my friend was parting out a 93 f150 XLT 351 auto(with tach), so i took as much as i could before it went to scrap. i have a 94 f150 XL 300-6 5 speed(no tach). im swapping the entire interior over from the 93.

so i read up on guage cluster swaps and understood that 92-94 should interchange and 95-96 are different because of a different engine code reading system. i used the circuit board from the 93 (red) and kept my old speedometer. so threw it all together and turned the key on before i fired it up i was hearing beeping, started the engine and kept beeping. 5 strings of 5 beeps. this is the noise it had been making when i turn the key to auxilary(just to power radio) i thought it was some kind of security thing and i would just wait for it to be over. but now it is happening on startup.

looked this up and its supposed to mean a bulb is burnt out, especially an airbag one. all of the bulbs are good and i even tried replacing them one by one anyways, no luck.

i made sure the plugs are in the circuit board the right way.

i am not sure if the oil pressure guage and volt meter were working correctly, it was reading maybe 9-10 volts.

a lot of people are against disabling the air bag. personally i would feel safer without it. most of my driving is not high speed, and im afraid of something like that going off at random or from hitting something on the trails. also dont know if i trust that much of a new technology for its age. that bag has been folded up in there waiting to come out for the past 20 years im sure its not the softest thing in the world.

i ALWAYS wear my seatbelt. i am also worried about if the airbag came out it would snap my neck since i took the head rests off... another reason i dont want it or trust it.

i thought the safest and least annoying thing for now was to put the old cluster back together so thats what i did. the truck is my only transportation right now.

im about ready to stick a hammer through that beeper. so annoying!

 

92-93 interchange. 94-95 interchange. 96-97(HD trucks) interchange. The wiring is different from the 93 cluster and the 94 cluster. That is where the issue lies.

 

The ONLY thing that beeps 5 times in groups of 5 beeps is the air bag diagnostic module. It's saying the bulb circuit is open, so if your airbag light is coming on it's probably because it's connected to something else!

If you don't want the airbag, just pull it out of the wheel and disconnect the igniter. 2 wire cable with a yellow jacket. Unplug the module under the dash to kill the beeping, and normally if you pull the fuse in the cab that will put out the light but I think you have it wired to something else. Just be aware that it is against federal law to disable an airbag... save the parts so that if you ever sell the truck you can put them back together.

I disabled mine permanently since I have stuff bolted into the crumple zone and that's an important part of the airbag system... read this: <a href=http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78170> '92-96 Frame Crumple Zones</a href> Now I did mine a bit different... I removed the airbag from the wheel, drilled out the rivets holding the igniter/squib to the back of it, and just put the bag itself back in. Tossed the controller and sensors in the trash because this truck will never be sold... at least not as a complete vehicle. I don't plan on ever getting rid of it, and if I do it'll be after I strip what I want off it, and scrap/part the rest, so I ain't worried about having to keep the airbag parts.

As for it aging... you're right. After I took my igniter out, I set it out in the yard and put power to it. I've blown a few bags before and they normally blow immediately as soon as power is applied... this one had a serious delay and wouldn't have helped me in a crash anyway lol.

EDIT: oh and yeah it doesn't matter how new or old an airbag is, they are NOT soft when they deploy! When I wrecked my car back in high school, the bag blew all the cruise control buttons off the wheel... not soft, but better than smashing into the steering wheel (which is even harder).

 

well thats my answer. thank you. probably one of the only parts that dont interchange throughout all the years of the body style.

so what your saying is you think the airbag circuit is connected to something else? like someone used the wiring for lights, a cb radio, that kind of thing? it seems possible that wherever the wires are for it they could be corroded. the rust is very odd on this truck. frame is completely solid, mint passenger rocker, floor pan, and cab corner, but the driver's side floor is so rotted theres almost nothing left of the rocker. yet the bottom of the door right above it is spotless. ive had to do some wiring patch work, on the fuel pump, heat resistor, ashtray and power outlet wiring was fatigued off.

where is the module under the dash? i am thinking of disabling it. sure it would be a good thing to have if i wrecked on the highway. but i dont want it going off bumping into something, and who knows how reliable it is. if you remove it, do you have to keep the bag to put the center part back in the steering wheel?

if sold (unlikely, i love my truck) i will definitely put the airbag back. i understand someone who thinks they bought something with an airbag better have it or else i wont be able to sleep at night because they get in a crash and are dead because i took the friggen air bag out.

 

To disable the Air Bag system just unplug C217 & C218 at the module. You do not have to do anything to the steering column. The module is located behind LH side of I/P (F3 in diagram below).

The 1993 truck did not have an Air Bag and no Air Bag light in the cluster.
The pins that the 1994 uses for the air bag light are the charge light in the 1993 cluster.

Unless you move the pins the alternator will not charge with the 1993 cluster.

If you want the air bag to work you could use the 4X4 or low range lamps in the cluster by swapping pins that you will need to do anyway to get it to charge.

You will also have to mark the lamp you use as AIR BAG or remember what it is for.



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