!!! Service Airbag !!! Light on 2011 GMC Sierra 4wd

Lawman86 · June 21, 2021

So I got the truck with the service airbag light on. I did some looking around and no codes are showing up on my scanner, but I don’t believe mine will show the parameters for the Air Bag system. I looked at both the frontal air bag sensors on the bottom of the core support area, and the passenger side one was cracked almost completely ONLY where it screws in at. The actual portion to the front wasn’t broken but both sensors look horrible. Truck came from the North, and so they are corroded as can be. I replaced the passenger side one. Hooked battery back up and it’s still on. I also looked under passenger seat, and drivers seat and the plastic cover that goes over the wiring to conceal them the one on the passenger side was missing, as well as the yellow plug in little plastic rivet that holds it onto the metal plate. So to me it looks like someone has messed with the passenger side wiring under the seat, whether intentional or not, but I guess I’ll have to take it into the dealer to get them to hook it up to the OBD2 port to see if they can erase it. Anyone else ever have this issue? I also noticed my chime doesn’t come on when my seatbelt is off, I’m assuming because my service airbag light is illuminated the entire time.

Jworks · June 21, 2021

I have the same truck. There is a recall about the passenger air bag. The dealer replaced mine in just a few minutes. Contact a dealer. Its free.

As for the truck being from the North, I live in the South too, and I learned about that issue just a few years ago while truck shopping. Salt is sometimes used in the South too, but no where nearly as much as in the north. A used car dealer told me he didn't buy anything above the "frost line" or "snow line".....or some such term. I didn't know what he was talking about so he explained. I'm 74 and I'd never heard of that issue; corrosion issue from salting the roads. Now I know. He told me those northern vehicles were more trouble to fool with than it was worth for him as a used car dealer. Yours may not be that bad; I don't know. But he said rusting out from under the wheel wells was a big issue. In the future, you can spend a few dollars on Carfax to get the history of the truck, which will show where it was originally sold. "Where" is your key for this issue. In addition, I was truck shopping once and noticed some of the really good looking trucks I was looking at came out of Texas. I got a little whisper in my ear because a few months prior was when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and just set there and rained for days and days. You will probably recall it was all over the news. So, I ran the trucks I was interested in through Carfax and found they originated in ....you guessed it, Houston. By the way, glad to see you are a lawman. Thumbs up!

Edited June 21, 2021 by Jworks

Lawman86 · June 21, 2021

11 hours ago, Jworks said:

I have the same truck. There is a recall about the passenger air bag. The dealer replaced mine in just a few minutes. Contact a dealer. Its free.

As for the truck being from the North, I live in the South too, and I learned about that issue just a few years ago while truck shopping. Salt is sometimes used in the South too, but no where nearly as much as in the north. A used car dealer told me he didn't buy anything above the "frost line" or "snow line".....or some such term. I didn't know what he was talking about so he explained. I'm 74 and I'd never heard of that issue; corrosion issue from salting the roads. Now I know. He told me those northern vehicles were more trouble to fool with than it was worth for him as a used car dealer. Yours may not be that bad; I don't know. But he said rusting out from under the wheel wells was a big issue. In the future, you can spend a few dollars on Carfax to get the history of the truck, which will show where it was originally sold. "Where" is your key for this issue. In addition, I was truck shopping once and noticed some of the really good looking trucks I was looking at came out of Texas. I got a little whisper in my ear because a few months prior was when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and just set there and rained for days and days. You will probably recall it was all over the news. So, I ran the trucks I was interested in through Carfax and found they originated in ....you guessed it, Houston. By the way, glad to see you are a lawman. Thumbs up!

Yeah I’m from Arkansas, the land of where they never salt the roads unless there’s a 100 wrecks I’ve checked all fuses, plug ins under the seats, and everything I can think of and even replaced that nasty looking front module. I did notice when I first got the truck that the code c-0899 was on. I’ve read that under current or even an alternator can cause this. Which mine hasn’t been an alternator issue but did have that one code stored. I used my scanner and deleted it but I think I’m going to contact the dealer and tell them about it. I know my speedo is also off by about 5-8 mph. Which is super annoying especially when you’re on the highway and going 5-10 above posted speed and you look down and it makes you think you’re actually going 20 over. I’m not sure if the original owner had larger tires or not because the ones that are on it are stock size, but doesn’t mean they didn’t change them out. I am going to the dealer on Thursday and will mention the airbag issue. I was taking it in for the speedo issue. I thought the needle was sitting a little higher above zero while sitting still but it’s not. I was just going to adjust the needle, but I’ll have them look at it and try to readjust, because even with my scan tool doing live data it’ll show the speed of the speedometer instead of actual speed, so the computer evens thinks it’s going that fast. Yeah I worked in law enforcement for almost 12 years. I am medically retired now, but remember all the storm vehicles because I have my meteorology degree, that the sheriffs dept paid for when they decided to be generous to pay for continuing your education, so I got tasked with working Emergency Management, and also disaster relief and search and rescue for Hurricane Katrina, Moore, Joplin tornadoes, Hurricane Harvey, and several smaller tornadoes. I did the Carfax on it but it showed it was bought from the southern states and shipped up north to a dealer and they never sold it, instead it was labeled as “dealer” vehicle, then the place I got it from had bought it from an auction that the dealership up north had. It’s so aggravating to have these little issues, but it’s not the end of the world. If I could just get the speedo issue fixed I’d be happy with that at the moment. I have a decent sized personal injury settlement coming so paying this off should be easy and I can get these issues fixed and use this as the hunting rig or whatever

