Bought a 2008 mazda 5 that had been in a little accident, enough to deploy the air bag in the steering wheel.I have bought a airbag from a wrecker.Putting the airbag in looks simple, but the little modual for air bag control will need to be reprogrammed?I could use help with how to complete this task properly, as my family use's this car.Thanks!

 

Personally i would take it to a garage - these thing can kill.

If you do insist on doing it yourself (and i really dont recommend you do) then i dont believe it is just a case of changing the airbag I think you have to replace the crunch zone sensor else the new airbag will just deploy as soon as you connect the battery. I am sure there is much more to this than you realise and you will need the Workshop Manual to clarify this.

 

I know certain things I cant do.But dealer's I do not trust 100%. Like the mazda dealer who put a axle in my mazda 3 (60K-under warranty) in vegas.-they never tightened the wheel nuts.Or the GM dealer who didn't want to fix the inner TIE ROD END on a pick up under warranty with 9K miles.Or the mazda dealer who said the keys wouldn't work because I did not buy them from mazda? They cut them WRONG-then tried to say the key was different! I took it home,and with a little file-made it work just fine.More stuff but why say it.Dealers are the sharks of the auto industry.Even oil changes they screw up-over a quart EXTRA of oil? I digress

 

Then dont go to dealers - find a decent independant garage.

Is quite common to have to argue to get warranty from dealers mate - especially on parts like track rod ends that take the brunt of kerb and pothole hits

 

Im surprised no one knows what to do to replace an air bag on here! Got to be some body with some answers.If not thanks for the input ggsumo.

 

Probably nobody likes playing with explosives my friend.

I do have some info though on the system itself that I could email - send me a private message with your email address and i'll send it through.

 

Thanks to a friend across the pond with some useful info I have conquered the air bag conundrum! Yes YOU CAN TOO! I took out my SRS computer.(You have to take the council apart,the rear blower motor is blocking that, it has to come out to.Not hard at all.)Then I removed the seat belt.I sent the SRS computer and the seat belt to myairbags.com.They erased the trouble code's and rebuilt the seat belt pretensioner.I purchased a used airbag.I put it all bag together and no more flashing air bag codes! (Knowing the code's is the key to fixing the problem)
One very important thing.ALWAYS disconnect the battery and have the key turned off or better out during ANY removal/install!
The airbag was $190.SRS erase was $40.Seat belt pretensioner rebuild was $60.
One more thing.I put everything together and when I pulled the spent airbag out, the clip's were melted! So I had to order clips from myairbag.com and splice them in.If you are not handy then this repair may be to much.
Dont believe everything a dealer tell's you.

 

awesome news mate - bravely done