Airbag codes

[sprayed1]

Scott...
Is there a detailed thread ( and I do means detailed....I'm an electrical novice...lol) on how to test the clock spring with a multi-meter. From the factory manual they talk about SST etc. but don't give a method for using a common multi-meter.
Thanks again.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by sprayed1

Scott...
Is there a detailed thread ( and I do means detailed....I'm an electrical novice...lol) on how to test the clock spring with a multi-meter. From the factory manual they talk about SST etc. but don't give a method for using a common multi-meter.
Thanks again.

I keep meaning to put together an article on how to use a multimeter for common automotive tasks, but for now to give you some instructions:


1. Before you begin, disconnect the battery's negative terminal and wait a few minutes before removing the steering wheel airbag.

2. Get your meter in the right mode. You are interested in measuring Resistance, so you will put the meter in that mode. Some meters say "resistance", "R", or "Ohms", others just have the Ohm symbol.

If the meter has multiple ranges for the resistance setting, set it to the range around 1,000 - 50,000 (for example my one non-auto ranging meter has 200, 20K, 200K, 2000K, and 20M for the ranges, so I would chose the 20K range).

If your meter has removable probes (the wires), and more than 2 holes to plug them into, make sure that the black one is in "Common" hole and the red one is in the "Volts, Ohms" hole (as opposed to the "A" or "mA" hole).

3. To make sure your meter is in the correct mode and is working, look at the display, which show a large number or "OL" if it is digital or if it is the analog needle type, the needle will be at the highest part of the ohm range.

Touch the metal tips of the two probes together and the display should change to zero, or very close to zero for a digital one, and for an analog one the needle should sweep to the low end of the range. If the meter does this then you are in the correct mode and it is working. Since resistance is how much something resists the flow of current, a low value means that their is a good connection between the two ends and a high or "OL" value means that there is not a good connection or that the thing being measured is "open".

4. OK - Now you are ready to test the spiral cable. There are two airbag squib connectors (black and orange) and each has two terminals, so you have four separate wires that you will be testing. The picture below shows the airbag squib connectors of the spiral cable. The holes are small, so you will probably need something to insert into the hole that is metal and smaller than the tip of your meter probe (like a sewing pin). Stick the pin in the hole on the black connector, with the red wire attached and touch one of the meter probes to it (in this case, it doesn't matter if you use red or black, since we are just checking the resistance of a wire, so no polarity is involved).



Airbag removed.jpg

The other end of the spiral cable is the white and yellow connectors on the steering column, shown in the picture below. The yellow one is for the airbag squibs, so that is the one we are interested in. You should be able to touch the metal pin where the wire enters the connector with the probe. If you can't get the probe to make contact, then you will need another pin. Place the tip of the second probe on the metal connector pin where the Yellow wire with the red stripe enters the connector.

Now, with one probe on the red wire on the steering when end and the other on the yellow-red wire on the steering column side, look at the meter's display. It should show a zero or close to zero reading (like when you touched the two probes together). If it does then that wire of the spiral connector is good and you can move to the next two ends per the chart below. If all four test good, then repeat the process while slowly turning the steering wheel from side to side.

Steering wheel side / Steering Column Side
Red / Yellow-Red
Black / Yellow-Green
Yellow / Yellow
Blue / Yellow-Black

Conn D3.jpg