DIY: Airbag Module replacement & reset

[Blloyd29]

Since I couldn't seem to find a really good tutorial on this I decided to make my own. I bought a wrecked '02 986 and rebuilt it using parts from a donor 1999 986 parts car I bought minus engine/transmission.

Before:



After:


But then after it's all put together and I try to reset it...airbag light is on.

And it's giving me this code:


The seat belt tensioner has gone bad. This sets off the Airbag module. These can be rebuilt by soldering on a new capacitor, maybe I will do that DIY next. It's a $.05 part that fixes a $300 airbag control module.

Luckily I had a spare parts car so I just took the module form it.

Disconnect your battery before doing anything with the airbag system and let it sit for a few minutes.

The module is located under your stereo head unit and in front of the gear shifter. Very little needs to be done to get this out.

First you remove the side panels, these are just popped off, take them off evenly so you don't break the tabs. No tools needed.

Now you can see the module:


There are safety bolts that are supposed to keep you from tampering with the unit but these can be taken off with some patience and a set of pliers.



When you put this back together, use regular 10mm nuts.

Here you can see the different modules out, they can have different serial numbers on them but they are the same part number.




Now that you've plugged the new one back in and bolted it back down, you can reconnect the battery.

Plug in your Durametric plug again and reset the light. Done.

Overall time to pull out 2 units (1 in parts car) and reinstall: 30 minutes. I bought a Durametric kit for $300 shipped and spent less than an hour after installing it, putting in the new unit and taking out an extra one for the parts car. Way better than the $1,500 I was quoted by the dealer.

[somclan]

Many thanks for the great post.I found it easy to follow and perfect for my needs. I need to replace the passenger side and steering wheel air bag on my 99 986. :ah:Will I have to source a new sensor after the bags have been deployed.Ie is the sensor "once only " or can they be reset ?
Also
My car has had the 3 spoke wheel fitted at the factory as a optional extra.. The air bag can be got but they are ching ching.Meanwhile what I understand to be the less desirable 4 spoke wheel c/w airbag are available for about a quarter of the price.

Will the 4 spoke wheel replace the 3 spoke wheel with out much drama..

Thanks

Stephen

[guesswecan777]

Very useful info but how do you get the code?

[guesswecan777]

A friend told me that by reconnecting the sensor can sometimes reset airbag light. Is this ture?

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by guesswecan777

A friend told me that by reconnecting the sensor can sometimes reset airbag light. Is this ture?

No.................