Airbag light flashing

Hello. I'm new to the forum. I have a 2002 Millenia and the airbag light came on this evening. I was not in an accident nor did I hit anything. I noticed it after I applied my brakes sharply. Any idea what caused it and what I should do? Thanks in advance.

I'd take it in to the dealer. It could be any one of a number of things, but none of them you can really diagnose yourself.

Thanks...I will do that.

Yea i had the same problem, its not on now but it was on last month and it would flash on and off, i thought it was weird but it does not do that anymore. Your not alone bro.

I got a 97 milly and my airbag light was on. The problem was the clock spring in steering wheel. If your horn and cruise control also does not work, im pretty sure it is the clock spring. I replaced it my self by taking off the steering wheel. It wasn't that hard. Also check www.mazdaworld.org/forums/ for info on millys.

just a quick question, do you put things such as books, briefcases, bags, on your passenger seat and then this happens? because if so, the system thinks there is a person sitting in your passenger seat, but then you hit a bump and it thinks that the person is gone. hence the reason that your light be going on and off. if this is not the problem, then a trip to the dealership might be a good idea... please do tell us what the problem is if you find out.

If I were you I would take it to the nearby autozone and have them pull up the code and once I have the code I will ask babyhuey ( the moderator of this forum) what it means. In fact I had this flasing airbag light problem too. I took the car to the mechanic. He said code P37 which was just a rusty connector under the passenger side seat. It costed me 150 bucks =\. In your case, problem may be different but its good if you know the code and dan try to solve the problem from there.
Thanks,
Ali

I do not think that autozone can pull SRS codes, only powertrain codes. But it's worth a try.

hmm, let's find out! shall we?

Not on a Millenia.
Code retrieval is super easy however. Simply turn the key to run position. Air bag light should illuminate for approx 6 seconds and then turn off. If a fault is currently present then the light will start flashing. Just count the number of flashes. 2000 and earlier only have 4 different codes.
Light comes back on solid is Module fault or connection.
3 flashes would be power supply circuit.
6 flashes is for drivers air bag module.
7 flashes is for passenger air bag module.

01 and 02 adopted side air bags so of course more codes were added. Also adopted past and present codes as earlier did not 'remember' the code if malfunction was not currently happening.
Present codes retrieved the same way as older but there are also 2 digit codes. Code 3 would be the same 3 short flashes but a code 25 would be 2 longer duration flashes followed by 5 short duration flashes, a pause, and then repeat 25 code or output another code and repeat. Codes #'s available as follows: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 22, 25, 26, 32, 35, 37, 91, or just continuously flashes.

If air bag light is not on or flashing now but was last week then you need to perform past code retrieval. Locate the DIAGNOSIS connector box in the drivers rear corner of the engine compartment. See first pic below but ignore the TEN pin. Instead ground the PIN labeled SCN as shown in the 2nd pic (ignore the top part of this pic as this is for code erasing) and turn the key to run. Past codes will be output by flashing air bag light. Same code numbers as used for present codes above.


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wow...thats a pretty neat description of air bag codes...wish i had this information before :)

I have the same problem with my 2002 Mazda Millenia. My cruise control, horn, will not work and the airbag light is blinking. I searched all over the internet for a clock spring for my car but I couldn't find it. Do you know where I can buy that part for my car and how much will it aprox. cost me.

Thanks

Is the light flashing in a repeating pattern of 6 times? That would be a drivers air bag system fault if it is. Given that flash pattern and no horn or cruise then clockspring would certainly be a likely candidate. OE part number for the clockspring on a 2002 is
TC44-66-CS0. Last digit there is a 'zero' and not a letter 'o'. MSRP is $165.95. Available at www.onlinemazdaparts.com for $134.24.

Thanks, your advice really helped.

I took my 2002 Millenia to the mechanic, they ordered the clock spring and replaced it for me and shabbam!! all my problems were fix. The flashing air bag light, solved; the horn not working, solved; and the cruise control not working, solved. Thanks for the advice, you guys saved the day!

I had the passenger side fault (7 flashes) myself for about 8 months now too on my 2002 millenia.  Today I jiggled a wire underneath the seat (not sure what because I couldn't see much and the seat was really low) but now it's out.  Hopefully it will stay out.  Glad it's not a big problem.  From what I've read there is a sensor that tells if there's a person in the seat for the airbag to deploy.  Can anyone confirm whether or not the passenger airbag would definately not deploy if that light is flashing? 
 
Also been getting check engine code p0400 (egr malfunction).  Had it cleared twice at autozone and today I just removed the battery cable to get rid of it.  Both times it usually takes about a week to come back on, and both times it was when I was dangerously low on gas (not sure if that is a coincidence or not).  I don't really want to take it to the dealer for this problem.  I saw some some info on fixing it, I might  try it when I get real ambitious (ie. after winter!)  Details are here at http://forums.mazdaworld.org/index.php?showtopic=13174.  Does this usually hamper performance much? It doesn't seem to be running differently, but it's never been very good on gas mileage.

So how do you clear the codes?
Shorting it 3 times with the ign switched to on?

But what do the codes mean??  Is there a source that explains what the various codes mean once you have retrieved or observed one?