong year, the airbag in that wheel may not be compatible. One way to find out is to reconnect the original airbag.

Otherwise, you'll need to pull the codes to know what is going on.

 

[TollKeeper]

Good point @Mooseman , he doesnt indicate what year he is working on, and what year the donor wheel and maybe airbag are from.

There is a change over, and they are all not compatible.

 

[krunal88]

I ended up using the ac delco wheel part number 10364494. The wheel didn’t come with an airbag so I reused the old one from the 2005 Trailblazer LS.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I installed the little yellow clips that go on the airbag plugs. Does that make any difference or could generate a code?

 

[krunal88]

According to this service bulletin the yellow clips seem to play a vital part in the SIR system so I will put those back in and see if that helps. See bulletin below.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/MC-10137623-9999.pdf

 

[krunal88]

Can confirm when reinstalling the yellow retaining clips on the 2005 trailblazer, the airbag light does not come back on. Keep those clips! Also one of my retaining clips center teeth pieces broke off, but it still managed to clip in, so don’t toss them if the center portions break off due to being brittle (plus they are around $12 a clip). Can probably mark this one as solved gents!

 

[TJBaker57]

Can confirm when reinstalling the yellow retaining clips on the 2005 trailblazer, the airbag light does not come back on. Keep those clips! Also one of my retaining clips center teeth pieces broke off, but it still managed to clip in, so don’t toss them if the center portions break off due to being brittle (plus they are around $12 a clip). Can probably mark this one as solved gents!

If it takes a retaining clip to maintain a solid connection then I would be suspicious of the actual connection and perhaps do a pin drag test or maybe even tighten up the female portion of the connection a little.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[krunal88]

You wouldn’t think a small retaining clip would be a factor in an airbag light but in this case it must have. Per the TSB, the CPA (clip) isolates the shorting-bars within the connector allowing the deployment circuit to operate properly.

As soon as the clips were in the light promptly shut off. Glad I didn’t have to purchase an advanced scanner…yet.

 

[TJBaker57]

Per the TSB, the CPA (clip) isolates the shorting-bars within the connector allowing the deployment circuit to operate properly

I guess my concern is covered in step 6 of the "correction" section where they direct the technician to check the connections for "poor tension" among other defects.

 

[TJBaker57]

Glad I didn’t have to purchase an advanced scanner…yet.

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