My sister in-law has an 02 Protege 5 and her airbag light is on. Some shop quoted her something over $500 to fix it, and they insisted that the problem is because of damage to the right rear door. I think it's BS, because the damage is at the very top front of the door, and is just a deep scratch/dent done at about 1mph backing out of a parking spot (scraped a latch sticking out of a fence next to a driveway). It's about 1/4" deep and there was no impact involved. I also have trouble believing that anyone would put an airbag sensor in a door (which could get slammed).

She has 2 small children, and really should have a functioning airbag system in her daily driver. (kids ride in the back of course) Does anyone know how to troubleshoot these systems, or at least know where the sensor is? I'm going to be down in that neighborhood next week and would like to fix it while I'm there.

Thanks in advance!


Edit: Doh, should be Protege 5 AIRBAG system in the topic, but I can't seem to edit the title.

You need something which will talk to the computer and tell you what's up.... it might be as simple as needing a flag to be cleared - or some sensor which needs to be replaced.

On the Miata - you can talk to the airbag system via the OBDII connector - I'd imaginge this would be the same.

Sweet! Can a garden variety OBDII reader tell me what's going on or do I need a fancy one? (I don't know much about these newfangled computer controlled cars)

I bought one of these on Ebay for $160:

http://www.autoenginuity.com/

It has repaid itself 10 times over in saved $$$. Instead of going the dealer and paying their rape equivalent "diagnostic fee", I use this thing. It literally gives you the keys to the kingdom on all OBD II cars. My guess is that the stupid airbag light went on from the light damage. The thing about OBD cars is that once a warning light goes on, it won't go off until you reset the code in the computer, even on transient conditions. Buy one of these and us it forever.

One caveat: it requires a laptop computer.

I deal with things like this every day. BTW, it would flat STUN you at all the otherwise normally intelligent people who think by turning out the light you fix the problem!

You need the proper scanner to read the code, preferrably one that will also clear it without crashing the control unit, and then you need to be able to interpret the code. The description may or may not be clear, and it may or may not tell you exactly what's wrong. You may have a failed component, a broken wire or wires, a failed controller, or need to perform a simple reset procedure. The code you read might be right on the money, or ir might send you on a wild goose chase because you don't know what it means.. Familiarity with the system and its normal problems can save you literally hours. Without that knowlege, you may have a difficult time solving the problem. That said, I have a Mazda capable scanner and would be happy to run a scan and give you a print out. The main drawback is you would need to come down here to have me do it. As I don't really work on Mazdas, you would be pretty much on your own after that. The Cap'n

I meant to imply that common sense be used here and that you have access to the error codes from the factory manual.

I meant no offense. I intended merely to point out that there are a LOT of diagnostic morons out there. Even on the VAG-COM user group, we field questions all the time from owners who have claered the codes and still have a problem. Like, "Help! I cleared the code and it keeps coming back!"

It's unlikely most people who buy readily available code readers have access to the kind of information necessary to use the information they get, and airbag info may not even be available in the more common publications. For VWs there are the Bentley manuals, but there are two versions, one with all the technical stuff, and one without. The ones with the data still require a fairly sophisticated knowlege of how the systems work, and how to troubleshoot them. I dunno about the available information for Mazdas. Books at the "Haynes" level aren't even gonna discuss airbags. BTW, EXTREME care needs to be exercised when working on SRS (airbag) related problems. The Cap'n

No offense taken. Your points are well taken and should be taken to heart by anyone messing with OBD.