Airbag light on; impact sensor replace

[FreeIndeed]

My airbag service light had been on for a week and I took the nali in for service. They said it was the drivers side impact sensor and wanted 285 for the part + labor. Ouch! Anyway, I found that Dorman offers the sensors for about $50, so I bought one and did the swap last night. There are two sensors under the front bumper- one on each side. There's a plastic shroud under there that you can take off if you want, but I chose not to. It may be helpful, but not necessary. Once I found the sensor I used a 10mm box end to remove the one bolt that holds it in. After that's out, you can pull the sensor down a little to see the harness connector. Use a flat head screwdriver to pop the orange pin out and then you can easily disconnect the connector. Reconnect the new one the same way, screw it in (there's a plastic locator tab on the top of the sensor to help you align it), and then start the vehicle.

It clears the airbag warning message and everything is all good! Cheap and fast fix!

 

[FreeIndeed]

Just had the other side impact sensor go out. Airbag warning on. Dealer said it was sensor #2, which for reference is the passenger side one. This side was kind of a pain to get out but all went well and the warning cleared itself. Dealer wanted 380 to fix this. I bought Dorman 590-200 sensor for 65 on Amazon. Took me a half hour. Would have gone faster if I had the truck up in the air, but I don't have that capability.

 

[NC-Tahoe]

My 2000 round body Tahoe has airbag sensor lit. Can the local auto parts read the code to tell me which sensor has gon bad?

 

[FreeIndeed]

I think they can tell you that its a sensor, but not which one.

 

[Sasquatch]

One of mine went bad so i just replaced both of them. My thinking is that if one went out i might as well do them both when i`m under there and be done with it.

 

[FreeIndeed]

That's not bad thinking, I think both my front ones went out within a year of each other.