mristine

Hello all,
I'm new to the board and need some advice and guidance. My 2004 TL's airbag light comes on intermittently. When I Start the car, if I do not buckle the seat belt immediately, it will come on. So I tried buckling it before I start the car and if I do that, the light will not come on. Now I have read that the SRS Warranty is for the lifetime with unlimited miles. It the dealership needs to diagnose it first which is $100. If it is not the SRS system, there will be additional charges to repair it. Can anyone twll
menif it sounds like the problem that's happening is being caused by the SRS system? I would really like to know as much as I can before I send it to the dealership on Monday. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

01acls

No one will be able to tell you why your SRS light is on without reading the code. However, if history is any indication of why the SRS light is on then yes, it's probably the seat belts. Unless you know for sure the seat belts or buckles already have been changed.

You may be able to call a dealership and ask if your vehicle's seat belts or buckles have already been replaced. The dealership will need the vehicle's vin number to run a repair history.

mristine

Thanks for responding. I do not know for sure if the seat belts were ever replaced but I did check the CARFAX and did see see anything pertaining to seat belts. I was really just wondering if anyone else here has experienced the same issues with their cars and what the resolution was.

01acls

Mristine, sorry I misread your post. I thought your SRS light was on but it's not. It's the air bag light that's on. If that's the case then it's probably not the seat belts. SRS light is usually the seat belts.

The air bag system usually does a self diagnosis upon start up and then the light goes off. If the air bag light stays on then it didn't past the self diagnostic test. Something is wrong with the air bag system.

mristine

Even though when I buckle the seat belt before starting the car the light does not come on?

01acls

If that's the case then it's probably the seat belts because the defective buckles were sending a faulty signal to the computer.

mristine

I hope so. I really hope it is covered. Thanks for your help.

Adobeman

Most "serious" SRS issues will be a latching failure. That means the light will come on and not go off until reset by a code reader.. Since you report the light is intermittent it's a non-latching failure. The seat belt buckle switch failure is pretty common and a non-latching type. It can be covered under a federal seatbelt warranty but a dealer won't commit to that until they confirm it. So if it's something different you'll be on the hook for diagnostic time plus whatever else. Some have no problem at the dealership and others have. My dealer is far away and a turd so I didn't even bother.

Below is a link to a thread with some links in it with my experience. In my case using contact cleaner in the switch cleared the issue for good.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...-light-896895/

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

When I had the problem, rather than fight with the dealer, I ordered the correct color and replaced the driver's side buckle. Been fine for years. Now $90

mristine

Well, I took it to my local dealer. They told me they had to diag the problem before they can do anything. They called me first thing in the morning to tell me that it was in fact the of seat belt buckle and that the whole job was covered under warranty. They were great and very easy to work with. Luckily it all worked out.