surolegga

Don't worry, just make sure that passengers use the belt, it is a lot more important than the airbag.

I can't use the seat because of the airbag recall. As much as this isn't a Subaru specific issue it is not being handled well in my area. They are fixing the bags of the customers who complain first instead of the older models. I will not demand a loaner and have my car sit in the lot with no guarantee it comes back with no damage.

It is on the late side for this, but the dealer who did my '07 airbag recall replacement last fall fixed my light as well. I didn't even mention it going in, so some others may luck out as well.

 

Doug

Sounds like you have a good dealer. The console issue needs fixed for them to have the system working, and I'm sure a shadier dealer may try to put it on the customer (when SOA would cover for sure).

Can you post your source for that info? I've never seen anything definitive but I definitely want to know!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

My independent Subaru shop run by a mechanic who was a Subaru tech for 10 years.

I can second this info. Which is why when I asked about it to SOA they hooked me up with a new console, no charge.

The irony: six months later I get the letter that says don't use my passenger seat. One year after that I still can't use it. At least the other bags will work now.

I'm wondering if you now have a cold solder joint?

After you said this I looked it up (I'm no electronics solder specialist), and it looks like every joint on the board qualified before I touched anything.

Awesome fix. Mine started doing this yesterday. Looks like i know what i'll be doing today!

After I fixed mine (it was solid all the time), it started acting up again. So I contacted SOA and they said take it to the dealer to verify. I paid for it out of pocket and SOA sent me a check to cover parts/labor. They seemed very interested in getting it resolved quickly. Of course I know it is for the good of Subaru as well, the bad part/fault can cause your airbags to not deploy. But it is still nice to have a company react and "get it done" fast so that you can have peace of mind...not worrying if the damn light was going to stay on when you are miles away from home with your family in the car...

Long story short, if you don't want to depend on your soldering skills to save your life, contact Subaru.

I've been working with electronics for about 30 years and LEDs always fail completely.

 

It should take any longer to solder. I'm wondering if you now have a cold solder joint? Also, measure the resistance across the 511 resistor. It should be 500 Ω. Sometimes chip resistors will crack and become intermittent. Did you clean all the contacts too?

No ohm meter to check. No contact cleaning. First soldered the 511 thinking it was all I needed, no dice. Then tried some gentle touch up on everything else on the board (I say gentle because the tip I had to work with was like a bull in a china shop), result.

As long as I don't get an airbag light in the dash I am happy, it will pass inspection. But I have the feeling it will come back. Thank you for the reply!

Just wanted to pipe in that I fixed mine by resoldering the chip resistors too. These are ROHS compliant so you need a hotter than normal iron and silver solder to do it properly. I also sprayed contact cleaner in all the plugs/sockets on this fixture. Its been fine for over a year.

Silver solder for sure...it took a loooong time to heat up and mix with the standard 60/40 rosin flux I had.

So the airbag dash light is off, but can anyone tell me if the LED lights themselves can cause this? The "PASS AIRBAG" light randomly lights now, although "ON" and "OFF" are good ("OFF" was not showing when the dash light was on). The 511 resistor solder did not look too bad, but all of the LED solders looked like they had a hairline crack.

Hit a deer earlier this year. Not terrible damage, but it did look like a sack of rocks fell on the hood from 30 feet.

Now I have: the infamous HVAC/stereo faceplate problem, and most recently, the airbag light in the console.

Thanks to everyone who reported their findings/progress here, you are a big help in keeping me sane.

Been having issues on and off but it has started happening a bit more frequently now. I'm third owner and I emailed SOA if they would good will the issue but the rep told me to schedule it to be looked at when I schedule my brake line recall work and that they cannot guarantee a goodwill gesture. I don't want to pay out of pocket to diagnose an issue that we know is prevalent in our vehicles...

If my thinking is right, the rep is saying don't expect us to fix it for free once we (re)discover that it is the face plate, no charge for the "looking into it." Still lame.

Mine flashes quite a bit now, especially because the damn controls are so low...you fumble a bit...then sputtering ensues. As I said before the bad connection must be near the fan controls, because every time the flicker happens I just put a little pressure above the fan up/down (on the plate) and the flickering stops.

any update on out of warranty coverage by SOA?

Seconded, anyone get a response?

This just happened for the first time today. My wife was driving the car for work. After her last start today the HVAC/radio lights were out. When I pushed the (face plate) spot between the fan controls and the readout the lights came back on, and stayed on.

Forester clock anyone?