2001 Voyager Air Bag Light

[gromittoo]

I have a 2001 voyager van. About a month ago, the Air bag light started going on and off randomly. It does this several times during each trip around town, and I get the anoying chime each time the light is set. I called the dealer, the clockspring recall does not apply to my Van. What other possible causes could it be? No DTC is recorded.

I have complete body repair manual, and it assumes you have the $5000 Chrytsler scanner. Is there a way I can get these codes, or even just reset the ACM? (located under and behind where the radio is installed). The dealer wants $50 just to read the code!

background:
I bought the van Jan 05, and within a month I installed Cruise control. I had to take the steering wheel apart to put in the switches, and I inspected the clockspring then. The spring looked fine back then.

My cruise control is not cutting out, and the horn always works. The lack of those problems has me suspecting that the clockspring is not the culprit.

One thing of note: The Air bag light problem began shortly after the battery had been run way down, to the point that I could not jump using cables. It took a neighbors 200 Amp starter charger 5 minutes to revive the battery. Once I got the van going, the PCM got its internal memory scrambled, and began reporting bogus turbine input errors, and kept going into "limp mode". The problem kept coming back for a few days, but it eventualy stayed fixed (and I bought a good scan tool to monitor it).

What I am wondering is if the PCM was able to get its memory scrambled, could the ACM (which controls the air bag) have gotten scrambled too? This is why I want to see if a reset of the ACM would fix it.

[gromittoo]

THis morning, I took the van to work. Getting out of my neighborhood requires lots of turns, but the rest of my commute is pretty staight.

I had noticed that the comes on and off a few times after each engine start, and after a while stays on steady. THis morning, I turned off the engine removed the key, then restarted. THe light stayed off for about 3 miles of straight driving. 5 seconds after I turned right into my workplace, the light came on again, chimed, and stayed on for 12 seconds. Sounds like clockspring to me.

Anyway, I called a dealer, and they tell me that there is no recall or warrentee coverage for the clockspring on my 2001 voyager

1C8GJ25351B171485

They want $46 just to run the scanner, and the part is over $150! Someone on here in a differant thread indicated that the spring is under lifetime warrentee. Does anyone else know about this? Does anyone know where I can get the part for less?

Before anyone goes on a diatribe about going neaar the airbag, pleaase note that 2+ years ago, I installed factory cruise on this van, which involved removing the steering wheel cover. I know all about removing the power to prevent air bag deployment. Also, the clockspring was not touched during the install, and the problem only started a few months ago.

[gromittoo]

For giggles, I checked Autozone and Advance web sites. They both sell the clockspring for less than $35. I bought one at Advance Friday night (the store had it instock).

Yesterday I replaced the clockspring. Airbag light fixed. The Only issue I had was I forgot that the steering wheel must come off, and I did not have the tool (but a neighbor did). I leave for vacation today, with a working Air Bag system, and no more chiming!:

[RIP]

Good to hear you're on the road again. Thanks for posting the fix.