air bag light

[gbsb]

The air bag light blinks several times then stays on when I start my 02 Tbird. Any help would be appreciated. George

[Quickdraw]

Originally Posted by gbsb

The air bag light blinks several times then stays on when I start my 02 Tbird. Any help would be appreciated. George

What a timely post!!! My 2002 Lincoln LS (cousin to the Tbird) started doing this just this week. While the owners manual would explain it's meaning I'm assuming one or both front air bags have a problem and may not deploy in an accident. I think my issue originates in the steerring wheel electronics because my wheel mounted radio controls became erratic a month or so ago. Please let us know what you do to resolve it....

[George]

Maybe it’s the clock spring. Check out this thread, especially post #10:
http://forums.thunderbirdforum.com/s...lockspring.htm

Then there’s this one , also post #10 that says the clock spring ties to the airbag:
http://forums.thunderbirdforum.com/s...lockspring.htm

These issues go back to 2002.

[George]

Here's additional input for you:

Another owner: Last week the yellow air bag light started flashing off and on. About 30 sec later it remained on.
And another, but with a solution: I had the same problem with my 02. Took it to a Lincoln/Mercury dealer and the problem was a bad wire connector under the driver's seat. Had to replace the wire connector. The cost was $140.00, most of which was labor charges.

[George]

And still another had the same problem, FYI:

"The air bag light blinks, then came on steady. Had the same thing about a year ago and it went away."
His solution:
"Got it fixed. Just like others, it was a bad wire connection, this time under the passerger's seat. They had to take the seat out of the car, but with the top down, it was very easy. It was explained to me, it happens most often in cars where people are going into the back seat of a two door car, like Mustangs. Was suprised to see it happen on the Thunderbird with no back seat. We decided it was caused by all the times I slide the seat up to clean."

[PoetAtLaw]

Hi, Everyone. I posted this story on another thread in response to a related question. But I thought it might be useful to others who have an airbag indicator light problem. The clock spring problem is a long story. Sorry about that.

The problem was diagnosed by the dealership when the airbag light remained on. The dealership wanted to $95 just to diagnose the problem, but "kindly" offered to deduct the cost from the repair. The estimated repair cost was about $580, of which $112 was the part cost. The dealership also indicated the airbag light could be caused by a problem with the airbag mechanism itself, too, and they wouldn't know for certain until they repaired the clock spring. The airbag fix was estimated to cost $860. The amount seemed a shockingly high (but I am no car-repair expert). So I called a few non-dealerships. Each quoted a price, including parts, of less than $200.00.

When I confronted the dealership about the amazing cost disparity, the service manager indicated the T-Bird's telescoping steering wheel added time to the repair, and the standard, computerized time-estimators didn't include that cost. (Frankly, I was skeptical, because I had discussed the complexity of the steering column with some of the other repair shops, and one shop owner had fixed three Ford clock springs that week, but not T-Bird clock springs.)

Of course, the dealership had a deal for me! The dealership noted I had not done my 30,000 mile servicing at the dealership. (I had done it through Jiffy Lube.) So they offered to do the servicing for (coincidentally) about the same amount as the clock spring repair ($570). In exchange, they would fix the clock spring at no charge and make any necessary repairs to the airbag at no charge. The servicing included all new filters, all new fluids, flushing all systems, rotating tires -- a fine list of services. My T-Bird now has about 47,000 miles, so I didn't mind another round of servicing, given the specialized knowledge (theoretically) of the dealership, if the price were reasonable.

The dealership further indicated that Ford likes loyal owners, that having the servicing done at the dealership would show loyalty, and that the loyalty would be rewarded if in the future I had serious problems. The dealership and Ford would be more willing to cover a new transmission under an elective warranty fix, for example, if I showed my loyalty.

So I trusted the dearlership and had the repair done. Of course, the repair took an extra day and they neglected to deduct the $95 diagnostic fee, which I brought to their attention. But as far as I know the work was completed.

HOWEVER, today I received a call back from another Ford dealership I contacted prior to my repair. Their estimate for the clock spring? Not the $580 estimated by my dealership. Instead, it was FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS less. The estimate was about $200, just like the non-Ford repair shops. So I called five additional Ford dearlerships. Each one quoted a parts-and-labor cost of between $200 and $250!!

I am shocked and mortified by the dishonesty of the dealership. I am equally shocked by their gall at overcharging me even after I brought the concern to their attention, even after advising them I am an attorney.

Naturally, I have a call in to all levels of management above the service department. Any suggestions about what would be a fair settlement and what further action you recommend would be appreciated.

[PoetAtLaw]

UPDATE: I contacted the assistant general manager at the dealership. He was very concerned about my experience and contacted the service manager who had convinced me to take the $570 package of services. The assistant manager was on vacation, but the assistant general manager was concerned enough to have him contact me from vacation. (I thought that showed sincere interest in my problem.)

Before he called me, the service manager called other Ford dealerships as I had done. He posed as a customer and received the same information I had -- the cost of repair was quoted at $200 to $250 instead of $580. However, the service manager informed me that the discrepancy lies in a piece of information on the estimate-software that all eight other Ford dealerships (and the four non-dealerships I had contacted) were overlooking. If they had scrolled further, as the service manager explained, they would have discovered an additional 1.5 hour charge for reprogramming the air bag once the clock spring was repaired. He indicated this reprogramming is unique to the T-Bird. (I thought he indicated the additional time was not required even on the sister-vehicle, the Lincoln LS.)

Thus, depending on the dealership (who's per-hour charge varies from $75 at two dealerships near me to $125 at the dealership with whom I was working), the total repair cost should have been quoted at about $485 plus the $95 for the diagnosis, which equals the $580 original estimate. He indicated that his quote was based on a discussion with the technician, who brought the additional charge to his attention before the original estimate was completed.

The service manager understood why I was upset and conceded that I probably would have been charged the lesser figure because of other dealerships' estimating mistake. He "got" the fact that the process could have looked like a pressure sale for an overpriced set of services. He apologized over and again.

Final result: the dealership will refund the extra several hundred dollars difference and give me five free full-service oil changes for my trouble and to re-establish trust. A reasonable result, I believe.

I hope my experience has been helpful to others and appreciate others' input.

[Quickdraw]

Originally Posted by George

Maybe it’s the clock spring. Check out this thread, especially post #10:
http://forums.thunderbirdforum.com/s...lockspring.htm

Then there’s this one , also post #10 that says the clock spring ties to the airbag:
http://forums.thunderbirdforum.com/s...lockspring.htm

These issues go back to 2002.

Thank you George & PoetAtLaw

Got the clock spring replaced today and it fixed the air bag light and the erratic steering wheel radio controls.

[George]

That's great Quickdraw!! Glad it helped, and it's always nice to hear feedback on individual issues