My 82 year old mom had to have a new battery ($108!!) put in her car. Now the airbag alarm is going off. Why is this happening, and is it safe for her to drive somewhere to have it looked at?
Airbag alarm? I didn’t know there was an airbag alarm. I’m aware of the airbag warning light, but not an alarm.
Are you sure it’s an alarm for the airbag?
If you’re talking about the warning light, it means the airbag computer has detected a fault in the system and the airbags are deactivated. They will not work, even in the event of a crash.
As long as mom wears her seat belt she’s safe.
I don’t know why replacing the battery would cause a problem with the airbag system. People have batteries replaced all the time without such problems.
I’m still wondering about the alarm. What does it sound like?
I’d also add that $108 is not the least bit unusual for a car battery. Heck, most places a battery will run you $90+ even if you install it yourself. Some batteries easily push $200 nowadays…
More than likely the airbag module requires reprogramming. On some vehicles when the battery is disconnected it can cause modules to go to sleep where they never wake back up when the battery is reconnected. You can read what types of problems can occur when a battery is disconnected on modern vehicles here. http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_disconnect_problems.htm
Tester
Tester always has the right answer.
Follow Tester’s advice.
Before you go any further with this, I’d disconnect the battery again for an hour or so, then reconnect it and see if the problem goes away.
You probably didn’t understand the title of the article? BATTERY DISCONNECT PROBLEMS?
Tester
Thank you all for your help! My mom got her car fixed, and she was not killed by errant airbags on the way to the mechanic.
I believe some cars do have an audible signal when the airbag is faulty. I’m too lazy to look up the Taurus owner’s manual to check, though.