Airbag light? It's on.. and flashing...

[XCLR8TN]

(TPMS sensors are not in btw, unrelated to airbag light)

Thoughts?

About 19k on the car, this happened while driving home yesterday. No idea why.... it flashes once, pauses for a second, then flashes 6 more times. Pauses, repeats.

I started the car this morning and it didn't turn back on. I know Cam had the same issue, and he has about half the mileage I do. Wondering if anyone has had the same problem and gotten a dealer's opinion. My dealer is only open till 5 and I work till 5:30 almost an hour away

-Jess

 

[MyPrecious]

This happened one time to me Jess. I shut the engine off.....restarted it....that reset the airbag sensor...and it has never happened again. I decided if it did...I would talk to my dealership...but so far...so good.

 

[Joker2]

Take it to the dealer!
And install the oem wheels if you still have'm so you get better treatment.

Someone with a Miata drove with flashing Light and the bags deployed. In the Miata they take out the windshield (as on other cars).

 

[Slow Paul]

Yeah check up with your dealer. Usually an airbag light means a bad sensor. That'll be covered under warranty.

 

[DrWebster]

Someone with a Miata drove with flashing Light and the bags deployed. In the Miata they take out the windshield (as on other cars).

The bags just suddenly deployed for no reason? That's not supposed to happen...if there's a fault with the airbag system, it's supposed to go into failsafe mode and disable the bags completely.

Either way, if the light is coming on, something is wrong and you need to take the car into the dealer. A sudden airbag deployment could kill you.

 

[zps2004]

I think it was an early 1.8L miata issue. One of my friends had this happen to them earlier this year.

 

[Joker2]

The bags just suddenly deployed for no reason? That's not supposed to happen...if there's a fault with the airbag system, it's supposed to go into failsafe mode and disable the bags completely.

Either way, if the light is coming on, something is wrong and you need to take the car into the dealer. A sudden airbag deployment could kill you.

Not exactly!
There is no failsafe mode that I know of. They deploy if certain conditions are met. Sometimes the conditions may be electrical in nature, sometimes physical.
Read up on Ford F150 air bag deployments.

Also Miatas that get tracked or bottom out in the front, may meet those conditions.

Anyway, a fail=safe condition means that it is better to smack someone in the face than to do nothing.

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Mine did this too 2 days ago! I only have around 5700 miles on mine though. I just re started the car and it went away but I'm thinking I'm going to go up to the dealership.

 

[maxuz]

my wife's did this with less than 3k miles on the OD. took it to the dealer, apparently somehow the passenger sensor gets decalibrated. they hook it up to a computer and reset it, covered under warranty and like a 30 min process at most.

pulling the battery negative terminal didn't do it, they have to hook it up to their computer.

you're not the first person i've seen report this on forums. at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised to see a TSB at some point. Does this forum have someone who monitors those things?

 

[XCLR8TN]

Huh, interesting! Thanks guys I'll try and take it to the dealer!

 

[fam]

our 5 does this all the time...they keep saying its a seat belt tensioner\sensor or some crap and changing it...finally just gave up.

 

[drop360]

Mine just started doing this on my drive to work this morning. Any TSB's for it yet? I'm at 37,800+ miles, so I'm out of luck with warranty. Not looking forward to spending a lot of money fixing something if it's a regular problem.

 

[Joker2]

I think a 16 code is loss of comm. so it may be the connector under the seat. I'll look it up Monday when I get my manuals. It happened to me during a rally, I mean just driving on some bad roads. No problem since.

 

[samsavell]

A few months ago, I discovered one of my wires had been severed somehow. Either from my puppy getting under the seat and chewing/pulling the wires, or from my tool box just sliding around underneath my seat in the most perfect of ways. Took an hour one day to remove the driver's seat and repair my cables. I haven't had any lights on since!

 

[genericmoniker]

On the bright side of all of this, atleast it's not a check engine light. Because well, when that happened to me, it wasn't pleasant.

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

^^^ This is the Most Stupid thing I have ever heard.

I would not recommend installing anything that is designed to alter the main programming of the primary safety system.

If you were ever in an accident and the insurance company were to realize that you altered the airbag, they might be in a position to disprove coverage.

The Real Solution is "Take The New Car For Free Work To The Dealer, make them fix it"

 

[Marek0393]

Anyone have any update on what the dealer may or may not do?? my 2011 2 w/ 51,000km just started doing this.
ugh.

 

[Joker2]

Anyone have any update on what the dealer may or may not do?? my 2011 2 w/ 51,000km just started doing this.
ugh.

Did you read my post? If it flashes a 16 it is a loss of communication. Maybe the connector under the seat is undone, maybe you hit it with the vacuum cleaner one too many times, maybe you stash junk under the seats. Inspect the wiring on both sides of the connector and reseat the connector if you must. Otherwise take it to the dealer and they will do the same but charge you if there is evidence of customer induced physical damage.

 

[CountryM3]

Did you read my post? If it flashes a 16 it is a loss of communication. Maybe the connector under the seat is undone, maybe you hit it with the vacuum cleaner one too many times, maybe you stash junk under the seats. Inspect the wiring on both sides of the connector and reseat the connector if you must. Otherwise take it to the dealer and they will do the same but charge you if there is evidence of customer induced physical damage.

I am getting the same error. Should I check the connections under just the passenger seat or does the loss of communication cover all airbag connections in the car?

 

[Sarein]

If one airbag has an issue the whole lot will flare up as a fault due to them running in succession.
If you go to the dealer they can plug it in and tell you what set of airbags it is that is causing the issue.
Most likely under the seats unless you've got it stripped. I had a nightmare sorting this when returning from stripped out. Ended up removing every connection and contact cleaning it. Note all connections require the black pin that sits in the middle of the yellow plug.

I am getting the same error. Should I check the connections under just the passenger seat or does the loss of communication cover all airbag connections in the car?

Always worth a look under the seat first as they are the plugs most likely to be accidentally knocked.