This has been kind of an ongoing problem for me but I haven't really been able to fix it...

Occasionally, my airbag light will come on when I turn on the car. Not all the time, but sometimes. Sometimes when the light is off at startup, I'll get the light randomly turning on while driving. Not really while turning the wheel, it just seems to randomly come on and off. It'll be off for an hour, then it'll flip on for a minute, and then go back off again. No other lights come on, it's just the airbag one.

Last year I had a local Chevrolet dealer take a look at it, because I had my state inspection coming up and the light has to be out to pass in Massachusetts. They took the system apart and tested it and couldn't find anything wrong with it. Luckily, they didn't charge me and the light actually stayed out consistently for about a month and I got a sticker. But after a while, it started turning on again occasionally at startup. The light isn't on every single time I start up, but it's on probably every few times I drive.

The receipt that they gave me said the SIR computer had a stored code for high resistance in the driver's side circuit being high (code 21). But my understanding of the airbag system is that it only runs the self-test of those systems when the key is turned on. So why would the light turn on and off randomly during driving? Would that indicate a bad module? I did try cleaning the ground on the cross bar near the driver's side strut tower, but that doesn't seem to have done much.

The car's never been in an accident that deployed the airbags and as far as I know the wheel hasn't been turned beyond its locks when disconnected. These things just don't go bad, do they? Would it be something as stupid as the connector to the air bag module is loose or backs out over time?

 

99.9% of the time its the clock spring

 

This is what I was figuring, but I'd think if the dealer wanted to sock me for a new clockspring, they would have done it last year. I also would have figured that if the clockspring was gone, the thing would just be on all the time instead of occasionally turning on.

Is it difficult to replace the clockspring yourself? I imagine you'd have to remove the steering wheel and the kick panel and route new wires and such to it through the steering column. Is there any special things or tools required for removing or replacing the clockspring?

 

Yes I had this issue come up several times in various vehicles. The light can be intermittent or heat sensitive(weather) The clock spring is the first place I look if the airbag light is on. You can also try the relays, I doubt it would be intermittent if it was a relay.

ok you need a steering wheel puller, and a wheel lock puller. both are cheap and are well worth the money in the long run. make sure to disconnect batt for 20min, pull off the airbag remove steering wheel nut use puller to pull wheel, use puller to pull out lock, disconnect the clock spring and r2... pretty easy actually. I will look for a pictured write up and post it here.

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1 not the same vehicle but a pretty good idea of what it entails

 

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated. It doesn't sound like a difficult job, but I don't have a heated garage, so I think I will talk to my buddy about doing it together. Now to source a clockspring!