Airbag question

I recently purchased an airbag from a parts dismantler. Presumably the airbag is still good, I have no reason to believe that it was bad. The car was having some body work done, and I had them put the new used airbag in (the crest on my old airbag was all messed up, that's why I swapped it out). Now the red airbag light on the dash comes on. So the airbag doesn't work apparently. They reset the light several times and it comes right back on. Does anyone know if there is a simple fix for this or is this airbag messed up and not working? The car it came off of was supposedly not involved in any accident. Thanks

Maybe the used airbag is DOA. What was the exact error code or codes?

Ill have to check again tomorrow, I didn't get the codes. I just figured airbags are the kind of thing that either work or blow up and get replaced, rather than stop working. I'll post the codes when I get them. Thanks

The airbag looks like a 3 ohm resistor to the air bag controller. Check the airbag resistance between the 2 terminals. If it's not approx 3 ohms the controller will think its faulty/blown

The code of another shops Durametrix was 21: ignition circuit, driver. No one near me knows what that means. I saw one write up that said to use the "special airbag tool 9516" to go through some trouble shooting steps. Is that tool part of the durametrix computer package or is it specific to Porsche? Naturally, the guy at the bodyshop that replaced the steering wheel and airbag, said he doesn't know what that is. He called the local stealership and they said they had to physically see the car to figure out the problem (even though he gave them the code).

The "ignition circuit" in question is the ignition circuit for the airbag driver (squib). I would be concerned about the utility of this used airbag... Here's a Renntech post with a different perspective, but I'd be very cautious about slamming into any bridges until you can verify that the airbag is not a blank. http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...-contact-unit/

The special tool is NOT part of Durametric and most likely it's just a resistor (my speculation). Check these threads http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...-airbag-light/ http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...-contact-unit/

It's an issue with resistance, not a resistor. The squib ignitor is supposed to show a given amount of resistance. Since it isn't, and it sounds as though that's the only part of the circuit that has changed, the airbag is currently not performing within specification, and that would make me nervous. The posts you reference involve using a 2.9 ohm resistor to trick the car into thinking that the airbag is in place, but that's not going to prevent your chest/face from impacting the steering wheel in the event of unexpected deceleration.

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Just to be clear, so far no one is suggesting to replace the airbag with a resistor. The resistor is only used for diagnostic purposes.

Nobody here was - agreed. In one of the RT threads, the info is provided, but obviously not advisable for non-dedicated track cars. I researched and found the 944 race cars use the 2.9 ohm resister wired in to do exactly what I want to do.

Thanks, but here is the question, why would the problem follow the original airbag when that is put back in (there were no issues before it was taken out, but now the same error comes up when the original is put back in)? That tells me its not the airbag, but the car that is being bitchy. Could simply disconnecting the original airbag have really messed everything up inside the car?

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Did you reset the airbag warning light after you put the original airbag back on the car, and it got tripped again? Agree it's hard to imagine why same problem with the old airbag, which didn't have problems before. Maybe the connector is busted?

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Got it and agreed.

Yes, they tried resetting the error after the original bag was put back in and it comes back on, with the same error. Maybe the used bag fried something when it was first put in. I'm just trying to isolate the most likely cause, as I'm eventually going to have to bring it to someone to fix and I hate being at someone else's mercy (Unfortunately, DIY projects don't tend to end well with me).

If the connector is hosed, you may need to replace the clock spring unit, as explained in the one RT link that both Ahsai and I posted... here's the part (image deeplinked from Pelican):

The airbag unit is passive - it shouldn't be capable of frying anything.

Thanks, 5CHN3LL and Ahsai. I had missed those links on your earlier replies. Last question, the clockspring is on the steering wheel (or the column)? If so, the steering wheel was also replaced, so perhaps this issue has originated from the steering wheel itself.

The clockspring is inside the column behind the steering wheel. http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...ck-springhelp/ I think the brown wire (in poast #8) needs to connecto the metal part of the steering wheel. Maybe you can check that connection too.

Thanks, Ahsai. Maybe that connection is loose. I really hope it is just some simple connection. They're going to take everything apart again on Monday and try to reconnect all the original parts. Hopefully, at least going back to square one will get rid of that light, then I'll just have to see if its worth trying to change it out again.