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Airbag Light Intermittenly Goes On

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33K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  manhall  
S
#1 ·
Any one else had this?

I tried searching the forums but couldn't find anything.

Basically, twice now my Airbag light has gone on after starting the car up. The first time, I was able to turn the car off and restart it, and it was gone. The second time, it stayed on for a few hours. Finally I parked and came back out a few hours later and it didn't come back on. I asked the techs at the dealership to take a look at it, but they couldn't pull any codes.

Wondering if anyone else has seen this?
 
#2 ·
do you have anything sitting in the passenger seat that has some weight to it? ie backpack or laptop or something of the sort? my airbag light is off when nobody is in the car with me but as soon as some1 IS in the car with me, it will light up because its weight sensitive. when i have my book bag in the seat sometimes it'll go back and forth, maybe because its like right on the borderline for weight. just my guess
 
#3 ·
did you spill anything anywhere? It's probably just a bad sensor but there's a possibility that something was spilled on the sensor causing it to short and disable the airbag giving you that message. Happened all the time in my '01 rio when it was wet out.
 
#4 ·
SynGT said:
Any one else had this?

I tried searching the forums but couldn't find anything.

Basically, twice now my Airbag light has gone on after starting the car up. The first time, I was able to turn the car off and restart it, and it was gone. The second time, it stayed on for a few hours. Finally I parked and came back out a few hours later and it didn't come back on. I asked the techs at the dealership to take a look at it, but they couldn't pull any codes.

Wondering if anyone else has seen this?
Click to expand...
A couple of times the light for the passanger side airbag has stayed off while there was somebody sitting in the car, this only has happened on long trips and after we turn the car off for a few mins and get back in. It goes off after awhile but one time it took about 3 mins, it was a bit weird but seems that if you just wait it out it does work itself out. Little nerve racking thou when you see it delay to come on!
 
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J
#5 ·
Don't mean to hijack your thread OP but I noticed something that may be related - my wife and I got in the car and she forgot to buckle her seatbelt initially, but she did after a minute or so. And the whole time the seatbelt alarm was not going!

Any thoughts??
 
#6 · (Edited)
OP -- did your Forte get the recall on the seat belt accomplished???

The only recall (campaign) to date on the Forte is for the front drivers seat belt -- and for the very reason you are writing this thread!!!

Have them check for Service Campaign SC 078.
 
#8 ·
Not on Kia, but on a Hyundai I used to own, the air bag light would be triggered by something under the driver or passenger seat.

Clearing all the junk under the seats and lightly tapping "up" the seat bottom from under the seat helped to turn off the air bag light. The dealer should be able to pull the code even if the air bag light doesn't show anymore. I don't know the right technical vocabulary, but the code may be still available in one of the "history" code the diagnostics tool should be able to pull
 
#9 ·
I know this is an old thread, however my air bag light has been coming on and off for several days. It was very wet outside, but nothing has been spilled inside my car. This is NOT the yellow air bag on / off light in the center of the dash, this is the red one inside the instrument cluster. It stayed on for several hundred miles of highway driving. It seems when you turn off the car, and restart it the light goes away. However it continues to come on at random times.
 
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#11 ·
Working fixes that I know:
- turn off the engine and restart
- Sit on the passenger side with engine off, restart engine
- remove all the junk from under the seats
- lightly tap "up" from under the seats
- push/pull the seats forward and backward, restart engine

If the light stays on, disconnect negative battery terminal for 20 sec and reconnect, restart engine...

If still on, ==> go to dealer and pay $100 just to read off the code if not under warranty.
 
L
#13 ·
I too am having airbag light problems among other intermittent warning lights. Sometimes I have the airbag warning light, the parking brake warning light, the ABS warning light, the traction control (Off) light, the traction control activated light, and the check engine light on all at the same time. It looks like Christmas lights on my instrument panel. This is freaking me out! First question what is a economical reset tool that will work on a Kia Forte to reset my airbag light? I have already had the dealer do it once a month ago. It is too expensive having them do this every month. I am out of warrantee now too. I don't want to buy a reset tool that doesn't work. Second question is over the Winter I have had alot of water settling on the floors of the car and at the end of the Winter I maybe vacuumed up over a gallon of water off the floors of the car. Could this water problem be associated with my warning lights. I guess more questions..where the heck could this much water come from. I don't think it was snow melt. I did have a windshield put in last Fall, so is it possible the windshield is leaking? Anyone have any comments on this. I plan on keeping this car for awhile, but this is somewhat depressing.
 
I
#14 · (Edited)
1st of all the parking brake warning light is not just for the parking brake, it's for the whole brake system in this car, except for ABS.

Check your battery voltage or the battery itself. If all of this stuff is happening at the same time, there is a huge chance that there's something common to all these electronics going wrong. I'd try the battery first because the rest of the possibilities are several times more expensive.

If you got so much water into the car it's obvious there's something going on with leaks. First thing to check are the seals. Does the glass you replaced fogs up on the inside after the rain? Does heating the car up make is worse? If that's the case, then there's a leak in there.

You should have item #1 installed on your car:
Image


If I were you I'd start a separate thread. Also your problem is not specific to the Forte, unlike this one so you can get help from not just Forte owners.
 
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