Help! 95 Nissan Altima - Airbag light problem?

Question

The Altima was hit 2 weeks ago from behind by an SUV while the Altima was parked. Damage was done to the trunk and the rear bumper. However, since then, the airbag light keeps blinking. It has never done that before. Today we ran a code reader (OBDII) hoping that it would read the airbag, but it didn't. Instead, it read a knock sensor problem... But the car runs fine and doesn't have any problems other than the airbag light.

How can we fix the airbag in order to turn the flashing light off? Why did the code reader detect a problem with the knock sensor while the vehicle has no problems running? Typically problems with the knock sensor would be noticeable at least.

What can we do to fix the main problem - which is the airbag light? Please advise...

Answer 1

Don't take it to the dealer because by the time that they are finished with you, they will have you buying the complete airbag assembly.

Go to an independent local auto repair shop and ask them to scan the airbag and (SRS) system, it may just need to be reset.

Answer 2

You will need to bring this to the dealership to get it fixed. You can try first, to unhook the negative battery cable for five or ten minutes to clear the codes out of the vehicle. You can then (after reattaching batt. cable) see if the light stops flashing. You will need to drive the car for a few miles before the codes are recorded again in memory. If the light flashes agian, then there is a problem with the air bag that the code sender was not designed to catch.

You're better safef than sorry, and the vehicle won't inspect with the light on.

Usually a flashing light for the airbag means that the air bag was replaced by someone not qualified to replace it. I suspect the accident knocked something loose.

Your car will run fine without a knock sensor, until any knocking becomes disruptive to the vehicle's operation. The knock sensor only tells the car to quiet a knock. But a faulty sensor in a car with no knocking problems will not change the vehicle's performance.

Sorry to hear about your accident.