Does the CEL (Check Engine Light) or the SES (Service Engine Soon) light on a '94 F150 look like a little seatbelted man with an airbag? Reason I ask is I just purchased this truck and I noticed some black electrical tape covering up one of the idiot lights on the left side of the dash. When I removed the tape, low and behold I have this yellow flashing indicator. Like I said, looks like a little man seated and seatbelted with an airbag going off in his face! It flashes 3 times, then a short pause, then 2 more flashes and then a long pause. It keeps repeating this sequence over and over.

So is this the CEL/SES light and it's flashing a code at me, or does it mean there's a general problem with the airbag?

Thanks

U.M.

 

You have found the air bag warning light which illuminates when the airbag system finds a fault. Your code is 32. Driver's side airbag high resistance. Does your horn work? Does cruise control work? Most likely you have what is known as a bad "clockspring" or air bag sliding contact assy. To replace it requires removing the steering wheel and the upper and lower column covers. Not too involved unless you are uncomfortable about removing the airbag itself. If you want to tackle it, let me know, and I will try to walk you through it.

Robbie

 

Robbie,

Thanks for the info buddy, and what do you know the cruise doesn't work but the horn does! Sounds like this is a common problem... I would definitely like to tackle this myself and any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Am I going to need some type of puller to remove the steering wheel? Are you confident enough about the cause of this problem that I should stop by the parts dept today and order a new "clockspring" or air bag sliding contact assy? Off the top of your head what does this part normally cost?

Thanks in advance for the help man!

U.M.

 

I am positive of your problem. You can simply remove the two bolts on the rear of each side of the steering wheel. They will remove the airbag assy. Don't be shy, it is fine. The bolts require an eight millimeter socket. The air bag will lift right out. Then disconnect the red(horn wire connector) and the yellow(air bag connector) and the whole thing will come out. Place it face up! Next, you have a fifteen millimeter bolt in the center that holds the wheel on. Loosen this, but leave it in two or three threads. Plant your feet on the floorboard, grab both sides of the steering wheel(9 o'clock and 3 o'clock) and rock back and forth while pulling as hard as you can with your arms and pushing with your feet. The rocking motion should make the wheel come off. The bolt will keep it from removing any teeth! Then take off the lower shroud of the column, the knee bolster beneath the column and replacing the clockspring is simply unbolting the old one, following the wires and disconnecting the plugs and reassemble in reverse order. If you need further assistance, just ask.

Robbie

The Ford part will likely run around a hundred bucks at the dealer, give or take.

 

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE YOU TOUCH THE "AIR"BAG

 

Robbie,

Well everything seemed to go well with the clockspring replacement. My local Ford dealer had one in stock and it came to $119 including tax. Disassembly of the steering wheel and related components was pretty straight forward just as you described. *Note* The 4 nuts that held my airbag in place were 10 not 8mm. The new clockspring came with a plastic three-prong retainer that confused me initially. I assumed it was on there to keep the new clockspring orientated correctly until it's time to install the unit. I left it in place until just before I put the steering wheel back on. There was one little connection that has me stumped and I still don't think I got it on correctly. There was a small brown half-moon shaped plastic thing-a-ma-bob with one black wire running to it and one copper contact. The old one LOOKED to be wedged into the ignition lock cylinder in some manner, but when I removed the airbag assembly I must have ripped out the old one because I didn't even see it. I tried to wedge the new one into the notch in the side of the ignition, but without being able to use the old one as a guide I'm not sure if I got it in right or not? Any idea what it is? Looks like it might be some type of safety switch that may need to ground out against something in the ignition cylinder.
Once I got everything put back together I reconnected the negative battery cable and fired the truck up. Good news and bad news. The good news is the horn and the cruise control are now working again! The bad news is the airbag light is still flashing at me, although it's a new code now. Looks to be a code 13. One flash and a short pause, then 3 flashes and a long pause. So what's this code mean?

Thanks Again for your help!

U.M.

 

U.M., check your email.

Robbie

 

Please help. My truck just started flashing code 32 also at about 100k miles. I have no cruise control and the horn works. I guess that I will need to replace the clock spring. Do you have any tips? What did you determine to do with the 3 prong retainer? What happened with the half moon piece and how do I avoid the 13 error code that you got?
thanks