[cardiffGiant]

Have the car in for service, among the issues was an airbag warning light. Turns out the dealer says I need a new passenger door airbag, about 800 bucks parts and labor as the car is out of warranty. If I could get the light off the dash, I wouldn't care a bit, but legally the dealer can't do that. Just wondering if anyone else has had to replace an airbag (one that hasn't been deployed of course), or might have some experience on repair rather than replacement?

 

[Troesma]

Nope, never-ever (in the Maser or my other cars) faced that fault. Maybe a sensor has blown-up. Then, I would not be quite at ease with such a warning fashing before my eyes... and no dealer will risk legal liability by erasing the fault (and face the music if something happens with the airbag not deploying).

Tough call...

800 bucks is some money, but how much is your passenger (maybe a family member) security worth?

Has the dealer exhaustively tested the probelm and came to airbag replacement as only solution? Any chance of going to another dealer for a second opinion?

 

[lazerx]

i just had the same problem last week. when i was cleaning the leather the airbag light came on while i was wiping the passenger side door. i'm also out of warranty, so i am still debating if i should just let it go or get it fixed

 

[M!]

my bmw's airbag light is always on with my aftermarket seats.
there is a seat belt tensioner connector that has been unplugged.

does the system actually detect something is wrong with the airbag itself and needs replacing?......

 

[leadfoot_mf]

wow that is a tough call i would take it to another dealer if one is close by.

to just let the light continue to go off. you would never know if there was another problem somewhere else.

air bags to me are a double edged sword. i dont like have a bomb aimed at me. but if i am in a serious enough crash i would be glad for them. its one thing if it was on the drivers side and only you drove the car. but if something happened to a passenger and the bag didnt deploy and they were injured or killed how could you live with that.

just something to think about good luck.

 

[cardiffGiant]

I am generally the only one if the car, maybe 90% of the time; the wife thinks it's too loud and low to the ground . I agree completely with the fact that leaving it inoperable is not a great idea. The justification that comes to mind is the fact that this is the door airbag, not the main one in the passenger dash.

This seems to have started right after a rather large and ungainly person from work went for a short drive in the car. I was wondering initially if maybe he screwed up the seat belt tensioner or yanked on the door handle or something. I do wipe the doors down with leather cleaner occasionally though as well lazerx, I wonder if just taking the door skin off and poking around a bit will help... (My indicator is on all the time, it doesn't flash, same with you lazerx?)

I've asked them not to fix it and will do a bit of investigation myself first. I would doubt they looked too exhaustively into easier (cheaper) fixes. Is there an electrical connector for the seat belt tensioner under the seat that I can look at?

 

[MaranelloRacingCars]

I would definitely recommend getting a 2nd opinion. We had several customers come to us for this airbag light, and we have been able to remove/void the alert with our diagnostic equipment.

The dealer should try to erase the error with their SD2 (of course, if they have the equipment), and if the alert comes back again then move to the next step. They should be able to show the diagnostic results.

The only time we had to replace the airbag, was on a Coupe that had a previous accident.

 

[cardiffGiant]

Thanks for the help. This is a dealer, so I would assume they have the equipment you are referring to. Would disconnecting the battery for a bit do the same thing (clear the fault code), or does it need to be explicitly erased. If it needs to be erased, could you please be a bit more specific on what I need to ask them for as proof the code was erased once? I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

 

[MaranelloRacingCars]

It am assuming that they are an authorized Ferrari/Maserati dealer, right? Disconnecting the battery would not void this kind of error. I would suggest you ask them to show you a print-out of the SD2 with the error details, so you can see for yourself the problem.

 

[bundas]

lights

ignore the d--m thing

 

[cardiffGiant]

It am assuming that they are an authorized Ferrari/Maserati dealer, right? Disconnecting the battery would not void this kind of error. I would suggest you ask them to show you a print-out of the SD2 with the error details, so you can see for yourself the problem.

Yep, it is an authorized F/M dealer. So a printout of the SD2 will show me the attempt to erase the error, and the error details for the fault as well...

Thanks, we'll see how that goes on Monday.

 

[MaranelloRacingCars]

Yep, it is an authorized F/M dealer. So a printout of the SD2 will show me the attempt to erase the error, and the error details for the fault as well...

Thanks, we'll see how that goes on Monday.

So how did it go??

 

[cardiffGiant]

The work order shows that they erased the fault with the SD2, and I asked the service manager about it. He said it came right back and they checked the resistance to the airbag unit and it was bad, so they suggest replacement...

Haven't decided what to do yet.