airbag light flashing after wheel swap. How to reset?

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May 1, 2004 | 03:02 PM
  #1  
Just swapped steering wheels between two 92 SE's. Now the airbag light keeps flashing at me. Tried the 4th/5th generation trick with the door light switch but that didn't work. I've disconnected the battery to see if it resets after sitting overnight.
Anybody know the correct procedure? A piece of electrical tape over the offending indicator light?
TIA
(Sure wish the search function was working again on the Org.)
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May 1, 2004 | 03:35 PM
  #2  
uhhh, did you mess up the spiral cable in the middle?

see if the horn and cruise control work..
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May 1, 2004 | 05:06 PM
  #3  
i believe if you disconnect it it needs to be reset by the dealer. if you dont care for a prehistoric airbag to protect you then just disconnect it and pull ou the bulb behind the cluster, if not go to nissan and have then reset if for about a buck
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May 1, 2004 | 05:52 PM
  #4  
Yeah just get it reset by Nissan. A prehistoric airbag is 100X better than an air cushion.
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May 1, 2004 | 05:59 PM
  #5  
Quote: Yeah just get it reset by Nissan. A prehistoric airbag is 100X better than an air cushion.
I did mess up the coil on the first car, (what's with 6 feet of elec. cable?) so I replaced the whole cable unit from the second car. I know the cruise works. Didn't try the horn. I'll call the dealer on mon. A buck? Didn't think they'd sneeze at you for a buck.
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May 1, 2004 | 06:04 PM
  #6  
^^^^ u're right. The Nissan dealer in my town charged $10 on my credit card and then sneezed right on my face. He does additional sneezes for $7 each. But that's just him!
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May 1, 2004 | 07:03 PM
  #7  
there's absolutely no need to have it reset by the dealer. you can do everything they can with the FSM. I suggest you buy one and start looking.
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May 2, 2004 | 03:26 AM
  #8  
Quote: there's absolutely no need to have it reset by the dealer. you can do everything they can with the FSM. I suggest you buy one and start looking.
Sold it to an Org. member last year. Don't ask why. Now I work by brail. Or not.
My new motto; "If you haven't done it twice, you're not done yet". HA!
(bummer for car work, great for some other activities)
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May 2, 2004 | 08:11 AM
  #9  
Quote: Yeah just get it reset by Nissan. A prehistoric airbag is 100X better than an air cushion.
i've had friends be blinded and burnt badly due to trial and error airbags from when they first started to develop them. the chemicals hey use to used ere not the same as they are now. i would rather not have one( from that era) than drive around with a bomb in my face. airbags do save lives. but i wouldnt trust a 12 yr old one to do so.

how many 3rd enners actually use the lap belt? i know i dont, and i always wear a seatbelt when i drive my other car around. that would be a much more effective restraint.
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May 2, 2004 | 08:17 AM
  #10  
I always wear the lap belt... I've been hit by two people already, and the way people friggin drive these days makes me wanna wear a helmet while driving
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May 2, 2004 | 10:39 AM
  #11  
Quote: I always wear the lap belt... I've been hit by two people already, and the way people friggin drive these days makes me wanna wear a helmet while driving

yeah, i know, its just the automatic-ness of it and the stupidity that you still have to put something on after that. i dont drive mine much, so i always forget.
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May 2, 2004 | 10:49 PM
  #12  
Shoulder belt without the lap belt is pretty much useless at even 20mph.....the driver just slides from underneath it. Be careful out there people!
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May 3, 2004 | 04:54 AM
  #13  
My car doesn't have an airbag and I am kind of glad. ShavedMax is right, those old ones are pretty hardcore. They will almost certainly break your nose and mess up your face pretty good. They would give you a better chance of surviving a high speed collision (you still wouldn't have much of a chance), but they often do more harm than good in a slow/medium speed impact if you have your seatbelt on.

I used to be a photographer for a newspaper and I've seen some people in minor wrecks have to go to the hospital from the airbag damage. The worst is when you don't have a seatbelt and then the airbag hits you. This one lady in a geo did that and her face looked like hamburger.
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May 3, 2004 | 05:51 AM
  #14  
Speaking from personal experience, the airbags in 3rd gens are just fine. I've blown two in my life (both in 3rd gnes), and the only thing that's happened to me is that I got a very light scuff on my chin once.

It saved my ***, as I t-boned a toyota 4x4 at about 40. my car immediately came to a dead stop, and the truck spun 1 1/2 times and was facing the opposite direction after it bounced off a curb and cracked two rims.
had the airbag not been there, it would have done some serious internal damage to me, as well as breaking collarbone and bruising the !@)#(* out of my kidneys from the seatbelt. with the airbag, I didn't even know what happened until the thing had deflated. I opened my eyes, realized I was still alive, NOTHING was hurting, and the car as still running. I shut off the engine and got out.. I was never even sore after the wreck.

try doing that in a non-airbag equipped car.
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May 3, 2004 | 06:33 AM
  #15  
YIKES!! Local dealership just quoted me $86 to hook to the computer and reset the air-bag light! Guess I shouldn't have let that FSM go. Hmmm.
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May 3, 2004 | 07:24 AM
  #16  
you can easily reset it yourself. it's been posted on here before

I'll take a look at my fsm later and try to post it for you. It's really easy.
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May 3, 2004 | 07:47 AM
  #17  
Quote: My car doesn't have an airbag and I am kind of glad. ShavedMax is right, those old ones are pretty hardcore. They will almost certainly break your nose and mess up your face pretty good. They would give you a better chance of surviving a high speed collision (you still wouldn't have much of a chance), but they often do more harm than good in a slow/medium speed impact if you have your seatbelt on.

