Help With Airbag Code 01?

[rsachek]

Recently bought a durametric to diagnose and turn off my airbag warning light. I expected it to be something like seat belt terminal corrosion or under the seat cables, but the fault code is "01". What the heck does that mean?? I tried clearing the code but light came right back on. Do you guys think it would help to unplug then reattach the airbag module?

 

Here is what it says from the manual:

 

[Loren]

Yes, clean the contact on the connections and check to see that the light comes on when you turn the ignition key to "on".

[rsachek]

Okay, so I finally had the chance to mess with it. I unplugged the yellow/orange plug from the module in front of the shifter, then I sprayed both connections with electrical contact cleaner and plugged it back in. Cleared the fault code with durametric...  and the darn warning message is still on! Same fault code "01".

 

The round red light in the dash does light up, along with all the others, when the key is turned on.

 

At this point, I am thinking about buying a used airbag module off ebay and seeing if that clears things up? There always seems to be several available for <$100. Any other ideas? Thanks!

[Loren]

Did you check fuse E1?

Check for pinched wire(s) at the airbag or trigger control box.

[rsachek]

Yes, I checked the fuse and although it looked okay, I installed the spare anyway. Still getting fault code 01.

 

So then I swapped out the airbag module in front of the shifter with one from ebay, same year & configuration. That module already had a couple fault codes on it (low voltage, seat belt, etc.) which I promptly cleared. Still getting fault code 01 (all of the other codes from the "new" used module stayed cleared).

 

Then I removed the instrument cluster and inspected all of the wiring behind the cluster down to the airbag module as best I could using a flashlight. There wasn't much to see as most of the wiring is hidden in a loom until it goes into the connector(s) but what was visible looked fine. Before I reinstalled the cluster, I sprayed all of the connections with electrical cleaner. Cleared the code once more and it's still coming back on 01.

 

Ugh, I am really at wits end with this!! I'm now thinking there may be a short circuit inside the cluster itself? Seems like the only thing left? 

[rsachek]

Hooray!! Car is fixed! Installed a used cluster from ebay, cleared the fault code with my durametric and the light/warning has stayed off so the problem was definitely inside the cluster itself.

 

Bad news is that this was an expensive repair. The used cluster (white/aluminum faces) was almost $400 and it's going to cost another $89 to have the odometer corrected to match my car's mileage. But having the airbag light on was annoying. Besides the round light itself, the center digital display would beep & show "airbag warning" in big red letters every time I started the car, which I had to pull the computer stalk forward to return the display to normal.