Airbag light/sensors

grudas · 24 Dec 2015 at 09:39

low and behold I've got an airbag light on my mazda 3 2007! boo I thought.. then it went away after a drive but came back on again. It has stayed on for two weeks now, booked it in with mazda but the earliest they can "look" at it is jan 7th! :mad:

of course, it is probably the worst time of the year for car to go wrong.

I have a good OBD2/ABS/SRS scanner so scanned the system and it looks like front airbag sensor is gone, two codes, one is "can't connect to sensor" 2nd is one either shorted or grounded??

looked at the connections and there's some "greenish" looking powder on both cable and the sensor connector, going to assume that water somehow got into it?

question is, has anyone had one replaced and how much did it cost you?

I'm expecting a few hundred sadly

the part alone is £120 and wiring loom is £60 if that went wrong(directly from mazda that is)

add diagnosis and work and it'll run into 300-400

kefkef · 24 Dec 2015 at 11:02

have you tried just cleaning the connectors with some light sandpaper?

grudas · 24 Dec 2015 at 11:06

kefkef said:
have you tried just cleaning the connectors with some light sandpaper?

I have

cleaning, resetting the codes etc it just comes back on

Finglonga · 24 Dec 2015 at 11:26

The corrosion is easy to get off and a light spray with WD40 should stop it returning. If it works you save yourself money, if it doesn't then you still have it booked in.

ZG002 · 24 Dec 2015 at 12:00

Could just need a replacement connector fitted.

grudas · 24 Dec 2015 at 17:08

Finglonga said:
The corrosion is easy to get off and a light spray with WD40 should stop it returning. If it works you save yourself money, if it doesn't then you still have it booked in.

wonder if wd40 will help! but I'll give it a go over the next few days!

it's a bit of a long-winded process to mess around steps are -;

disconnect battery(so no airbags go off)
remove the protective metal panel
clean connections(wiring one is harder because the connector is integrated into the cable)
reinstall
reconnect battery
1 min on "on" possition
1 min in "off"
15-20mins in idle to allow ECU le-learn the idle of the car so it doesn't stall - all electrical accessories need to be off.
start ac/electrics etc and leave it for another 5
go for a drive..

bit of a faf!

ZG002 said:
Could just need a replacement connector fitted.

I don't think the connector is replacable, the sensor it self has the connector molded to the body of it, wiring loom is impossible to find to buy used!

took off the metal protector tonight and got the part number, as expected bosch/ford part! got one coming from Germany, hopefully it is the sensor and not the loom!

was only £20

if it works out then great, if not.. still got it booked @mazda