My airbag light was on. It might not be a big deal to some, but where I live, it would cause my truck to fail the state safety inspection which expires at the end of the month. I've also read, though not confirmed, that the airbag system is disabled/not working at all, if the dash warning light is illuminated.

After a lot of searching, I couldn't find much info on repairing or clearing the code on my truck. I did find a list of airbag codes and likely causes, and determined that it was most likely the bulb burned out on the Passenger Airbag Disconnect (PAD) key switch. After having my dash apart to install a new audio/nav system, I guess the jarring of the dash being snapped back in damaged the bulb because that's when the airbag light came on.

I wanted to share a link that I found to a You Tube video that solved my problem. The video is from an earlier model Ranger, and though I have a 2002 F250, the repair and part are identical. By simply removing the switch and soldering in a new bulb, the problem is fixed, saved me a lot of money and now I don't have to worry about failing the state inspection.
Follow the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjuoFguv-lY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The video refers to the bulb as an LED, but its actually an incandescent bulb, a small 12 volt 60mA, similar to a x-mas light bulb.

On a side note, the bulb for my 4x4 switch (the little green one that let's you see the switch in the dark) hasn't worked in years. Since the bulbs from radio shack came in a 3 pack (red, yellow and green) I used the yellow bulb for the airbag switch and the green bulb for the 4x4 switch. Simply use a small flat screwdriver to turn the grey plastic bulb base out of the back of the switch, use a tiny flat screwdriver or carefully with a knife and needle nose pliers, straighten and remove the copper plates holding the lamp wires in, remove the old bulb, insert new one with insulation stripped from the wires and replace the wires and copper plates like before and reinstall. Problem fixed!

 

I forgot to add...

The video refers to the bulb as an LED, but its actually an incandescent bulb, a small 12 volt 60mA, similar to a x-mas light bulb.

On a side note, the bulb for my 4x4 switch (the little green one that let's you see the switch in the dark) hasn't worked in years. Since the bulbs from radio shack came in a 3 pack (red, yellow and green) I used the yellow bulb for the airbag switch and the green bulb for the 4x4 switch. Simply use a small flat screwdriver to turn the grey plastic bulb base out of the back of the switch, use a tiny flat screwdriver or carefully with a knife and needle nose pliers, straighten and remove the copper plates holding the lamp wires in, remove the old bulb, insert new one with insulation stripped from the wires and replace the wires and copper plates like before and reinstall. Problem fixed!