AirBag Light - NO CODE

Camper0414 · August 22, 2019

2005 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD - The truck worked great 3 months ago - 6 months prior to leaving for the 3 months, that we had a new transmission put in. (That was done 9 months ago). It sat in our driveway for 3 months and was never moved or even started. Today we come home and start up the truck it sounds like it is running hard and the airbag light is on. We went and had the code read, at AutoZone. There are no current codes and the only old code from 9 months ago was a low transmissiony fluid. The dealership want pretty big dollars take a look because there are no codes to guide them. Any idea on troubleshooting or directions to try would be great!

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Edited August 22, 2019 by Camper0414
Clarification

davester · August 22, 2019

You might try disconnecting the battery cables, then touching the two battery cables together, charging/testing the battery that it is up to 12.6V or so, then reconnecting the battery cables and trying again.

And who did the code check, as the air bag light being on pretty much means a code being generated... Or find and clean the power and ground connections for the abs computer, but you should do this VERY carefully, as doing the wrong thing with the air bag system may inadvertently set it off.

Formulabruce · August 22, 2019

Clean the BCM ground on the frame extension, under the drivers door, facing rearward.

check the air bag sensor on the front bumper right in middle of it inside.

Camper0414 · August 22, 2019

Davester - The code check was done by AutoZone.

I completely agree that the No Code does not seem right but that is what I was told.

I was just told by a guy that Chevy has two airbag sensors in the front a right and left, so it must give a code to direct you which one is bad. Any truth to this new thought. If so how do I have a light with no code - he had no answer.

Camper0414 · August 22, 2019

Sorry for all the question and request for help. We are very, very new at trying to fix anything on a Truck! This just seems to weird not to attempt to figure out when it was not even started.

We have tried all the above solutions.

1) Disconnected Battery - Cleaned Connection - Connected the end together waited 25 minutes. Reconnected and restarted LIGHT STILL ON.

2) Disconnected Battery - Checked connection under both front and back seats. The appear tight with no loose wires. Reconnected and restarted LIGHT STILL ON.

3) Not clear on the abs have yet to locate the power ground connector?

4) The bcm if we are looking at the correct item. Driver Side Door - Under truck - silver box - all seem to appear clean.

5) One video said some truck need to be driven a set amount of miles before error lights will reset and go off. Is this true? If so how do you know if it is fixed if you have to drive a x amount of miles?

6) Called another repair shop - due to no code - they said plan on $600 - $700 to diagnose! That seems crazy!

7) Everything is back in place. Truck will not start! Heading out with battery to check voltage, perhaps battery is not charging?

Did we miss anything?

PLEASE ADVISE.

riverbanks · August 22, 2019

When it sat for 3 months,you started it,on its own power?,or assisted, jumped?

davester · August 22, 2019

3 hours ago, Camper0414 said:

Sorry for all the question and request for help. We are very, very new at trying to fix anything on a Truck! This just seems to weird not to attempt to figure out when it was not even started.

We have tried all the above solutions.

1) Disconnected Battery - Cleaned Connection - Connected the end together waited 25 minutes. Reconnected and restarted LIGHT STILL ON.

2) Disconnected Battery - Checked connection under both front and back seats. The appear tight with no loose wires. Reconnected and restarted LIGHT STILL ON.

3) Not clear on the abs have yet to locate the power ground connector?

4) The bcm if we are looking at the correct item. Driver Side Door - Under truck - silver box - all seem to appear clean.

5) One video said some truck need to be driven a set amount of miles before error lights will reset and go off. Is this true? If so how do you know if it is fixed if you have to drive a x amount of miles?

6) Called another repair shop - due to no code - they said plan on $600 - $700 to diagnose! That seems crazy!

7) Everything is back in place. Truck will not start! Heading out with battery to check voltage, perhaps battery is not charging?

Did we miss anything?

PLEASE ADVISE.

3. ABS (antilock braking) is not airbags(SRS is the acronym that I've seen for airbag system). It's ground is on the wing off the frame under the driver's side door, and the ABS computer is just on the other side of the frame. All the brake lines go to it. I don't know where the ABS computer is, but it's probably in the cab somewhere.

4. The bcm is in the cab, you remove the lower dash panels around the steering column, and you'll see 4 plugs going into a box, that's the bcm.

5. Depending on the code, it will clear itself immediately the next key-on, if the problem is fixed, or it will take a number of key cycles to do it, or it will take until conditions are right for a specific system test to run.

6. Well, it's difficult to figure out problems with no codes (and not always easy with codes). It's a lot of looking around, testing without anything to give you a hint as to what the problem is.

But, given that this problem only happened after the truck sat for 3 months, I would start with getting the battery load-tested, then cleaning the power & ground cables between the battery, engine and starter.

Edited August 22, 2019 by davester