paulpearl

HI EVERYONE My 01 max has had a blinking airbag light for four days now. I took it the local stealership today(not the one where I bought my car) and had the CONSULT 2 test the car. The tech said it threw an "airbag module open" code and then he did a function test and this said the "airbag drivers side open". They stated there was no visible harness damage. They told me I need to replace the whole drivers air bag assembly for $1,083!!!!!!!! I walked out and couldn't believe it. The car has never been in an accident and has been pampered for the 90,000 miles on it. I then called the dealership where I bought the car and explained it to a friend who works there. He stated being a Nissan tech for twenty years he has seen 2 cars that actually needed the airbag replaced. He stated they have a CONSULT 3 the only dealer in the state of Ohio and wants my car tested on this. I am going down there (AKRON-75 miles away) next week to get this test run. He thinks it might be a corrision issue with the wires. He is going to talk with his local nissan rep to report this if it truly is an airbag to have them pay the cost because this doesn't happen ever. Also, I tried doing the reset myself with the 7second 3second method but did not help. Any input would be great.

VaporHead

Ebay is your best friend if it comes down to that. Airbags are $$$. It costed the insurance company $3500 to replace the blown airbags in my old mustang.

wyche89

Holy crap that's alot of money!! I have the airbag light on in my car too, and I'm scared of what it might be. It's been on for like.. weeks.. lol.. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think it's the fact that I know nissan is gonna tell me something expensive like what you just said, so my logic is to just keep driving around and pray I don't die.. lol.. but yeah, what I'll probably do is just take it to a mechanic around the corner and have him hook it up to a diagnostic machine for like 3 minutes to diagnose the problem instead of paying nissan $90 for that same process that supposedly takes an hour...

Rock On!

iTrader: (3)

I don't know if I would trust getting an airbag off of ebay, you never know exactly what you may be getting. maybe I am just over reacting.

shavedmax

iTrader: (6)

could also be the clockspring. as much as it sucks to replace both, a clockspring costs 150-300, much cheaper than the airbag assy. hope it works out at the other dealership

SHOman

Prolly this one...

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91mjiffypop.phtml

NisTech

i've seen them go before. I think we change average of 10-15 a year.
Check on it's warranty though. I know for a fact that seatbelts are lifetime warranty as i've replaces seatbelts in 15 year old cars lol Emission control here is 120 Kms. while engine is only 100.
Go to a wreckers and get one.
We just got the colsult 3 as well but it's not set up yet.

resurrectedmax

iTrader: (11)

there is an airbag reset that you could try for the blinking airbag light.

i believe its in the stickies.

MacGarnicle

iTrader: (1)

I know in Canada items such as seat belts and airbags are covered under lifetime warranty, so the dealership has to replace it at no cost. Is there no legislation like this in your jurisdiction?

Mass_Media

I always thought that safty equipment (ie airbag, seatbelts) was under a lifetime warrenty.

paulpearl

Everyone... Hey NISTECH....You say you replace about 10-15 a year, now does this mean the "whole" airbag assembly at a cost of usually around $1000, please elaborate. Its good to get your input since you work with these cars all the time. Thanks for the input as I am hoping that maybe if its the seatbelt causing the airbag light or the airbag itself that maybe its still under a lifetime or manufacture warranty. I am going the day after Thanksgiving next week so I will keep everyone updated just in case this happens to your cars.

9DTALON

iTrader: (1)

I work in parts at Nissan and we do change probably a dozen or so a year for the "light" coming on. Doesn't seem to be any real trend towards one car over another, it's very random. I just replaced the bags in my car after a collision with used ones. I figure that my 6 year old bags worked perfectly in the accident I was in, so why wouldn't other 6 year old bags? No light, no problem. BTW: my used drivers side one was only like 150$ from the junk yard.

NisTech

Just ask your dealer what kind of warranty your airbags have.
Depends what kind of code you got. 2002 and newer seatbelts have pretentioners that can set a code or it could be an airbag itself. A seatbelt won't cause an airbag code. They are different parts.

shavedmax

iTrader: (6)

if the seatbelts have pretensioners it would, pretensioners alone go off in some accidents and turn the airbag light on.

paulpearl

Well everyone, I went to the stealership in Akron, Ohio today and they hooked my car up to the consult 3 for the blinking airbag light. They found an "open drivers air bag code" just like the consult 2 at the other dealer but the consult 3 also displayed there was a wire that had become disconnected near the clockspring assembly. The tech showed me the wire before fixing this, it was not corroded but had simply "jarred loose" so it was just a matter of plugging it back together and clearing the light code with the consult 3 and what do you know NO MORE BLINKING LIGHT. I was happy they only charged me $80 TOTAL for the diagnostic test and NO LABOR CHARGE. It took the tech about 60 minutes to fix this. The tech said the clockspring might be the next to set the airbag light off but he has fixed this same wire on many maximas and this seemed to fix the problem forever. This made my day. Now I have to back to the original Nissan dealer near me (the one with the consult 2) and tell them I got it fixed for $80 instead of the $1,083 they wanted to charge me for a whole new airbag assembly. I will never go back to that dealership. I just wanted to let everyone know in case this ever happens to you...FIND A DEALERSHIP WITH A CONSULT 3 SO YOU DON'T GET RIPPED OFF!!!!! THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE ON THE ORG. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST.......

Czerkas

iTrader: (1)

my dads caravan had an airbag light on and at the same the rear wiper didn't work ... turned out to be a fuse ... is that possible on the maxima's? i was gonna tell you to give that a shot but i have no idea if that is always a possibility