Help with air bag light

[beemer]

Hello,
My mother has a 2003 matrix and the airbag light cam on. She took it to the dealer, which she always has religously since she bought the car. They first said they made an adjustment and everything was fine. The light came back on after she left. They then told her it was a 1000.00 repair. They say the whole airbag unit has to be replaced. Any ideas on this? The airbag has never been deployed and it seems strange that it would just break from one minute till the next. Thanks for any opinions.

[hairball]

NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED HERE, but a glitch in the system caused my post to come up in duplicate! So I removed the text from this one. The next one is the one to read.

[hairball]

I know on many cars, if you disconnect both battery cables and touch them together for 5-10 seconds, then reconnect them, it will reset the air bags and the light should go off. But not always. NOTE: yes, you WILL have to reset your radio presets after this.

Another cause of this is what is called the "clockspring". Don't laugh and say to yourself "This guy sounds like a Goofball... I have a digital clock!" LOL! It has nothing to do with an actual time piece. (Besides, I don't think the 03 Matrix even has a clock.) A clockspring is a rotary electrical connector which allows a vehicle's steering wheel to turn while still making an electrical connection between the steering wheel airbag and/or the vehicle's horn and other devices and the vehicle's electrical systems. The clockspring is located between the steering wheel and the steering column. Often times this is at fault on cars equipped with airbags.

So if removing battery cables and hold them together for a bit doesn't remedy the problem, I would have someone check and/or replace your clockspring.

One of these two procedures might solve your problem. If not, I'll see what I can find out for you.

[beemer]

Thanks so much, she is in her 70's and this upset her quite abit.

[hairball]

...glad to offer my advice. And since I'm in the advice-giving mood, here's some more:

Some people might suggest taking the Matrix to a local auto parts store and having them check the codes for you, and that they can reset the airbag light. This is usually NOT correct. The code readers they use are different than the ones usually used to reset the airbag system. And hey, if the dealer can't solve the issue, an auto parts store certainly won't be able to.

If the battery cable thing doesn't do the trick, I would check with a REPUTABLE repair shop that specializes in vehicle electronics and electrical issues, not just any repair shop, to replace your clockspring. Airbags can be a VERY tricky area to work with if you don't know what you're doing. A mechanic not familiar with airbags and how to temporarily disable them (there is a long, complicated process to temporarily disable airbags to work on them), they can actually accidentally deploy them! Also, NEVER, EVER, EVER allow ANYONE to probe around under the dash of ANY vehicle equipped with an airbag.

I had a passenger side air bag in my 72 Plymouth Duster, but we got a divorce!