Airbag Indicator Light

I see my airbag indicator light up along with the accompanying readout on the dash telling me to service airbags. I hit the enter button on the steering wheel and the dash readout goes back to normal, and usually within a couple of minutes the idiot light goes out as well. This is at startup, whether truck is hot or cold. Are there any diagnostics I can run (I don't believe my Equus 3140 scanner will read any airbag codes), or is my only chance for hope here to take it to the stealership? Are any of the sensors more prone to having issues than the others (like the one in the front of the grill ... thinking it might be an issue because of being in the elements all the time ??)? Any thoughts here? Thanks in advance. (Yes, I'm talking about the 2006 Z71 listed in my sig.)

Lol my airbag light is always on. Ur gonna need a scanner to see whats up.

I'll hook my Equus 3140 scanner up to it, but I thought the airbag and PCM/ECM systems don't talk to each other? The only reason why I'm even worried about it is in VA you have a safety inspection. If the airbag light doesn't cycle normally, you fail inspection and cannot drive your vehicle. Trying to be proactive and get it fixed prior to October when it's due. I was hoping someone on here might have some ideas for me.

I was correct, the 3140 does not do it. The 3160b version of their scanner does however. I think I'll check with my local mechanic and see if he has a scanner which can tell me what is going on. I desperately do NOT want to go to the stealership ... I'm sure they'd charge me $100+ just for a diagnostic.

My Snap On MT2500 does airbag stuff up to 2009, but what I noticed is anything newer than 02 I can't communicate with. I can scan and clear codes on vehicles older than 02, on my 04' Colorado it is linked with the serial 2 data wire BUT I still can't communicate with it. For what it's worth my dealer charged me $85.00 to scan the airbag, and put the light out. Mine came on because I removed the drivers side seat not thinking about the connector on the bottom of the seat.

Glad I live in Indiana. My light has been on constant for 2 Years now. Used to only when it was freezing out during winter.

On a 06 z71 the two most common problems with the airbag system are....

1. the harness under the passengers seat rubbing on the seat track or getting run over by the seat track. Look for cut wires or insulation worn through.
2. Under drivers side kick panel there is a yellow connector that can have poor connection, wiggle it or unplug and plug back in. Once the problem is fixed the warning will go out. Code does not need to he cleared.

My airbag light came on immediately after swapping clusters. I had the airbag deploy once when I hit a deer, but the light was off, after the truck was fixed, on the old cluster. :confused:

Black electrical tape can fix it.

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Originally Posted by Botlfed

Black electrical tape can fix it.

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Yeah, thought about that. But I figured if I'm that far, I might as well take the bulb out.

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Originally Posted by bstill

Yeah, thought about that. But I figured if I'm that far, I might as well take the bulb out.

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Actually, black electrical tape cannot fix it ... as part of the safety inspection, they check the operation of the airbag. When you turn the ignition on, the airbag light will show briefly (or blink) until it does its POST, then go out. If it doesn't show up, you fail inspection (as long as the vehicle is airbag equipped). I bought an older Jeep Cherokee Sport for my son. It was mechanically activated, which meant it did not have an airbag light. I had to prove to the technician there wouldn't be a light on this model of vehicle before he'd pass inspection on it. I found a line in Hanes manual which stated exactly that and all was good. Point is, without the light coming on, it fails. Besides, you know as well as I do, it also displays the fault in the dash readout as well having the idiot light. There's definitely no win with the black tape method.