Aftermarket Steering Wheel Airbag Light Fix??

[PumaNoob]

Hello all!

I decided to fit an aftermarket steering wheel to my puma, and tried wiring in a 2.2ohm fused resistor to fool the ecu into thinking the airbag was still plugged in. Needless to say it never worked so i was wondering if anybody had succesfully fooled the ecu into thinking the steering wheel airbag was still plugged in, and if so, what resistor did you use?

Many thanks in advance

Oh, and yes i know i can just remove the bulb but i dont want to do it that way if its possible. Id like my passenger airbag to work, at least if im daft enough to kill myself, my passenger might survive!! :grin:

 

[quest63]

You did something that didnt work :shock: :shock: :shock:

What about cannabilising the airbag for whatever compoments the ecu reads and then hiding it away behind the cowls or extending the wires and hiding it elsewhere ?

 

[PumaNoob]

Thanks for the reply mate, i did think about trying this, but i got to looking at the spare airbag i have, and stopped in my tracks. The airbag contains explosive components, and my 'not so thick' side had me second guessing weather i should really be trying to take it appart without having the proper knowlege of how it works and where vital components are located. Its possible that without an electric current/charge, it wouldnt explode, but there is potential for serious injury, so id rather try and explore other avenues before going down that route.

 

[Qwertben]

have you tried a multimeter across the airbag?
set on ohms to give you the resistance of the air bag?
Also you sure you even have a passenger air bag?
ive been in 4 passenger air bag containers and yet to find an air bag....

 

[PumaNoob]

That was my first thought, but the weird thing is, I'm getting 0 ohms resistance across the airbag, I've tried both the one that was fitted to the car and a spare one. So either my multimeter is not working properly, or its something like a non linear resistance, that changes it's resistance once voltage I applied.

With regards to the passenger airbag, I'm actually not sure about that, I just assumed there was one! But ideally I don't want to just disable the bulb, it's one more thing to mess about with at MOT time, I could rewire it so it comes on and then goes off, but I'd rather try and sort it with a resistor. The light bothered me!

Thanks for the suggestion though mate, Ill try checking resistance with my other multi meter.

 

[oilburner]

The passenger airbag was a really rare option on the Puma, only ever seen one and that was my old car. It'll say SRS on the cover like on the steering wheel and x2 on the visible VIN plate in the windscreen

 

[quest63]

It would show up on etis I expect as well

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Mine has 2 airbags.... Etis says so, VIN plate says so and 2 SRS' on cover....

 

[BigAl]

Thanks for the reply mate, i did think about trying this, but i got to looking at the spare airbag i have, and stopped in my tracks. The airbag contains explosive components, and my 'not so thick' side had me second guessing weather i should really be trying to take it appart without having the proper knowlege of how it works and where vital components are located. Its possible that without an electric current/charge, it wouldnt explode, but there is potential for serious injury, so id rather try and explore other avenues before going down that route.

You'll be fine mate! If it explodes the airbag will go off & save you anyway!

 

[PumaNoob]

You'll be fine mate! If it explodes the airbag will go off & save you anyway!

Lol, problem is, you need to dismantle it from the rear not the front!! So it's the floor/workbench that will get the airbag side, and my face would get the hard metal side!!

As said earlier, regardless of weather there is actually a passenger airbag, ideally looking for an option of plug and play. If I disable the bulb, then it's another potential issue for MOT time when the bulb doesn't come on at all. I want to be able to bolt the old wheel back on without havering to also remove the dash for soldering or messing around with.

 

[martinthrapston]

Wasn't there some sort of plug in resistor ford did to disable passenger airbag so a baby seat could be used?????

 

[quest63]

You'll be fine mate! If it explodes the airbag will go off & save you anyway!

Lol, problem is, you need to dismantle it from the rear not the front!! So it's the floor/workbench that will get the airbag side, and my face would get the hard metal side!!

As said earlier, regardless of weather there is actually a passenger airbag, ideally looking for an option of plug and play. If I disable the bulb, then it's another potential issue for MOT time when the bulb doesn't come on at all. I want to be able to bolt the old wheel back on without havering to also remove the dash for soldering or messing around with.

I know this is a giddy arsed suggestion but you could extend the wires to the boot, glove box or under one of the seats and plug them into your airbag, just for the MOT. Then unplug and remove the airbag after.Outside the box huh :-D

 

[madhillbilly17]

im lost lol,you've fitted a after market steering wheel without a airbag? and you haven't got a passenger air bag? if thats the case it doesn't matter if the light doesn't come on with the turn of the key for the mot as there isn't any air bags fitted,if you had a air bag and took the bulb out then it would fail.

 

[PumaNoob]

Wasn't there some sort of plug in resistor ford did to disable passenger airbag so a baby seat could be used?????

I dont know, but if they did, and passenger airbags arent that common, then i should just be able to find someone breaking a puma (Ian G), and get him to unplug the resistor and send it to me, or measure the resistance. Good idea there pal!

I know this is a giddy arsed suggestion but you could extend the wires to the boot, glove box or under one of the seats and plug them into your airbag, just for the MOT. Then unplug and remove the airbag after.Outside the box huh :-D

Lol, thats VERY outside the box, infact its nowhere near the damn box!! I dont see no reason why it wouldnt work, but dont really want an explosive device rolling around in my boot or glovebox!! But it would work no doubt. I just want to make a simple small unit that fits under the steering cowelling that i can unplug and just swap out when i want to put the stock FRP wheel on.

im lost lol,you've fitted a after market steering wheel without a airbag? and you haven't got a passenger air bag? if thats the case it doesn't matter if the light doesn't come on with the turn of the key for the mot as there isn't any air bags fitted,if you had a air bag and took the bulb out then it would fail.

My passenger dash says SRS airbag on it, so im going on the assumption that an MOT tester will assume there is an airbag fitted as i did, i am yet to check if there is indeed an airbag there. But the point is, i want to make a simple circuit that i can plug in , and unplug whe i want to put my stock FRP wheel back on.

Taping up or removing the bulb are cheating, i dont like to take shortcuts, i like things to be as proper as i can possibly get them.

 

[PumaNoob]

The passenger airbag was a really rare option on the Puma, only ever seen one and that was my old car. It'll say SRS on the cover like on the steering wheel and x2 on the visible VIN plate in the windscreen

Thanks for that reply mate, it deffo says SRS on the pass side of the dash where an airbag would be, ive not looked at the vin plate. Id like to think at a cost of £23k, ford would have at least put a passenger airbag in there lol!

 

[red]

I'm pretty sure the FRPs all had a passenger one.

 

[oilburner]

How about wiring the airbag light into the oil pressure light? It'll come on with the ignition and go off just after the engine is started

 

[PumaNoob]

That was my last resort, to wire it into one of the other lights, I was thinking ABS but then when it's just got the front wheels on the rollers those lights may come on so oil pressure sounds like the best option.

But then the passenger airbag won't work, and if there was a problem with an airbag when I fitted the correct one, I wouldn't know about it.

 

[fairlight]

How about disabling bulb in dash and swapping passanger side air bag cover for one which doesn't have SRS on it?
that way as far as MOT man is concerned no airbags present....

 

[fairlight]

While still using a resistor to keep the circuit complete.