Airbag Light Problems
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Airbag Light Problems
Hi Guys! This is my first post to the Ford Truck Enthusiasts and unfortunately,it comes with a growing problem. I purchased this 1994 F-150 XLT 4x4 truck last year. It had a current Virginia inspection sticker so I didn't really mind thatI had a 5-1 airbag light code as I figured it would pass inspection the following year. NOPE! It failed miserably! So, like all of you I searched the forums for help. And most of them were pretty helpful however.. None of the suggestions found resolved my issue. I took the truck to the Ford dealership and they ran diagnostics and found it to be a bad airbag module. Nobody makes or sells it anymore except for a few places here and there. Some of the posts I read stated once I installed the new module it would most likely blow the bag.Is there a way to bypass it (cover the light) so I can get it passed inspection?
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Lynnwood Wa.
You can remove the gauge cluster and pop out the light bulb. That will get you away from it failing visually but as far as it throwing a code I do not know if it will be picked up when being scanned
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,533
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From: SW Florida
Don't fret, airbag codes don't come thru the same scanner port as engine codes. 
Code 51 means the thermal fuse inside the airbag diagnostic monitor has blown. Now, a thermal fuse is just what it sounds like: a fuse that blows after it reaches a certain temperature. Nothing in the airbag system is temperature sensitive, instead the thermal fuse is used like a self-destruct mechanism. When the airbag monitor sees a short to power or other problem that could cause the airbag to deploy when it shouldn't, it applies power to a resistor located just under the thermal fuse. This resistor gets hot, which heats the thermal fuse up and blows it, disabling the igniter circuit.
Supposedly you can't replace the fuse... I call BS on that. But first you'll have to find out what caused the module to disable it in the first place.
EDIT: I found <a href=http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701278739>this</a href>. It's for the Mazd.. oops I mean FORD Probe, but the procedure should be the same.
Code 51 means the thermal fuse inside the airbag diagnostic monitor has blown. Now, a thermal fuse is just what it sounds like: a fuse that blows after it reaches a certain temperature. Nothing in the airbag system is temperature sensitive, instead the thermal fuse is used like a self-destruct mechanism. When the airbag monitor sees a short to power or other problem that could cause the airbag to deploy when it shouldn't, it applies power to a resistor located just under the thermal fuse. This resistor gets hot, which heats the thermal fuse up and blows it, disabling the igniter circuit.
Supposedly you can't replace the fuse... I call BS on that. But first you'll have to find out what caused the module to disable it in the first place.
EDIT: I found <a href=http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701278739>this</a href>. It's for the Mazd.. oops I mean FORD Probe, but the procedure should be the same.
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