My 98 has this light on in the cluster that shows what looks to be an airbag above a seated passenger and the deactivation switch no longer works. I just want to know if anyone has had something similar happen so I can confirm or disaffirm that the problem is the switch that is causing the light in the gauge cluster. (It's really annoying)

 

check all of your seat connections first...if they are good, check the switch out..

the same thing happened to me and once i pulled the code, (which i can't remember right off the top of my head) it pointed me to the switch light...

if the light in the switch blows it will throw a code and the airbag light...

 

Your 98 doesn't have seat belt pretensioners so there is no code associated with any of the wiring under the seats.

Here's what you need to do:

Key up the ignition and watch the airbag light immediately afterward. It will flash out a pattern that will give you a 2-digit code like 1-9-1-9- or 2-7-2-7- or something like that. The flash pattern repeats maybe 5 times before going solid. Count the flashes to get the code, then post it and we can help diagnose the cause.

 

hmmpph.... i forgot that mine is a few years newer than his...thanks Bob!

 

Ok, I checked for the code based on the number of flashes and it comes out to 2-5. It worked exactly as you said.

 

Ok, I just checked on another site and it says its the switch like I thought. Great, that thing is 90 bucks from the stealership.( I called)

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl850f.htm

 

Ok, I found out the whole deal with this. When the switch is plugged in the airbag code is 27. I read on another site and found the exact same problem with someone else's ranger and he said the bulb on the switch was burned out just like mine. All he did was get a 12v 120mA light at radio shack and solder it in in place of the other one. The Radio shack part # is 272-1099 in case anyone wants to know. I can't take the credit for this one though.

 

Here's the how-to for the cheap repair for code 2-7.

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=27436

 

Thanks man, always good to have the visuals!

 

Repair is complete. Cost to me= $2.75 and a couple hours of time. I even made the light green this time as a nice change from ugly stock yellow.