Airbag light/Belt Buckle Replacement/Ground Question

[spg356]

Greetings,

I have a '98 5 speed with 110k miles. Within the last three years and 30k miles I recieved the airbag light with seat belt buckle codes. I replaced both seat belt buckles along with splicing and soldering in the four leads with the gold plated and greased contact springs (grounds).

I now have a code for the passenger buckle. The question is, would I also need to re-do the grounds as well as a new buckle?

Thanks,

[JFP in PA]

Some owners of the early 986's have gone through more than one set of seat belt buckles; it is a commonly known issue.

[spg356]

JFP,

Yeah that has been a nagging thing. Would you recommend replacing the gold plated grounds too? I did them already when installing the new buckles the first time and wonder if they need to be done again.

Thanks,

[JFP in PA]

The first thing I would do would be to get a can of spray electrical contact cleaner and try cleaning out the buckles thoroughly (a build up of crud inside them makes for poor electical contact), that often does the trick, and it is cheap. Just make sure everything is electrically dead first by disconnecting the battery.

[spg356]

Will do, I assume I should reset the code (I have a Durametric) after cleaning the buckles. I'll get it done Sunday and report back.

As always, thank you.

[spg356]

JFP,

I cleaned the buckle receptacles with electrical contact cleaner, cleared the codes and now the airbag light has been off since Sunday.

Hopefully that was it; as always I appreciate your help!

Regards,

[JFP in PA]

Sometimes, it is just that simple..................