airbag warning light

[markdt]

hi all this is my first post on here so please excuse me not knowin all the technical stuff just a quick question for you all out there with fords

i have a mondeo st24 on a t plate i have a problem with the airbag light flashing it flashes only 3 times then off for a sec then again 3 times and so on , horn has also stopped working checked main fuses under instrument panel and main fuses in engine compartment, ive checked under the car at horn and all connections seem okany ideas before i chuck it at fords cheers all reply asap

[Zad]

Not sure about 3 and 3 flashes, but 4 and 4 is the pyro charge on the drivers side seatbelt pretensioner. Maybe someone moved the passenger seat recently and disturbed the connector?

Get a meter and measure the voltage on the horn? If there is 12v between the 2 contacts then the horns broken.

[nighthawk]

from memory on the old stuff the 3 flash code was the clock spring assembly. This is the unit which allows the steering wheel to be turned without snapping the wiring.

1 flash was drivers air bag unit
2 flashes was passenger side air bag unit
3 flashes indicated a wiring fault to the air bag unit
4 flashes indicates seat belt pretensioner circuits.

ON coninuiously indicated a power supply issue or the automatic detatch detection system has found a missing earth.
OFF continuously indicated your on your own with that because the module couldn't be bothered to talk to you

The clock spring would fit in with the loss of horn too as the wiring from the hown switches to the steering shaft also go through it.

Disconnect the battery before you do anything and then go for a cuppa, the capacitor needs a couple of minutes to dissapate it's charge.

Store the airbag unit in the boot of the car with the ford badge UPWARDS!!!!! that way if it decides to explode for an unknown reason it won't hit you in the face!!!!

Edited by nighthawk on Saturday 3rd June 20:33

[Matthew C]

Don't know the pattern but Dad's warning light on his mondeo lights up if the crook lock ends up underneath the seat and disturbs something under there, might be worth checking there's nothing under there that shouldn't be.

[markdt]

thanks all for the reply airbag light has now gone off but horn still not working checked fuses etc but no luck will try and put a new spring on can some one post a reply on the instructions of removing the airbag and fitting of new spring and i'll see if that works thanks all

[Trooper2]

If your airbag light is flashing and your horn has stopped working at the same time, then there is a problem with the clock spring electrical contact behind the steering wheel. It allows the horn and airbag (and any other steering wheel switches to make electrical contact) while being able to turn the wheel.

See here:www.alldata.com/techtips/2004/20040811n.html

Edited by Trooper2 on Saturday 3rd June 23:50

[markdt]

thanks for the reply bud.

airbag light is functioning normal now . when i turn on the ignition on the light comes on for 3 secs then goes off and it stays off for the duration when ignition is on .
do u think it has cured itself?
but horn is still not working. is it a possibility of the horn just not working now and is there a way of checking this rather than taking airbag off etc to put a clock spring on or do you think its still a spring fault,
the reason i'm sayin this is due to the fact a couple of days ago the horn was going of and on itself for around 2 mins then the horn stayed on for about 1 min when i tried to take out the fuse for it the horn stopped but made a noise coming from the horn, but not a horn noise if you know what i mean and now stopped working altogether so do u think it comes down to the same problem, checked all fuses and connections and they seem ok thanks for taking the time to help me on this subject its much apreciated.

[Trooper2]

The horn switch itself will be supplying a ground to activate the horn. If you have disconnected the battery while doing some checks it will have done a hard re-set of all of the modules and that could explain why the air bag light has stopped flashing it's code for now (it will flash again when the fault occurs again). If your horn was going off by on it's own then there must be an intermittent fault on that circuit somewhere, its getting a ground before the switch, Clock springs are notorious for going bad so I still suspect it.

If you continue to diagnose it yourself make sure you disconnect the battery and let the car sit for 30 minutes before you go near, remove, Etc. any airbag components. There are capacitors in the air bag module that can fire the airbags with the battery disconnected and you have to allow them to discharge before doing any airbag work. Any airbag circuit connectors will be special color, usually a bright neon/day-glow (they all used to be safety yellow), so be careful what you back probe with the battery connected.

Apologies if you already know all of the airbag safety stuff but better safe than sorry...



Edited to add: When you have 2 electrical components that aren't working properly always check a schematic to see what they share in common , in this case I'd bet it's the clock spring, clock spring connector and nothing else.

Edited by Trooper2 on Sunday 4th June 01:37