Airbag Help Please!!!

4.6vertGT · Jun 8, 2007

When my heater core blew out and sprayed all over the place last winter, i thought that it had damaged the airbag connector. The airbag light came on, and just recently went to Ford (i know, im dumb). I have not so good expericences with this dealer because they have attempted to screw me a few times. Anyways, i paid $100+ for a diagnosis and they confirmed what i had thought. They told me the connector needed to be replaced AS WELL AS the airbag module. So basically my question to you, would the damaged connector cause the module to go bad, or are they just trying to screw me with the expensive part/install? Please give me your opinions!

DTNODYA · Jun 8, 2007

Man I don't know ... My airbag light came on one time and I wasn't about to go pay 100 bucks to have someone turn it off (or try to upsell me something) ... So I read somewhere that you can crank your car like 100 times (or some ****) and it will go off. So I just drove it like normal and one day like a month later it just went off when I started it.

I don't know if they are trying to screw you or not but did you do the obvious stuff like check the airbag fuse?

4.6vertGT · Jun 8, 2007

yeah its definitely been longer than a month. and yeah ive checked all the simple stuff. i just wanna know if the connector being damaged could cause the module to go bad? i think im just gonna have ford change out the connector and see what happens. i would splice one in myself, but id rather not deal witht he risk of the bag deploying.

whyask · Jun 8, 2007

There is a clock spring inside were your horn sits,,...mine went bad and is still bad, horn dosnt work same with the cruise control section, and yes the airbag light is always on.... SO it may NOT BE THE MODULE just your clock spring 300$$ fix is alot cheaper than an entire moduler (spelling)

4.6vertGT · Jun 8, 2007

my horn and cruise control still work though...

whyask · Jun 8, 2007

hmmmm, any ford techs in here !

4.6vertGT · Jun 8, 2007

yeah i wish. i dont wanna be screwed over once more by ford.

Mike97gt · Jun 8, 2007

How is the connector damaged? it's it from coolant getting into the connector if so then yeah it most likely needs the module too.

4.6vertGT · Jun 8, 2007

yeah. coolant. so does it short out the module?

Mike97gt · Jun 9, 2007

4.6vertGT said:
yeah. coolant. so does it short out the module?

if it got into the connector then yeah the module is junk. How could the module survive if the coolant and short destroyed the connector

BTW the service tech does not care about selling parts. We care about labor dollars. Us techs don't get anything from parts sales, personally I rather sell a job with few parts and a ton of labor. It's the techs that diag the car and let the writers know what to sell, and we don't benefit from selling expensive parts.

Even service management in some dealers do not benefit from parts sales. Parts is typically a separate department.

chuck943 · Jun 9, 2007

4.6vertGT said:
When my heater core blew out and sprayed all over the place last winter, i thought that it had damaged the airbag connector. The airbag light came on, and just recently went to Ford (i know, im dumb). I have not so good expericences with this dealer because they have attempted to screw me a few times. Anyways, i paid $100+ for a diagnosis and they confirmed what i had thought. They told me the connector needed to be replaced AS WELL AS the airbag module. So basically my question to you, would the damaged connector cause the module to go bad, or are they just trying to screw me with the expensive part/install? Please give me your opinions!

Well let me try and explain what the dealer is faced with here. He is kinda in a no win situation. See you already think he is out to screw you before he even looks at it. If he just replaced the connector and it fixed it then he would be your hero, but on the other hand if he just replaced the connector and it didn't fix it then he would be a bum that took your money and didn't fix didly. Then if for some reason you were involved in an accident later and the bag didn't deploy then some lawyer would own him and the dealer.

I have been bitten so many times like this when you get to a point where a simple connector might be causing the problem especially if the problem is intermitant. You explain to customer that the connector might be the problem but it could also be a component causing it also, but you suggest trying the cheaper repair first. They agree to this and when the connector doesn't fix it then they come back ranting that you don't know what you are doing and expect you to now fix it for free.

Sorry to rant like this but thought you might want to see what it is like sometimes on the other side of the fence.

My suggestion is to see if they will let you talk directly to tech and see what he says about it, if you feel comfortable with what he tells you then do what he suggest. If not take it to someone you trust.

4.6vertGT · Jun 9, 2007

well inspection needs to be done soon too as well. when shops inspect, i know im not going to pass with the light on. do they have the scanner that can read the airbag code? or do they visually look over it? becuase i was thinking about taking the bulb out or something until i can fix it.

Mike97gt · Jun 10, 2007

4.6vertGT said:
well inspection needs to be done soon too as well. when shops inspect, i know im not going to pass with the light on. do they have the scanner that can read the airbag code? or do they visually look over it? becuase i was thinking about taking the bulb out or something until i can fix it.

I am not sure how tx inspection works, but in my state they only scan for PCM codes, this is done as our emissions test on OBD 2 cars

chuck943 said:
Well let me try and explain what the dealer is faced with here. He is kinda in a no win situation. See you already think he is out to screw you before he even looks at it. If he just replaced the connector and it fixed it then he would be your hero, but on the other hand if he just replaced the connector and it didn't fix it then he would be a bum that took your money and didn't fix didly. Then if for some reason you were involved in an accident later and the bag didn't deploy then some lawyer would own him and the dealer.

I have been bitten so many times like this when you get to a point where a simple connector might be causing the problem especially if the problem is intermitant. You explain to customer that the connector might be the problem but it could also be a component causing it also, but you suggest trying the cheaper repair first. They agree to this and when the connector doesn't fix it then they come back ranting that you don't know what you are doing and expect you to now fix it for free.

Sorry to rant like this but thought you might want to see what it is like sometimes on the other side of the fence.

My suggestion is to see if they will let you talk directly to tech and see what he says about it, if you feel comfortable with what he tells you then do what he suggest. If not take it to someone you trust.

100 percent true.. I have been bitten many times trying to help somebody out

4.6vertGT · Jun 10, 2007

im pretty sure thats how it works here as well. so in that case, can i just take out the airbag bulb?

smokin00GT · Jun 10, 2007

I wouldn't take out the bulb. No matter how annoying it may be, but it's there to warn you of a malfunction. That air bag could save your life in a crash, so you should make sure it works. You also don't want to go digging in there and have it deploy on you because you didn't know what you are doing. Take it and have it fixed by a professional. Just my .02

4.6vertGT · Jun 10, 2007

oh i was going to take it to a dealer to get it fixed anyways. but i need to gather up some money to take it there first. quote is $500. but i need to get inspection done by the end of this month, so thats all i would take the bulb out for.

DTNODYA · Jun 10, 2007

When the light is on it means that the bags won't deploy ... And yeah, I wouldn't mess with it because if you think 500 bucks is a lot, wait till you have two deployed airbags with a busted up steering wheel and dash!! Know what I mean?

With respect to dealerships here's how I see it:

Many times people have a bad experience (or multiple) and assume that ALL technicians/service writers are out to screw you. The bottom line is that the service department has to make money and the techs pretty much do what the service writers mention as the symptoms of the car .. But the sale of parts won't help the techs any (as mentioned) especially if its a part that doesn't take long to install.

The most difficult part for me (as I don't take my car to a dealership) is finding a good tech. That is a process that I don't know how to do. I worked at a dealership and we had some excellent techs (cared a lot about their work, did it right) but then we had a couple that could screw up anything. I'd probably take my car in if I could find someone that would do it right. I'm not worried about them trying to rip me off because of excellent resources like forums and personal knowledge but its a quality issue for me. For example, to clean the throttle body, it should be taken off of the car!!! The little things like that ...

Semi-rant over.

Airbag Help Please!!!

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