You can never be too careful when it comes to vehicular safety. As such, warning lights flashing in your vehicle should always be taken seriously. After all, they’re designed to give you a heads up if your car needs to be looked over. Most of the time, they are just there to save you from having an emergency.
Your dashboard is littered with a variety of warning lights, each of them designed to bring your attention to a particular problem your car may be having. If your airbag light is on, the best thing to do is to have a capable technician check your vehicle and fix the issue as soon as possible. It may not always be clear to you what the problem is, but there are a couple of reasons why your airbag warning light is on.
To give you an idea, here are some of the most common reasons why your warning light lit up.
Deactivated Airbag System
If your airbag has been deactivated for some reason, that’s a surefire way to wake up your warning light to alert you. The deactivation probably has something to do with your sensors. Crash sensors can fail or even trip from time to time.
Have a professional take a look at the problem to avoid any accidents in the future.
Depleted Backup Battery
Having your car battery drained is the most probable cause of this problem. If you recently had your car repaired and your battery drained, it may have also depleted the backup battery powering your airbags. A simple solution is to fully charge the battery and do an airbag module reset.
Water Damage
Your vehicle’s internal components are vulnerable to water damage for a lot of reasons. If your car has experienced water damage, your airbag system may have been affected too. Corrosion from water can cause your sensors to go awry and cause the airbag warning light to switch on.
Seat Belt Warning
In some car models, the seat belt warning light works the same as the airbag warning light. This just means that you either have an error in the airbag system or an issue with your seatbelt locks. For example, if your seatbelt doesn’t snap securely in the buckle or the seatbelt sensor was unable to detect if you’ve already fastened your seatbelt, then it’s probably a sign to get your belts checked.
Damaged Airbag Clock Spring
Your airbag system is composed of a clock spring that maintains the connection between the driver-side airbag and your electrical wiring. If your clock spring has already deteriorated due to extended use, you should have it fixed immediately to avoid a potential airbag failure.
Minor Collisions
If you got into a small accident previously and did not have your car checked, it’s possible your airbag system may have been damaged. In some fender benders, the airbags will fail to deploy, but your crash sensors were still activated. The warning light will stay on until you have your technician reset the system.
Faulty Control Unit
Your warning system will turn on if there’s an error on your airbag control unit. Faulty control units will deactivate the safety function, thus rendering your airbags useless and causing it to not deploy in a collision.
Conclusion
An airbag warning light should never be taken lightly. All of the reasons mentioned above can have devastating consequences if not fixed by your technician immediately. It’s best to make your car accident proof by having it checked by safety professionals.
If you were involved in an accident recently, and you want to ensure the safety of your vehicle, then turn to Safety Restore in Westfield, MA! We are the leader in post-accident restorations and webbing replacement services. Our team can help you get your airbag module reset done in no time. Contact us to learn more about our services!
