Airbag light

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

Airbag light is on for my '99 996. Dealer says there is a new relay required in the seatbelt. This would have been a warranty repair when the car was under warranty. Now it is a $1500 fix!!! The dealer says airbag does not deploy if airbag light is on!

I considered this a safety issue and contacted PCNA to see if it could be covered under warranty retroactively as this is a major safety issue. They pretty much told me to take a hike.

Anyone else with this problem? What did you do? What about the Durametric diagnostic device. It looks like it will reset the light but does it reset the airbag?

Glenn

purplxd · 06-14-2008, 08:57 AM

Hi there,

Most common answer to this I have heard is the wiring harness under the seats. From my understanding Porsche released an article on the issue and it is under a recall notice, aka no charge.

Have you recently taken the seats out of your car by chance? Only reason I ask is I did this to install a roll bar and had to turn the ignition on to steer it and it faulted the air bag.

I reset the light with the Durametric tool no problem. If you have a physical harness issue, this will only be a temp fix as the fault with create an error code soon after again.

Safety issue, not that I am aware of.

The airbag system is still active and the impact sensors are still operating. All that is telling you is that it doesn't know if you're belted into the car or not so its a warning.

Cheers
Aaron

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

Thanks Aaron,
No, seats not out of car. I suspect scumbag dealer trying to rip me off. Do you have a reference to the Porsche article by chance?
Glenn

purplxd · 06-14-2008, 09:43 AM

Sorry, I don't.

There was some discussion on the Renn Tech forums about this though (renntech.org). I'd recommend looking up a user by the name or Lorne as he is very knowledgeable on all things 996.

He'd be your best bet to look up the reference for you. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Cheers
Aaron

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

Thanks anyway Aaron.
I found a reference to airbag recall but it was for '98. I bought the Duramatic Enthusiast system online. I think it will be much better than my current OBDII code reader. What is your experience with the Duramatic?
Glenn

purplxd · 06-15-2008, 02:16 PM

Its fantastic, paid for itself in the first month I had it.

Cheers
Aaron

Last Car · 06-24-2008, 09:00 AM

Glenndeweirdt,
I had the same thing happen on my 99 C2; I got the Duramatic reader, checked the code, (it was the driver side seat belt latch) cleaned with contact cleaner, cleared the code and all has been well for the past three or so weeks.
As I've said in other post.......this tool should be in every DIY's tool box.
Good luck,

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

My Durametric showed passenger side seatbelt. What do you use to clean the contact? Where is the contact?
Thanks.
Glenn

Last Car · 07-23-2008, 05:12 AM

glenndeweirdt,
Just got back on line, If you still need to know what to use....any good 'contact' cleaner will work. I shot some in, then used some air to dry, then used a little 'cardboard' (about the thickness of the male end of the seat belt) to rub between the contacts, put more cleaner in and give it a good air blast and as of today.....no light.
Hope this helps,

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

Thanks. Will try.
Glenn