air bag warning light - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

bmyslis · 07-04-2005, 06:36 PM

i'm a 2 month new boxster owner. i have a '97 with less than 15K miles.

my air bag warning light just came on today. i'm not a big fan of porsche dealer service.

i think i remember reading something in the owners manual about air bags and the age of them.

any suggestions on getting the light to go away or am i stuck going into a dealer?

thanks

bruce

RandallNeighbour · 07-04-2005, 07:13 PM

I too have a 97... the seatbelt receptacles were bad on them and when the switch inside them goes out, the airbag comes one and stays on... the airbag works fine though, not to worry. I just had the driver's seatbelt receptacle replaced due to this same issue.

This may or may not be your problem though—if you have removed your seats or steering wheel to upgrade it to a 3 spoke, the airbag light will come on if you didn't disconnect the negative terminal of the battery for at least 30 minutes.

If it came on by itself, you may want to take it into your stealership to have it checked out. Or, do what I did and find an independent mechanic with a Porsche PST2 tool, which is an electronic LCD panel that diagnoses problems. This is what the dealer uses to find your issue and repair it.

If it is the seatbelt receptacle, it won't be outrageous... I think $60 a connector plus a minimum charge for labor.

Sure wish my 97 only had 15k on it! You got yourself a garage queen for sure. I'm at 87k and climbing.

Brucelee · 07-04-2005, 07:14 PM

Whether you need to go to a dealer, who knows. What you do need is an OBD2 reader to understand what the code in your light means.

It can be nothing to expensive.

Without data, you don't know.

If it were me, I would go to a Porsche dealer to get the straight skinny!

Good luck!

bmyslis · 07-05-2005, 05:03 AM

sounds like good advice.

can a weekend oil change mechanic like me pick up a pst2 tool and obd2 reader?

how much and where to find them?

thanks,

bruce

RandallNeighbour · 07-05-2005, 05:43 AM

OBD2 tools are not expensive and you can buy them. Check online. They're not sophisticated like the Porsche tool though—clearing codes, programming, etc. I dunno if they can clear out history and warning lights like the Porsche tool does.

The Porsche tool, if you can find a used one, will be $2000+ according to Jeff (Toolpants).

Brucelee · 07-05-2005, 06:41 AM

I believe Randall is correct here. There some that claim to plug into your PC etc. but I have no experience with them.