Car's "air-bag" light stays on. (danger or just 10-degree-F temp?)

By far the coldest day of the year, here in Westchester county, 10mi north of New York City. 10-degrees at 8am,

17 now at 8pm, going down again.

And, the air-bag "idiot light" (term from the 60's -- still used today?) *stays on*, which the car's instruction book says means "GET YOUR CAR CHECKED AND FIXED IMMEDIATELY!".

Question: is the fact of it being so cold when this light stays on (first time ever) just a mere coincidence -- meaning I really do have to take it in

or

do *lots* of cars shwo the same problem when super-cold weather? (Meaning there's no way to fix it -- just ain't designed to operate at this temperature.)

What have *you* heard about this kind of thing?

THANKS!

David

Reply to
David Combs
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Probably nothing, but better safe than sorry. Not deploying when needed is no biggy if you wear belts, but an uncommanded deployment going over a pothole could ruin your whole day.

It probably won't cost you anything but time and inconvenience- the Feds make them repair that stuff free for at least the first 100k miles, IIRC.

aem sends...

Reply to
<aemeijers

We&#39;re at about -5F (at 8PM) a couple hundred miles North of you.

I haven&#39;t heard anything do to cold and 10F isn&#39;t really all that cold. I&#39;d make sure you don&#39;t have crap stuffed under the seat. MMy seat belt light came on a while back. Some bungee cords had slipped under the seat and were interfering with the seat mechanism. Just a guess.

Reply to
krw

What *I* heard is thieves love to steal airbags. They go for $300+ on the black market.

The light comes on because yours is gone.

Reply to
HeyBub

IMHO, follow your manual, and "GET YOUR CAR CHECKED AND FIXED IMMEDIATELY!".

Don&#39;t mess with your safety.

tom @

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Reply to
Humble Tom

What year vehicle? Tom

Reply to
tom

On my Dodge Caravan it was a defective switch. It didn&#39;t actually affect anything, except to make the light come on, but then you never know if the device is okay or not. I got it replaced. For the price I am not sure if I would recommend that or not.

Reply to
Toller

Can you honk the horn? Does your cruise control work? Had a van do this, the clockwork spring (I think) was gone in the steering disabling the horn, cruise and airbag.

Sorry but 10 degrees is not super cold, having run vehicles at -40 and colder without an issue. You have a problem with your air bag, get it checked.

PV

Reply to
PV

Cold or not, there is something that the system is not happy about. Yes maybe it&#39;s only a problem in the cold but still a problem. Gotta get it checked...

Reply to
Richard Thoms

The term is still used, but I don&#39;t think the seat belt light is an idiot light. That term imo refers to the "OIL" and "BATTERY"** lights which replaced actual gauges, presumably because the average idiot didn&#39;t know what was good and what was bad when he looked at the oil pressure gauge and the ammeter. So they just gave him a light and told him that was bad.

The airbag light doesn&#39;t replace an earlier gauge, and I don&#39;t think one simple gauge would be enough to indicate whether the airbag is in good condition or not. So maybe they could have had a digital indicator that would give all the airbag codes. But from the driver&#39;s pov, what difference does it make what the code is if he doesn&#39;t have the tools to fix any of them.

Actually I like that my &#39;95 Chrysler has both an oil light and an oil gauge. In truth, you wouldn&#39;t have to be an idiot not to notice when the pressure is too low, so the warning light is good. I hate all the cars that only have a voltmeter, when an ammeter gives a lot more information, and gives valuable information earlier.

**I forget what it actually said on that light.

Reply to
mm

Every 10 years they need "servicing". Is your car getting on to 10 years old? Tom

Reply to
tom

The difference in knowing the actual code is that in many cases it would give the owner a good idea of what exactly is wrong, and not leave them at the mercy of shady dealers or repair shops. Before I took a modern car to the dealer for what could be an expensive repair, I&#39;d get one of the digital readout devices that let;s you pull the code info from the car.

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Reply to
trader4

Reply to
Bennett Price

David Combs posted for all of us...

Not knowing make, year & model but the manufacturer may have a TSB about it.

Reply to
Tekkie®

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