hello! i got the tribute brand new in 03, spec'd it up a bit, 105K kms later it is still in pretty excellent shape in & out and still want to keep it for now. i never had any problems with it...until now.
so anyway i had the intermittent battery light, which i havent seen in days but instead i now have the intermittent airbag light. also there is now an intermittent whirring/whining (soft jet-engine like) sound upon accel/decel. at first thought this was a timing belt issue, but i guess this car has a timing chain instead. can anybody give me a clue if these probs are all related or just happen to to come up all at the same time considering its age? can i expect to stall in traffic or lose the steering anytime soon? browsing around this forum, i think i may stumbled across some hints & fixes, otherwise its off to the repair shop shortly but would like to have some idea so that i dont go in there ignorantly. help please?

 

You may have an alternator or alternator drive issue. Do a visual on the drive belt condition and tension.
Check volts at the battery terminals; should be 12.5 to 13 volts engine off, no load, and above 13V but less than 17V with engine warm at fast idle.
Check your battery post connections and main chassis ground connection plate where the battery -ve is bolted to the chassis is clean and well bonded, check your main engine block ground also is clean and well bonded to the chassis.

 

The noise could also be your power steering pump. They have been known to make the noise you describe. The noise may or may not be related to the air bag light.

 

Thank you both for your helpful tips! I will carry out checks as suggested.