Air Bag & ABS light have come one!!! Help or advise needed

Pippobug · **Posted:** Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:13 am

Hi,

I have a CRD 2.5 and yesterday first came the Air Bag light one with no reason (didn't hit anything or wasn't going off road) and wouldn't go off. The KJ runs fine and it's the first time it's come on and stayed on. I have done the recall for the Air Bag 2 years back. Any ideas what could have caused it?

ABS light came also on a bit later in the day, I guess it will be one of the usual sensor that has gone, the front ones are new as I replaced both front hubs last year, could it be the rear one? if so how do I find out please?

I have to admit the KJ is not being used a lot recently as it's summer and I run around to work and back on my motocycle, so could the cause of these light coming on also be related to maybe the batter not being fully charged?

I have booked myself in with a Jeep Dealer but my old one says they can't always read all the codes and the new Jeep dealer says the software they have will only ready for Jeep from 2011 on wards.... Anyone have a suggestion where I can buy a good ODB reader that will read all the Jeep Codes ( I am in the UK)? this is going to become very soon a pressing matter to keep the Jeep running properly if the electrics are going to start playing up ( and my KJ wasn't built by Fiat!!)

Thank you,

Fil.

Billwill · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:31 am

It is difficult to get a code reader that works on our old 2.5 Export CRDs as a PCI bus is used...newer KJs use a CAN bus.
Even the Local Bosch Service Center here in SA laughed at me when I asked if he could read my codes!

The "key" trick definitely works on the early KJs like ours...more on that later but it does not read air bag codes I believe.

The first thing to do before working on an air bag problem is to disconnect the red lead from the battery and turn this lead so that it touches the chassis....leave it like this for a few minutes so as to discharge any capacitance in the system so that the airbag does not get set off while you are working around there!

I had this problem with the air bag light on my 2002 2.5 Export CRD...at first intermittent and then pretty solid.

If you remove the plastic covers covering the steering column...needs a male Torx bit to remove two screws from underneath..you should see right near the bottom of the column a small harness of four or five wires connecting into the main harness via a small plastic plug. If you undo this connector...you will see that the plug that goes upwards towards the top of the steering wheel has a small flat metal section inside it which shorts out all the pins on that side of the connector as you pull the plug apart....this is done to short out the airbag actuators so as to stop any back EMF setting them off...this will show that you have located the correct plug!

Try re-plugging this plug a few times in case there is a bad connection and see if that fixes your problem. In my case the one set of pins refused to make a good contact for very long....I could reach down under the plastic covers and waggle this plug about and the air bag light would go ON/OFF. In the end I cut of the plugs and soldered the wires together and that finally fixed my problem. I believe only the RHD KJs have this short section of harness fitted!

If that does not fix your problem then you may need to replace the clock spring under the steering boss at the top of the steering wheel....I will post you a link to another site later where I typed out the whole procedure!

Then as far as using the "key" trick to get codes for your ABS issue....I do not believe the Key trick pulls out codes for the air bags so your air bag problem could be one of the other bags and not the Driver's bag!

Rapidly switch the ignition ON/OFF 4 times without starting the engine.
After the 4th ON action leave the ignition ON and the Odometer display should start displaying all the stored codes...the last code displayed is the latest code...write them down. This switching ON/OFF requires some practice to get the speed right but I use it fairly often.

The trouble with the Key method is:

Not all types of codes are displayed.
The codes are not erased by this process.
Some of the codes may be ancient and no longer of any value.
Sometimes the last two digits of the code are transposed so a P0152 code for instance may display as P0125 for example.
The codes are stored only once so for multiple re-occurances of a problem you still only get one code.

I deliberately caused a code on my CRD by pulling out one of the two Glow plug relays in the relay box under the bonnet (hood). The Jeep started OK although a bit roughly and posted a CEL. Now I use this code as my "marker" so that any code shown after my marker I know is a new code!

You can download the KJ Service Manual...includes the circuit diagrams here...the 2004 model is not included so the 2003 manuals have to used by 2004 owners!