I used to be a photographer for a newspaper and I've seen some people in minor wrecks have to go to the hospital from the airbag damage. The worst is when you don't have a seatbelt and then the airbag hits you. This one lady in a geo did that and her face looked like hamburger.
That Geo lady should never have been driving if she couldn't figure out that the first "S" in SRS stands for "Supplemental". LOL @ Hamburger!

This airbag/not airbag debate can go on forever. I honestly don't understand the "old bags are no good" argument. Look at it this way: Chances of an old airbag hurting you = slim. Chances of not ending up with a face after a 40mph crash without an airbag = 100%. Anyone not believing that just needs to watch the 50,000 pieces of crash test footage taken by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that are on TV all the time.

Yes, our airbags are old, very old, but if you were to do a survey, I will bet all my money on more lives being saved by them than injuries incurred. Personally, I would rather have slight burns than a smashed up face and collar bone. Yes, at a 15 mph crash, I too, would rather not have the airbag go off, as I know the two belts are sufficient at that speed. But not being omicient, I usually don't know before getting on the road whether I will have a crash, and if so, at what speed. However, I know that 99% of my driving is @ > 15 mph, so I would rather just wear both my belts and be happy that my 12 year old car has airbag and ABS.
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May 3, 2004 | 02:21 PM
  #18  
Quote: you can easily reset it yourself. it's been posted on here before

I'll take a look at my fsm later and try to post it for you. It's really easy.
I got it Craig. (Thanks again for your great site!) I called a local body shop and he gave me a copy of the right page of some manual.
Somebody else posted this and I tried it but it didn't work. This time IT WORKED:
"Driver's door switch (interior light) is turned ON and OFF more than 5 times within 7 seconds after ignition switch is turned ON."
DONE! I love this magic s##t when it works!
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May 3, 2004 | 02:35 PM
  #19  
"LOL @ Hamburger!"
I read this and snot came out my nose!
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May 3, 2004 | 02:41 PM
  #20  
Quote: I got it Craig. (Thanks again for your great site!) I called a local body shop and he gave me a copy of the right page of some manual.
Somebody else posted this and I tried it but it didn't work. This time IT WORKED:
"Driver's door switch (interior light) is turned ON and OFF more than 5 times within 7 seconds after ignition switch is turned ON."
DONE! I love this magic s##t when it works!
did you just replace the airbag or the airbag and module as well?
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May 3, 2004 | 05:49 PM
  #21  
Quote: I got it Craig. (Thanks again for your great site!) I called a local body shop and he gave me a copy of the right page of some manual.
Somebody else posted this and I tried it but it didn't work. This time IT WORKED:
"Driver's door switch (interior light) is turned ON and OFF more than 5 times within 7 seconds after ignition switch is turned ON."
DONE! I love this magic s##t when it works!
cool, I knew it was something like that, but I couldn't remember the exact details

glad you got it working, hopefully it'll stay off now *knock on wood*
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May 4, 2004 | 04:05 AM
  #22  
Quote: did you just replace the airbag or the airbag and module as well?
If by "module" you mean the round unit with the coiled wire, yes, I swapped that too. Only because I had sprung the first one and didn't trust my rewrapping job.
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May 4, 2004 | 01:26 PM
  #23  
Quote: If by "module" you mean the round unit with the coiled wire, yes, I swapped that too. Only because I had sprung the first one and didn't trust my rewrapping job.
nah its the computer to the airbag system, so i assume you didnt and everything is fine
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May 4, 2004 | 07:59 PM
  #24  
I've got a similar problem since I replaced my airbag and computer. My light now flashes on for 3 sec & off for 2 - before resetting it was on 1 sec off 2. Anyone know what this means?
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May 5, 2004 | 03:54 PM
  #25  
Quote: I've got a similar problem since I replaced my airbag and computer. My light now flashes on for 3 sec & off for 2 - before resetting it was on 1 sec off 2. Anyone know what this means?
Do the door light sequence I mentioned above. My light kept changing flash patterns as I was messing with trying to get the right sequence. I'm sure each one is a different code. I almost gave up. Then it worked.
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May 10, 2004 | 05:42 AM
  #26  
Quote: Do the door light sequence I mentioned above. My light kept changing flash patterns as I was messing with trying to get the right sequence. I'm sure each one is a different code. I almost gave up. Then it worked.
It worked great. Thanks so much!
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