Hello
New member---thanks for the help on how to post.

Would appreciate any thoughts on my expensive problem. I took my car to the dealer recently because of an airbag fault that shows AIRBAG in the odometer space and a red fault light on the side of the dash that does not go out.

They pulled a code 32 for the clock spring and 44 for the air bag module. The total cost for repair both items was a whopping $2400----wow!!!! I have found both parts used from a good company ( Coventry West ) and the dealer said they would install them bringing my total cost down to around $1200.

I know a mechanic who said that usually both of these do not go bad together----usually it is one or the other. Also, I did get in a minor front end collision but the airbags did not deploy when this all started. This mechanic said that sometimes you can reset the airbag module and that fault will go away.

Lastly, I am considering selling the car and am wondering if I should simply take off $1000 from my asking price and sell it as is??????

Thanks much for reading all I have said here---any thoughts would be very appreciated.
Darrol

 

Darrol,

Here's my air bag story, for what it's worth. I'll be very brief.

I had the air bag light come on but had no equipment to diagnose the issue. I was left with being able to checks ground and connections....and little else.

However, I found a used control module on Ebay for $40. For that amount I was willing to take a guess. Lucky me....it solved the problem. I think it took about 30 minutes to replace it.

If you have any DIY inclinations.....it only takes simple hand tools....you might wanna do the same.

The "clockspring" is in the steering column....a bit trickier to deal with. Depending on your DIY experience level you might wanna leave it to a pro. But, again, used parts might be a real money saver.

Resetting the light? You can disconnect the battery for a couple minutes and see what happens. Don't get your hopes up too high, though.

Others will chime in with more ideas

Cheers
DD

 

I am an electrician by trade and thought I might try changing the airbag module. However, I have been told that once a new airbag module is installed it would need to be "programmed" for that particular car and of course this takes the computer program and equipment to do.

 

Maybe one of the more experienced guys will chime in here but I'm not aware of any programming required for this. In my case I just swapped out the module and, voilá, problem fixed.


Cheers
DD