2003 Subaru Forester. When you start the car the “Air Bag” light on the dash is one of many that stays on for a few seconds, then shuts off. This morning it didn’t shut off.
I certainly don’t have the time to take it to the dealership and have them diagnose some faulty wire and charge me $200. Plus, I’ve heard horror stories about how ridiculously expensive it is to replace the air bag itself.
So my question for car experts is, do I care? My other cars didn’t have air bags, and I’m still here. Is there some long-term damage to other electronics in the steering wheel that can result from the air bag not working? (Horn, turn signals, etc)?
Get it fixed. If you don’t care about people who care about you, at least care about the air bag not going off on the freeway at 80MPH because of a faulty wire.
If there really is something wrong with the airbag and you get into a bad accident, just think of how expensive that wil be. Estate lawyers can cost your family thousands. The sensor is there for this reason. Sure, it could be a bad sensor but why take the risk.
If the bag goes off, it’s gonna cost you at least $1000 (assuming it doesn’t injure/kill you or make you have an accident).
The airbag system is separate from the lights and so forth. Most repair manuals will advise you to disconnect the battery when working on electronics near the steering wheel or dashboard just in case the bag were to go off, you won’t get your face torn off. It could be something very simple like a fuse or relay.
Yeah, I just don’t have the time to take it in. Hopefully it will be a simple thing. Subaru messageboards indicate that this is a common thing, and it’s nothing.
I won’t say it’s impossible, but I’ve never heard of a relationship between the warning light being on and spontaneous deployment of the bag(s). Typically, when the light is on the system will not deploy. The self-monitoring function “knows” there’s a glitch somewhere and shuts down the activation function.
I believe Gary T has it right. The bag probably won’t deploy. If you wear your seat belt then the airbag is only usefull if your car becomes substantially shorter in an accident. Their existence was intended for people who do not wear seat belts although they may add some protection in a head-on collision. I can assure you they aren’t necessary for hitting parked cars at 65 mph (while wearing a seat belt).
GaryT is exactly right. The light is there to tell you that something is wrong with the sensor(s)/system and the air bag might NOT go off. Even if you feel no safer with a functional airbag, I would suggest you get it fixed for liability reasons.