Air bag fault message

[Magyar1125]

2004 XC70 was dirty so I vacuumed it. Hard. It seems I vacuumed some of the insulation right off two wires under the driver's seat and caused a short which fried a sensor for the Driver's side airbag (8622365). I found a replacement sensor at a salvage shop. Can I just replace it or are there certain steps to follow so I don't fry this one? Will the car need to be flashed?

[Botbasher]

Wow... I am amazed that you didn't set off the airbag system if you did that!! I have watched guys installing alarms and while probing wire harnesses, shorted the SRS wires and POP! One guy got hit pretty hard but survived to laugh about it!!

Magyar... are you talking about the single orange "wire" that goes up into the side of the seat? Those are hard double insulated (wire insulation then hard outer coating) to prevent just this very thing. Did something mechanically damage it before you hit it with the vac?

If the insulation was that badly deteriorated by an environmental issue, then you might want to look at a bigger scope of repair since you have a Power Seat Module right there that can cause additional issues on the CAN bus... ask me how I know!!!

Also... That module you listed looks like a Rear Crash Impact Sensor... not the SRS module in the side of the seat. I have been all over my XC seats and decarpeted car lately and that one doesn't look familiar. You sure you looking at the right module you want to replace? If you want to replace the airbag portion, I have had my seats in/out half a dozen times in the last month and deskinned 2x. It's not a big deal, but as with any CRITICAL safety item though.... These things should be dealt with by a trained service tech. It is your life we are possibly talking about and finding out it didn't work at the most inopportune time could be costly!

Cheers!

K "seated" S