Service Air Bag light after steering wheel swap

[michaelkellett]

I just replaced my steering wheel with a brand new factory wheel (from RockAuto) because the original was falling apart, but before the swap, I had no service light issues, etc. After swapping out the wheel, on start-up, I get a Service Air Bag notification on the dash and the red air bag light stays on.

I have a very primitive ODB scanner from Harbor, but I cannot see any error messages on the scanner when it's hooked up.

Any suggestions?

FYI it's a 2012 GMC Yukon Denali with 300k+ miles and no wrecks in its history to trigger the airbag.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Try a system reset first by removing both battery cables and touching the 2 cables together for 10+ seconds. See if that resolves your trouble light. If not, we will need to dig deeper.

 

[michaelkellett]

How likely is it that the clock spring broke just from changing out the wheel?

 

[mikez71]

Hopefully you didn't rotate the clockspring when the wheel was off? (I'm not even sure if you can...)

I don't think it would break from just changing the wheel.

Might check the wire connections one more time..

 

[michaelkellett]

I made sure the steering wheel was locked and nothing was rotated while swapping out the wheels.

 

[Tonyrodz]

How can you tell if a clockspring is no good? Can you physically see damage, or do you need to test it--ohm it out?

 

[Doubeleive]

I made sure the steering wheel was locked and nothing was rotated while swapping out the wheels.

pull the air bag back off and double check the connections on the back, reseat and see it is goes away. SRS errors will self clear when the problem is gone.

 

[mikez71]

How can you tell if a clockspring is no good? Can you physically see damage, or do you need to test it--ohm it out?

Yup, ohm it out or test light..

If you could crack it open, you could inspect the clockspring..
But thats more work for just a visual inspection.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Yup, ohm it out or test light..

If you could crack it open, you could inspect the clockspring..
But thats more work for just a visual inspection.

I was asking because I bought a complete column for my 03 and the jy didn't do anything to prevent the steering wheelfrom spinning freely, and I'm not sure if I let it spin freely myself. It's just been sitting in my garage.

 

[michaelkellett]

I tried disconnecting the battery, crossing the cables, removed the airbag, checked connections, replaced everything, and still get the Service Air Bag fault. Here's what my Harbor scanner shows:

 

[Fless]

I'm not sure if the diagnostic path will help you, but here it is:

B0013 — 2012 GMC Yukon Denali 2WD V8-6.2L Service Manual | Operation CHARM

Detailed repair manual for the 2012 GMC Yukon Denali 2WD V8-6.2L.

charm.li

 

[mikez71]

I'm not sure if the diagnostic path will help you, but here it is:

B0013 — 2012 GMC Yukon Denali 2WD V8-6.2L Service Manual | Operation CHARM

Detailed repair manual for the 2012 GMC Yukon Denali 2WD V8-6.2L.

charm.li

Here's something I notice from that...

-------------------------------------------------

Conditions for Clearing the DTC

* The condition for setting the DTC no longer exists.
* A history DTC will clear once 100 malfunction-free ignition cycles have occurred.

---------------------------------------------------

I don't know how you would have low resistance on the airbag circuit from removing it...
But at least you know it needs to be between 1.3 and 5.1 ohms now...
And you might need to have 100 key cycles for it to clear if it somehow happened from being unplugged..

 

[Doubeleive]

I tried disconnecting the battery, crossing the cables, removed the airbag, checked connections, replaced everything, and still get the Service Air Bag fault. Here's what my Harbor scanner shows:
View attachment 476283

probably the clock spring, because nothing else was touched

 

[Fless]

Or a dirty clockspring connection. These circuits are very susceptible to small things (like a partial short or open at a connection) that disrupt the expected resistance. I'd inspect the clockspring connections and use DeOxit or similar to clean, then reseat them and make sure the locks are in place.

Of course, the clockspring itself might be defective. A short between two contacts could cause this.

 

[opfor2]

You have a bad electrical connection for I just went through this with my passenger airbag.

***SOLVED*** B0019-OD, Passenger side air bag removal

Does anyone have any information on removing the passenger side dash air bag? I have a B0019-0D code which is the "Passenger Instrument panel air bag deployment loop stage 1 resistance above threshold" and I need to check the air bag plug for damage or corrosion. ***SOLVED*** (thank you to the...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[LsHart]

How can you tell if a clockspring is no good? Can you physically see damage, or do you need to test it--ohm it out?

The clock spring is one of the first sensors to go. And u went into it and disturbed it. Now I think u will need to change it.

 

[catalinajack]

How likely is it that the clock spring broke just from changing out the wheel?

I just replaced my clockspring and I can assure you that merely removing the steering will not damage the clockspring which is in a sealed housing secured behind the steering wheel locking nut. That's not to say the the OPs clockspring is not the culprit but, oddly, I am getting the same message for the airbag, before and after.

I had the same problem on my 2003 Silverado. I fixed it by replacing one of the airbag impact sensors. These are bolted to a front-end crossmember and are not difficult to replace. Not inexpensive. Over $100 for a GM sensor from Rock Auto. I already replaced one sensor on the Yukon but the air bag message is stiil on. I am going to replace the other side with the one I removed and replacing it is good and solves the problem. If it does not, I will remove a known good one from my Silverado and see if that does the trick. My plan was to do the Yukon swap today but it is only 20 degrees outside.

 

[Fless]

I just replaced my clockspring and I can assure you that merely removing the steering will not damage the clockspring which is in a sealed housing secured behind the steering wheel locking nut. That's not to say the the OPs clockspring is not the culprit but, oddly, I am getting the same message for the airbag, before and after.

I had the same problem on my 2003 Silverado. I fixed it by replacing one of the airbag impact sensors. These are bolted to a front-end crossmember and are not difficult to replace. Not inexpensive. Over $100 for a GM sensor from Rock Auto. I already replaced one sensor on the Yukon but the air bag message is stiil on. I am going to replace the other side with the one I removed and replacing it is good and solves the problem. If it does not, I will remove a known good one from my Silverado and see if that does the trick. My plan was to do the Yukon swap today but it is only 20 degrees outside.

The DTC that the OP has is not related to the impact sensors. That's why it's important to get the code(s), not just the "message," and read through the diagnostic info for the code(s).

 

[catalinajack]

The DTC that the OP has is not related to the impact sensors. That's why it's important to get the code(s), not just the "message," and read through the diagnostic info for the code(s).

Hmmm. I have no codes yet I have a "service air bag" message. Very frustrating.

 

[Fless]

Hmmm. I have no codes yet I have a "service air bag" message. Very frustrating.

There's a code if there's a message, but the scanner needs to be able to read more than engine codes ("Bxxxx" codes).