Do any of you guys have electrical problems coming in batches? In the last 4 months – maybe 1,500 miles – I have had to replace my alternator, ignition switch. My left front blinker is dead (see my post), and yesterday the airbag light came on. Everything was fine until I took my car to the dealer for its 30,000 mi service.

MY blinker issue has been discussed here and you all have, as always, been quite helpful. Can anyone tell me about this airbag light and what I need to do about it. Car is out of warrantee. So, please be kind….

Thanks!!

 

Hello John, sorry to here about your recent bad string of luck with your car. The airbag light could be a lot of different things, but most of the time when I see one it is for one of the seat belt buckles. Porsche has updated the new buckles to have a gold plating on the connectors, and also there is a modification we perform to the groud point of the seat belt buckles as well. This usually clears the fault, but in a few rare cases, I have actually had to replace the airbag control module as well. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

I hope your luck turns around!
Kevin H.

 

Kevin, could it also be clock spring related? i know thats more of a mechanical fault then electrical...but may still be a possibility...

 

It could be, but due to the circumstances with the lights coming on, I would be more inclined to think that it was a "soft" fault. I have seen very few clock spring problems in my time with these cars.

 

I would look at all the main gounds closely. K2 can probably get you a schematic of their locations. I agree that the airbag is commonly the belt connectors due to bad grounding. However, if you are blowing alternators and other electronic componants, could be you have an open ground somewhere (possibly intermitent) which is not properly controlling the current. Check all accessable harnesses for bare wires too..

 

has this car been driven at a bad storm lately, like its gotten drentched on by a monsoon or something? Electricals are tough to pin point.

 

No monsoon! Hahaha... It can get bad down here though. I haven't really driven it that much lately and it has not been caught in a downpour. I seem to remember I was doing something with my seat belt whn the light came on.

Kevin H., What's the fix for the buckle? The update? Is P-Cars North handing those out by any chance?

Thanks!!

 

Very good point. Thank you! I'll start the search in my DIY mod locations....

 

John, the fix really depends on the actual fault that you have stored in your airbag control unit. Unfortunately, I cannot diagnose cars from afar, if I could, than I would be sitting on a beach somewhere fixing cars . So, this is going to mean a trip to your dealer. I am not sure about the warranty situation on these, if you have been a very loyal customer of you local dealer, they may be able to work with you on pricing. Just remember this, whenever the airbag loght is on, if you were to get into an accident, the airbags WILL NOT deploy, so it is of utmost importance that this problem gets resolved.

 

Rats in the garage chewing the wires?