Airbag Light

Hello, need some help. Have a 97 SC2 and had it up for sale. Daughter left
the windows open and we got a deluge rainstorm overnight and the next day,
it had three to four inches of water inside. To make matters worse, we had
a flight several hours later out of the country so the car was secured and
we left. We came back a week later and the inside of the car was soaked.
It's dried out now, but since the water, the airbag light is on. I tried to
reset it by unhooking the battery as well has having Autozone try to reset
it like they can with check engine lights, but to no avail.

How can I get this light reset? IT's a $800 car that I don't want to take
to the dealer.

Thanks

 

Does this model have a sensor in the passenger seat that senses a
passenger and switches on the passenger side air bag?

If so it may still be wet or damaged and thus causing the error.

 

Thanks. It doesn't appear so.

 

Did the steering wheel get wet? Again, I am not familiar with this
model, but when the check airbag light came on in my 91 Mustang I had to
replace the clock spring in the steering column to fix it.

Have you tried posting your question to http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/ ?

Good luck!

 

No, not really. The drivers window wasn't open but only a few inches
though, the passenger almost all the way. Had about three inches of water
in the floorboard.

 

afik, the airbag circuit tests the electrical continuity of the squibs and
available firing voltage at key on. A squib is similar in concept to an
electrical blasting cap. When sufficient current is applied, a small
explosion is triggered and the resulting gas inflates the bag. if the
circuit is open or high resistance, warning light goes off.

You can trace out the airbag wiring and test with a LOW POWER ohm meter (a
few milliamps maximum). Do not use a test light or it may detonate the
squib. Follow all the guidelines for proper testing in the service manual.

The actual trigger for the airbags is usually buried on the floor under the
center console. They used to mount this behind the front bumper but as the
sensing electronics got more sophisticated, they got better results mounting
it inside the passenger compartment.

The airbag trigger senses acceleration on impact. Above a certain profile
and it deploys the bags. A high voltage inverter keeps a capacitor charged
all the time key is on. The charge on the capacitor is dumped into the squib
to fire it. The firing capacitor takes about a minute after battery cable is
removed to bleed down to a safe level. After this time you can work with
airbag connectors safely.

Disclaimer: The above is from memory after reading the L-series manual.
Information should be verified if possible.

Oppie