The first thing to download though for Export CRD owners is the section called "2.4_2.8 Export Diesels" as it explains the early Export Diesel engines, gearboxes etc. better than the "2003 KJ Service Manual" does.

:http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ

Pippobug · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:09 am

Bill,

Thank you for the information. I tried may times to get the codes via the Key and always failed but yesterday I actually got 3 codes off the dash board for my great astonishment.

The code are:
P 1130
P 0620
P 1685

I have no idea what they are yet, will try and look up information, but if you know what they are please let me know.

Before getting the codes off the dash board I went to my mechanic and we tired to get them off with is ODB reader (the latest one that is also able to ready Ferrari latest clutch settings!!) and failed miserably, again not the first time this has happen. Monday I am booked with my Jeep dealer to see what they can get out, don't hold high hopes though as their software has struggled in the passed and the new Jeep Dealer says their software now only reads 2011+ Jeeps and nothing before that not leaving much hope for us older Jeep owners going forward.

Once I find what the codes are I will post up again.

Fil.

Pippobug · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:21 am

So the codes are:

P1130 Fuel Rail Pressure Malfunction Small Leakage Detected
Fuel Rail Pressure Malfunction Small Leakage Detected

P0620 Generator Field Control MALF Open Circuit
Generator Field Control MALF Short Circuit

P1685 SKIM System Invalid Key Code Received
SKIM System Invalid Secret Key In EEPROM
SKIM System Key Communication Timed Out
SKIM System SKIM Error
SKIM System Write Access To EEPROM Failure

None of which make much sense as the lights on the dash board are for Air Bag, ABS (one of the sensors) and System light (Alarm/Immobilizer/Siren)..... I guess it will have to be the Jeep Dealer to find out what is wrong

Fil.

Billwill · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:22 am

Yep as I stated the "key" method is limited as to what codes it can display...especially as regards ABS and airbag problems

If you can find out which airbag it is complaining about then you can check the cabling and connectors yourself and if need be you can replace the clock spring yourself if the driver air bag is the problem. :wink:

Pippobug · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:33 am

Bill,

thank you, I will up dated after I visit the dealer on Monday, hopefully it's only a reset think on the Air Bags as I did the recall and for the ABS it will be a sensor that is playing up as it keeps turning on and off.

Fil.

Pippobug · **Posted:** Wed Aug 19, 2015 5:37 am

Bill,

Got the Jeep checked at a the dealer on Monday (sorry I didn't get back earlier) and this is how it went:

Air Bag: around Friday the light went out !!!! Great .... so it should be but still stored a code (wasn't given to me) and when read turned out to be Left Front impact Sensor. The technician showed to me where it is so if it plays up again I know where to go and touch it and replace it (remember to disconnect the Battery first !!)

ABS: as suspected it's the front right hand side one that is gone and needs replacing. You don't know the part number by any chance? That is an easy fix.

Other codes: All as what I stated before and were old and he kindly cleared them out. I haven't checked yet if new ones have turned up but I will at some stage.

Again thank you for your help.

Fil.

Taidef1972 · **Joined:** Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:20 am **Posts:** 1

Billwill wrote:

Yep as I stated the "key" method is limited as to what codes it can display...especially as regards ABS and airbag problems

If you can find out which airbag it is complaining about then you can check the cabling and connectors yourself and if need be you can replace the clock spring yourself if the driver air bag is the problem. :wink:

Yeah i also have come to the same conclusion.

Jindosjeep · **Posted:** Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:43 pm

My 02 gas Liberty has the airbag light, I had it at the dealer having some other past due maintenance done and pointed this out, he said it was the front sensor and there is a recall on this, the sensor is on backorder, said it was safe to drive and would notify me when part is available,covered under warranty!

Jindosjeep · **Posted:** Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:50 pm

The dealer turned off the airbag light,it stayed off for awhile, comes back on now.On start up the system check lights go off as usual,with the seatbelt and airbag lights, then the airbag light comes back on!

Air Bag & ABS light have come one!!! Help or advise needed

Who is online