Hey guys I got a 2009 Chevy Express 2500. The other day my service airbag light came on and my scanner will not read the code. Went out this morning and bought one that will and the reader says front bumper middle sensor. I had taken a peek to find these prior to buying the scanner but did not see them with a quick glance. Anybody know where they're located and what to look for before I tear into it? I assume an easy way to test these is to swap with another location and re-read the code to see if it follows the sensor correct?

 

The upfitter manuals have sensor locations for my van. Check it out.

https://www.gmupfitter.com/pages/body-builder-manuals

What scan tools were you using?

 

Something that I hope I never come across. Airbags intimidate me. Just throwing my two cents in. For my year, any connector that is Air Bag related is Yellow.

 

Yes. there is a vid on youtube where a guy does that switch on a sierra to confirm the sensor being the issue not the wiring. Make sure you disconnect the battery and key off when you do this, and do not power up with any sensors disconnected.

the middle sensor is right below the rad.....Here is a horrible vid of the repair on a 2008 savana......I linked it just for the view of the sensor....not of the master mechanic...lol

 

I have driven with safety sensors disconnected many times. I didn't disconnect the battery either. You just get an error on the DIC.

 

work safe.
Your handling a impact sensor that sends a deployment signal to the sdm module. for deployment, both impact and safeing sensor in the sdm must be triggered. However if the safeing sensor is faulty, there is no safety factor to stop a deployment. For the time it takes, disconnect the battery, wait 5minutes for the capacitors to dissipate and then do your work.

Even if you don't hurt yourself, the cost to replace a sdm, and all the airbags that deploy can write off a older vehicle.

 

Thanks for the link I'll check it out. I purchased a scanner made by Innova model number 3100. Definitely nicer than my old one. Does ABS and SRS along with battery alternator testing and you can transfer data to a PC. Seems easy to use. It was forty bucks off at AutoZone so just over a hundred bucks and I was standing there so I just said give it to me. It also has a free one-year subscription to a service they called repair and solutions. It says it's created to work with your tool to diagnose and repair the vehicle by providing verified fixes, repair costs, step-by-step instructions and more. I'll check it out and see what that's all about.


Thanks!

yeah I hadn't crawl down the rabbit hole of YouTube quite yet. Wanted to get the scanner out first. Thanks for taking the time to post these I'll check them out. I'm sure I can find the one in the middle I was looking on the inside of the bumper. I got to figure out where they mouth the outer ones so I can do the swap. I got some time today. Soft family last night so today is a me day. Thanks for the replies guys! I'll throw an update up after I take a peek at it.

 

Great advice. I'm one to disconnect batteries so no worries there, but I'll wait the few extra minutes to discharge the caps. Yeah, I don't need some ridiculous bill for an airbag that goes off that I didn't want to.

 

well after tossing my van up in the air the front center is super easy to find. Scoured high and low for the sides couldn't find them. Looking at this manual the only thing I see is a center so maybe they don't have them for the sides on this van? Kind of odd.. So I don't see any way to swap and test I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just buy one. Connector looks clean I don't see a bulge in it I've seen that before when I stumbled across a YouTube video for a neighbor's vehicle that had this issue. This one looks okay but it must be bad. The good news is Advance Auto has them with 20% off going on right now so it's just over a hundred bucks which seems to be about the cheapest price I've seen. Man these suckers ain't cheap! Most everywhere else is about $150.

Thanks for the link. Very useful manual!

 

Let the fun begin. Why does the simplest job always got to be a pain in the ***? They used an e Bolt, of course it's Rusty I spray it down with PB put my socket on it and it won't budge. Of course I snapped it off. WTF GM.... all the others I saw a 10 mm bolt. I hate these garbage bolts.