Edited June 21, 2021 by Lawman86

Jworks · June 21, 2021

3 hours ago, Lawman86 said:

Yeah I’m from Arkansas, the land of where they never salt the roads unless there’s a 100 wrecks I’ve checked all fuses, plug ins under the seats, and everything I can think of and even replaced that nasty looking front module. I did notice when I first got the truck that the code c-0899 was on. I’ve read that under current or even an alternator can cause this. Which mine hasn’t been an alternator issue but did have that one code stored. I used my scanner and deleted it but I think I’m going to contact the dealer and tell them about it. I know my speedo is also off by about 5-8 mph. Which is super annoying especially when you’re on the highway and going 5-10 above posted speed and you look down and it makes you think you’re actually going 20 over. I’m not sure if the original owner had larger tires or not because the ones that are on it are stock size, but doesn’t mean they didn’t change them out. I am going to the dealer on Thursday and will mention the airbag issue. I was taking it in for the speedo issue. I thought the needle was sitting a little higher above zero while sitting still but it’s not. I was just going to adjust the needle, but I’ll have them look at it and try to readjust, because even with my scan tool doing live data it’ll show the speed of the speedometer instead of actual speed, so the computer evens thinks it’s going that fast. Yeah I worked in law enforcement for almost 12 years. I am medically retired now, but remember all the storm vehicles because I have my meteorology degree, that the sheriffs dept paid for when they decided to be generous to pay for continuing your education, so I got tasked with working Emergency Management, and also disaster relief and search and rescue for Hurricane Katrina, Moore, Joplin tornadoes, Hurricane Harvey, and several smaller tornadoes. I did the Carfax on it but it showed it was bought from the southern states and shipped up north to a dealer and they never sold it, instead it was labeled as “dealer” vehicle, then the place I got it from had bought it from an auction that the dealership up north had. It’s so aggravating to have these little issues, but it’s not the end of the world. If I could just get the speedo issue fixed I’d be happy with that at the moment. I have a decent sized personal injury settlement coming so paying this off should be easy and I can get these issues fixed and use this as the hunting rig or whatever

Good deal. Sounds like the speedo issue should be solvable pretty easy if its a good dealership. Not all are. Fortunately I have a really good one nearby. Some of their prices are reasonable; some are not. Im having plugs and wires done by a local mechanic for $275. Dealership I was bragging about quoted $500-600. So there you go. Something like you're dealing with I would probably stick with a dealer -- if, its a good one. It all comes down to how good their mechanics they employ are. Good luck on your upcoming settlement.

Lawman86 · June 21, 2021

Just now, Jworks said:

Good deal. Sounds like the speedo issue should be solvable pretty easy if its a good dealership. Not all are. Fortunately I have a really good one nearby. Some of their prices are reasonable; some are not. Im having plugs and wires done by a local mechanic for $275. Dealership I was bragging about quoted $500-600. So there you go. Something like you're dealing with I would probably stick with a dealer -- if, its a good one. It all comes down to how good their mechanics they employ are. Good luck on your upcoming settlement.

I don’t necessarily have any good shops around me, dealers anyways. I’m an ASE Master Mechanic but when you don’t have a scanner like the ones you had at a dealership it makes it real hard to do what I was used to doing. I was a shop foreman at the time, but I helped a lot when I was bored or wasn’t doing warranty tickets. If I had the extra few grand to get a good OBD2 scanner where I could do most of the calibrations it would be nice. The one I have does some ABS stuff but not airbag stuff or some other important stuff. I’m going to take it down there and have them replace the passenger module because I looked it up by the VIN and it’s never been changed, and that may be what my issue is, plus they can delete the light for me, also I am pretty sure if they’ll put the stock setting on the tires it’ll likely fix it. It’s about + or - 10mph, depending on if the road is flat

Lawman86 · June 21, 2021

2 hours ago, Jworks said:

Good deal. Sounds like the speedo issue should be solvable pretty easy if its a good dealership. Not all are. Fortunately I have a really good one nearby. Some of their prices are reasonable; some are not. Im having plugs and wires done by a local mechanic for $275. Dealership I was bragging about quoted $500-600. So there you go. Something like you're dealing with I would probably stick with a dealer -- if, its a good one. It all comes down to how good their mechanics they employ are. Good luck on your upcoming settlement.

This is how annoying it is. I went ahead out of my better judgement and put a VSS in the tail shaft on the trans, and also a passenger airbag sensor, I am having to reschedule my appt for the dealer. I’ve got a sick 3 year old, but I did notice when the truck is in gear and foot on brake the needle is above the 0 mark, not normal cause my last one heck you put it in gear and it stayed below zero as if it was set to give it a mile or two slower before the needle would move. It was so accurate that I had it set like clockwork everyday for all the speed traps. I’m sending a few pics. One is at rest with foot on brake with it in gear, the other one is on the interstate with cruise set at 75 and it shows 85. I got my multimeter and ohmmeter earlier to work on some other stuff. I noticed even though my truck came with the RPO package for electric start they put a aftermarket antenna inside the vehicle but of course didn’t have that key.