Airbags and -28 temps

[sckeith]

Hello all

I've noticed that when it is below say -25 c the airbag light on the dash flashes for some time. Also the passenger will do the same thing. Would this be normal and does anybody else notice it.
Light turns off maybe 5-10 minutes after the vehicle is driven. This morning the light stopped flashing at about the same time the vehicle reached running temp
I searched the FAQs but didn't see this concern

Thanks

[kerrton]

Nope, It was -32 this morning on my drive to work and the whole winter has been super cold and snowy, haven't noticed this (I live in Lethbridge, AB BTW).

At first I was going to say this doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you're driving with your airbag light on that means it's not functioning properly and won't protect you or your passenger in the event of a collision during that 5-10 minutes when the light is on. Yes it's a short period of time but it shouldn't work like this, that light should not stay on while you're driving. I'd mention it to the dealer, it might be tough for them to diagnose because it's intermittent but who knows, they just might surprise and find a problem, and it can't hurt to ask.

[axel10]

Oddly enough the exact same thing happened to me this morning in Calgary (-36 Celsius with windchill). The dash airbag light kept flashing for about 10 minutes, and the passenger light also stayed on for the same amount of time (until vehicle was warm). I even restarted the vehicle (at a red light) in an attempt to reset (just in case) without luck. I will mention it to my dealer the next time the vehicle goes in.

[Nick 568]

I haven't had that issue at all. I haven't driven the car much below -15F/-26C, but I've still never had it happen. It sounds like something you need to have the dealer take a look at.

[axel10]

I wanted to follow up on this post, and was wondering on other opinions.

I mentioned this issue to the dealer early in the Spring. As has been noted here before, all they do nowadays is to look at fault codes that are stored - and if the fault codes don't exist then the issue never happened. There was no fault code stored for the non-functioning air bags I had encountered in the depth of Winter one day (see above).

What caught my attention is that the service rep (the guy who takes the car in) explained to me that this falls under 'normal' operation of this system, in that one could expect that this system would act this way under the extreme conditions of that day.

I guess this makes sense. What are your thoughts? Would the lights coming on (indicating no air bags) really mean that the air bags would not have functioned?

[sckeith]

When it happened I took the car to the dealer who checked for codes and found none. They believe this to be normal at the extreme temps,and I believe that while the light is flashing there are no operational airbags. I just moved to a place with heated underground parking so I shouldn't see this again I hope