Dear mechanics,

 

I have yet another 2006 Grand Marquis question for you. The airbag warning light in my car came on last Saturday. When I start the car the airbag light flashes 12 times then 7 times. Then it waits a few seconds and repeats the pattern. After that the light stays on til I turn the engine off.

 

The light went away on Monday night and I replaced the battery on Tuesday. I drove the car again today and the light is back on.

 

Does anyone know how to fix or diagnose it?

Forgot to mention - we used an obd2 scanner to see if there were any fault codes and the scanner did not find any.

on the fords, sometimes the quick readers will not pick up airbag system codes. you need to get into the restraint control module to get the actual codes. they'll usually be "B" followed by four numbers.

 

 very common on the fords, are the drivers seatbelt pretensioner. this is part of the seat belt buckle. the part that you click the belt into. it contains a very small explosive charge which actually tightens up the seatbelt when a crash is detected. the clockspring. this is in the steering column, right underneath the steering wheel. it allows transmission of power to the steering wheel operated accessories, along with the signal to the drivers side airbag. the restraint control module. they tend to go bad on the fords after while. i shoulda put this before the clockspring, as it's more common than those on fords.

 

 to get closer, we need  to get the codes though. none of my stuff has 12-7 flash code. are you near cherry hill?

 

 anyway, hope some of that helped at least a little.

Thanks 1LtCAP!

 

I just ordered a scanner that should get airbag codes. It should be here Saturday, so I'll post if it finds anything.

 

I did some reading on flash codes, it looks like Fords made after 2005 dont use them.

 

I am about an hour from Cherry Hill

The scanner came in, but the light went away again. It'll be back.

The scanner came in, but the light went away again. It'll be back.

plug in anyway. most times, there will be a stored code, as in the chrysler i had today.

You're right, there was a code - it was B2984 and came with the message "Deployable steering column circuit open".

ok. it looks like 2 common possibilities on this code. 1) new steering column. 2)connector. i copy/pasted the testing. i personally hate it when they tell ya to jumper wires in the airbag system.......

 

ests/Procedures: 1. Note the resistance reading of the Deployable Steering Column through the RCM data display. An expected value would be something between 1.8-4.0 ohms.

2. If the resistance reading of the deployable steering column is higher than the note range, jumper the Orange (OG) wire to the Red/Light Blue (RD/LB) wire of the deployable steering column connector together and look for the resistance shown through the RCM to drop to lower than the minimum of the expected range.

3. If the resistance reacts as stated in steps 1 and 2, replace the steering column assembly.

4. If the resistance reading does not change when the jumper is installed, check the individual circuits running from the deployable steering column to the RCM and address as needed.

and here is a repair note from a tech that had this same problem.....

 

2008 Ford Crown Victoria, 4.6L, V8, Flex, VIN V, USA *
Deployable Steering Column

- Note: the deployable part of the steering column has a yellow button that appears to pop up when the column deploys; at least it was popped up on the original column, and not on the replacement column.

26,000 miles Replaced Deployable Steering Column

just PLEASE be very careful testing this system.

Thanks for the info, it really helped me get started!

 

I replaced the clockspring after reading about that solving similar problems, but that didn't fix it, so I'm trying to diagnose airbag module now. There are two pairs of pins on the back of the airbag module and a volt meter shows the resistance between pins of the same pair to be 0. I read that normal values for this resistance are between 2 and 7 ohms. Could this mean I need a new airbag module?

 

I attached a photo with arrows pointing to the pins.

 

the airbags themselves very very rarely go bad. i think that the code you posted is normally the steering column itself......

Umm, does the Takata air bag recall work in here somewhere?

 

Just hoping you could get a "free fix"

I think you're right - I just realized that "deployable steering column" is a specific part and not just everything above the steering rack. Going to try to find where exactly the deployable steering column circuit is next.

 

I have a workshop manual for this car coming next Monday, so I'll see if this is something I can do at home or not.