Flashing Airbag Light

[MWalker]

I think my 2002 Ranger extended cab has a wiring issue that I need to correct.
When my wife drives the truck the mirror and seat gets adjusted to her 5'3" stature.
After I readjust the seat, the airbag light flashes until its testing is complete, and then remains on.

Also if either driver or passenger seats are moved forward and tilted to gain access to the rear, this condition occurrs.

My "fix" has been simply wiggling the little harness beneath the seat, restart the truck and hit the road.

Turning off the airbag with the ignition key has no affect.

My questions:
If I unplug the harness will the airbag deploy?
If I remove the seats to check the harness for broken wires will the airbag deploy?

Thanks for any responses.

[Putts255]

All you need to do in order to make sure the airbag does not deploy is disconnect the battery and wait a few minutes.

Always the best practice when working on anything electrical on the vehicle.

As far as doing what you ask I don't think it will deploy, but best be safe than sorry.

[kdr358]

my 96 does it as well but my scanner dosent see any codes and i took it to a few shops and they said it would cost more time,money, and effort to replace it he said ignore it it wont stop the airbags form going off

[MWalker]

I thought there may be a secondary battery to deploy the airbag just incase there was a total electrical shutdown.

I also thought that the airbag would not deploy since the power on self test has failed.

For right now: ignore is easy and fits the time slot that is available.

[kdr358]

The airbag will still deploy but its just a light

[phantom_smack]

if the lights on air bags will not deploy.....in theory
They have a spray called de-oxit to clean the connectors under the seats.
It works....
I have never had an airbag deploy on me with the light on....except a flood car...lol and I disconnected the air bag module with the key mistakenly left on...not too smart
Botom line is be carefull when dealing with airbags

[kdr358]

really, they wont deploy? i figured either way its still a little ball triggering it

[Mike J.]

The airbag circuit uses a capacitor to store sufficient voltage/power to deploy the airbag after a total loss of vehicle power. Disconnecting the battery and waiting a few minutes allows the capacitor to discharge.