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Cadillac Repair/Air Bag light

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Expert: - 2/5/2010


Question
I have a 2000 Deville and the air bag light is staying on.

Answer
Hello,

You did not state if there was a particular event that happened prior to the light coming on. If you bought the car with the light on etc.
The illumination of the light is only a symptom telling you the air bag system has a problem. Like many of these warning lights, there is no one specific problem that turns the light on. As an example I will give you only some possible causes: Wiring, bad sensor(s), bad clock spring, bad air bag etc.

The point being that all repairs are expensive and this is something you should be very concerned about. The light is only telling you that repair is needed as quickly as possible. In the event of a head on crash, the air bag will not deploy.

This is not meant to scare you and may not be the case, but you need to beaware that this could mean the system is in "explode" mode. In the 90's and early 2000's, the car could be parked and tapped in the front just right by another car, that once the ignition was turned on, the air bag would go into the explode mode, where anything, even a bump in the road could cause the air bag to deploy while driving. I am not saying this is your situation.

You can go to the larger body shops in your area and pay to have the system scanned. They can hook up a hand held scanner to your car and it will diagnose the problem or you can go to the dealer and pay big bucks. Once diagnosed, you can get an estimate for repairs.


Good luck'

Rob

Cadillac Repair

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Rob Painter

Expertise

Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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