Airbag light system calibration - battery disconnected - car storage
 

My car is with the dealer for repairs due to circular saw blade attack.
A few weeks ago, though, I had it in a body shop where the inner door panels were removed and car was painted.
Now, I have the airbag light.

I asked the dealer to clear it.

I was advised it takes 1-2 hours of their time to calibrate the system.
Question 1.
Ugh, what calibration?

Then, I was advised that replacing (i.e. disconnecting) the battery will result in system reset and they (dealer) have to re-calibrate airbags again.

Question Two.
Is that true?


As far as I can tell - get a Durametric and clear the code.
That was Question Three.
Happy Halloween.

Nice rhymes, huh? Duh...


EDIT.
Supplemental info.
Airbag light is on, because I believe the body shop removed the bags without disconnecting the battery first... "honest mistake".

Now, car storage. Why did I bring it up?
Because I was told to keep the battery connected and on the trickle charger.
I thought disconnecting it is OK. If I let the car sit for 5 months, why bother with trickle and all this crap. Disconnect the negative and let it be.
On spring connect and it should start right up.

Jeff, thanks for the response.

No, disconnecting the battery does not cause the air bag system to reset, or clear air bag codes for that matter. More than likely, the during the removal of the door panels, something was not reconnected correctly.

I have absolutely no idea what they are going to be doing for 1 1/2 hours, other than having lunch on what they over charged you. Even if the air bag control module had to be replaced and coded to the car, that wouldn't take that amount of time.

Yes, the Durametric system will read and clear air bag codes, but can only clear them after the fault has been corrected. If the fault is not repaired, the code will return.

Hey Jeff.
No, I did not let them do it. Once I heard 1 to 2 hours depending on complexity of the calibration I was already in my head - smells like an expensive joke to me.
I like this guy, he is very polite, returns calls, and followed up with me on the repair.
Yet, those small things make me upset overall.

I will rent Durametric to activate cruise control and reset the airbag light. But that will be probably AFTER I deal with the windows drop/door locks mechanisms.

The dealer? WTF? Taking it to the dealer IS the expensive joke. You don't have a solid indie in town?

Me and dealer? Me walking into the door threshold is more expensive than the car.

As I said in my earlier post. The car was towed there after my encounter with a circular saw blade. Insurance pays the for the repairs. I just thought I would kindly ask them to clear the airbag light so that I will not need to rent Durametric... I thought if they are making enough money on this repair, they would be willing to do something for me.
Nah... forget. For 2 hours of their 165 USD/h time I can get Durametric for life.

And while I spoke to the service advisor about the light, it was clear to me something is not right.

Yes, I wanted to verify with those who have much more experience with Porsches if actually disconnecting the airbag requires some kind of calibration.
Or if battery removal makes the system go down and needs to be recalibrated.
All seems to me like a bunch of inexperienced talks, as what kind of manufacturer would release a car where a battery replacement or dead battery, would require a visit to the dealer to... calibrate airbag system.


So in short - no, it was not my choice.
If it was up to me, I would ask for a check and repair the car myself.
However, it is unknown what is the condition of the power steering pump, hence I decided to leave the car with them and not fight about check and repair myself.

You can see more here...
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/81743-what-could-7-laminate-circular-saw-blade-do-your-undercarriage.html

If I understand right, the airbag light was triggered by the repair shop? Likely due to an ignition cycle while am airbag system component was unplugged. I would think you should demand they correct the problem at their expense? If they demonstrate it is a pre existing problem, or accident caused problem, you or the insurance might pay?

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

And as to long term storage, is your cigarette lighter socket live when the ignition is off? Mine was.

Plugging in a maintainer (not a simple charger) there and just leaving it there is the way I stored mine all winter in VA. Ran an extension cord through the door using the notch in the weatherstripping on the bottom of the door. Maintainer sat on the floorboard. If I got good weather I'd sometimes disconnect the extension cord, leave the maintainer plugged in and go for a drive. Always started right up. Easy and simple. (Cord was 100 feet long, car covered by Noah fabric cover. Cord female socket inside the car.)