96 Turn signals/blower not working while airbag light on

Hi,
Here's my odd situation: my 96 wagon has some sort of intermittant electrical problem. In the middle of driving, the airbag light will come on continuously (not blinking) and the turn signals and blower will stop working. This will go on for maybe 1/2 hour, and then the problem will disappear. There are no blown fuses for any of these items (obvious since they come back on), so I assume I have some sort of grounding problem / intermittant open.

I'm thinking the easiest place to start would be to check for supply voltage at the blower during the problem, but I can't get it to occur when the car is at home.

I'm assuming I will need to track this problem back to a common ground somewhere. Any advice on where that might be? I found the main ground bolt for the blower (right by the blower), but when I disconnect that to try to recreate the problem, everything seems to go haywire -- rear wiper won't shut off, headlights on, etc. So I assume I the groundin problem is somewhere farther back upstream.

Thanks for any advice,
--Mark

Welcome to the forum!

Does your wagon have the electronic climate controls or the manual (knob) controls?

I didn't spend much time studying the wiring diagrams from the 1997 factory service manual, but there isn't a single circuit that is common to all three circuits.

The turn signals utilize fuses 29 (15A), 15 (10A), and 28 (15A) from the Instrument Panel Fuse Panel (I/P). The turn signal indicators are grounded through G200.

The Blower Motor relay gets coil power from fuse 13 (5A) in the I/P and fuse 11 (40A) in the Engine Compartment Fuse/Relay panel (Engine). The blower motor speed is controlled through a resistor block and blower motor switch which is grounded at G200.

The airbag system gets power from fuses 13 (5A) and 11 (5A) in the I/P as well as fuse 16 (10A) in the Engine. It is grounded through G201.

Your best bet may be to check all of these fuses for looseness and corrosion. If you find nothing there, it might be worth the expense to have the airbag codes read. If you get a code for VPWR lost, then you'd be on the right track with the fuses.

Be sure to pay attention to the airbag light when you first start the car. It may be flashing out a Lamp Fault Code for you. If so, count the flashes and pauses and post back with them.

-Rod

Rod,

Sorry for the delay -- I was out of town. Thanks for the advice. My taurus has the manual climate controls. I stared at the wiring schematic (have the factory manual) and came to the same conclusion -- there doesn't seem to be a common circuit among all three items. However, whatever the problem is, it's certainly affecting all three simultaneously and consistently -- no variation on the pattern -- always the same three items. And goes away by itself.

The airbag light doesn't do anything abnormal when I start the car -- it comes on for a brief period (about 5 seconds) (no blinking) and then goes out like it always has. I hooked up a code reader and it said "No codes stored."

Even stranger -- when the problem appeared last Friday, I checked power to the blower (assuming I would have power on the incoming line, indicating a grounding problem) -- but had no power (with the blower on vent and trying any of the three blower speed positions). So now clearly this is something farther upstream on the supply side (versus a grounding problem). I haven't had time to check for power farther upstream, but my next stop is the blower relay. I assume that I can just keep looking for where the power supply incorrectly stops and I'll find the problem -- but I still can't imagine what would affect all three items. Wierd.

Thanks,
Mark

No problem on the delay.

As for airbag system codes, a consumer-grade scan tool will not be able to access the SRS/airbag system, so there could still be codes there that can only be accessed with a professional scan tool with airbag software.

You're on to something with lack of power to the blower motor feed. You should pull the relay and check for power on the appropriate leads, both to the relay coil as well as to the switched side of the relay. Stick with one circuit, find the fault, fix it and see if that takes care of the other issues at the same time. You'll probably find a corroded connection somewhere.

-Rod

PROBLEM SOLVED!

Ok, this was a pretty bizarre problem, but I'll post what I found in case someone else ever has a similar problem.

1) Started with the blower (because that's the easiest) and found no power to it (checked at the connector).
2) Checked the blower relay (in the power distribution box in the engine compartment) and found no power on the relay coil circuit.
3) Checked the fuse noted on the schematic that supplies the relay coil(located in the fuse box by drivers left foot -- location #13, 5 amp, labeled "Airbag"). Had power at the fuse. Thus, the power was arriving at the fuse box, but wasn't leaving the fusebox for some reason.
4) Flipped over to the Airbag schematic and found that the wire for that fuse is purple with orange stripe (small wire).
5) I took off the square plastic wire connector covers where the wires enter the fuse box (big square plastic connectors on left side of fuse box) and located a purple/orange wire entering and exiting (didn't know which was which).
6) I stuck a trim nail (because it's long and skinny) into the back side of the connector and found power on one but not the other. Ah-ha -- both should have had power. I jiggled the one that didn't have power and the blower turned on. Viola' -- loose metal connector in the big plastic connector. I tighened it up by jamming a piece of soldering wire into the connector (could think of any other way).

So, key items:

1) Blower relay coil receives power from an airbag circuit.
2) Key fuse is in location number 13 (starting at bottom left and reading left to right). 5 amps, labeled "Airbag". Pulling this fuse will cause your turn signals and heater blower to not work, and your airbag light to come on.
3) Wires that supply the fuse and the heater relay coil are purple with orange strip and small.
4) You'll have to unbolt the big square wire connectors at the left side of the fuse box in order to take off the protective square wire covers on the connectors. Then screw the connectors back in (it's not enough to just snap them back in -- I didn't get a reliable connection that way). Then wiggle/gently pull the two wires and see if the blower responds.

Good luck to anybody else that has this problem.