Airbag light in '00 Ford Focus

I recently bought a '00 Ford Focus w/ 69k rust free Florida miles on it and I am happy with it.
It was an auction purchase so understandably it comes "as is".

I have a nagging feature.
The dashboard airbag light stays lit...some times.

I know when you start a car, the airbag system will do a self diagnostic test which keeps the light on briefly. Once the self test is satisfied, the light goes off. In this case, it stays on.
I often then will turn off the car and near immediately restart it. Often, on this restart, the light will come on it's correct brief time and then go out. Sometimes this is with one restart, sometimes with multiple restarts.

I have a super simple scanner which will not read Airbag light. The Vatozone stores' scanners do not read airbag either.
Will I need a dealer to read this code? Is this even a code?
Can it tell me what sensor is bad?
Where would you start inspecting?
PS: the car also has optional seat/side airbags.

I suspect that the front bumper skin has been replaced since I see a paint chip in the silver paint that seems to reveal navy blue (these plastic pieces should be molded color, not painted.) I am positive that the whole car has been repainted but I see no real evidence of past structural damage.

I have an additional issue which I hesitate to mention so as to not blend topics but I'll mention it anyway if you think the issues might be related.
The ABS light is always on. I have had multiple scanners tell me that it both of the rear sensors that are tripping the light. I have not replaced either but my concern is that it is rare to have two bad sensors. I'm wondering if it is something more at the main abs module?

At this point, the ABS light is easily hidden by a restaurant loyalty card placed on the dash.

The brakes have been operating fine and feeling/sounding fine for the more than 500 miles I have put on the car since getting it.

Thoughts?

Could be the sensor in the front bumper area, under the rad support. B2227 would be the code for that, if you get to a FLAPS with a better scanner. O'Reilly has them - at least the one by me does.

As for the ABS sensors, why would it be strange for both to be bad? FWIW, if they're the type that wear down, like a frigging MINI, they need replacing, when you replace the pads/shoes.

Those aren't ABS sensors, those are brake pad wear sensors. Big difference.

Airbag, you need a scantool to see what is faulty. Usually it is a bad seatbelt latch or broken wires in the seat if it has seat bolster airbags. Basically, the fault tends to be where wires move and flex and break.

In reply to Knurled:

Oh yeah! Brain fart....

Does anyone else get a chuckle that the speedo goes to 140 mph?
Having driven this, it is more than a little bit optimistic.
140 kph, sure; that's like 90 mph but 140 mph is impossible.

I'll try source a better scantool and continue to look for loose connections for airbag.

IFAIK, the Focus in 2000 did not have seat or side airbags. My 2001 does not. If the seats in the car have side airbags they may have been replaced and are the source of your light (connectors not matching, etc.)

The ABS with both rear sensors showing bad sounds like someone did a brake job or bearings and did not get the sensor rings in correctly. On some of the Focuses the sensor ring was part of the rear bearing and it was not unusual for someone to put the bearing in backwards.

Regarding the speedo: I have had mine up to a GPs measured 130mph

JohnRW1621 wrote: Does anyone else get a chuckle that the speedo goes to 140 mph? Having driven this, it is more than a little bit optimistic. 140 kph, sure; that's like 90 mph but 140 mph is impossible. I'll try source a better scantool and continue to look for loose connections for airbag.

Not impossible, just unlikely.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gDIAVZGPMs4

Does your vin read 3FAF or 3FAH. I think the H denotes side airbags.

VIN: 1FAHP3839YW269711

In addition, the side airbags are listed as an option on the original sticker as well as the leather seats.

Hal wrote: The ABS with both rear sensors showing bad sounds like someone did a brake job or bearings and did not get the sensor rings in correctly. On some of the Focuses the sensor ring was part of the rear bearing and it was not unusual for someone to put the bearing in backwards.

Excellent info. Yes, the car recently had a rear wheel bearing replaced!!!

JohnRW1621 wrote:

Hal wrote: The ABS with both rear sensors showing bad sounds like someone did a brake job or bearings and did not get the sensor rings in correctly. On some of the Focuses the sensor ring was part of the rear bearing and it was not unusual for someone to put the bearing in backwards.

Excellent info. Yes, the car recently had a rear wheel bearing replaced!!!

May want to double check me on that, but I think that is correct. Didn't know that there was a leather seat option back then, never seen one.

Also notice the luxurious "woodgrain" center trim that it came with.
Due to a bad blower switch that would not blow on the highest, I switched out the whole center with what seems a more appropriate color for the interior.
Sourced from local Upullit jy.

2000 Focus ZTS.

In reply to Hal:

What's a good Focus specific forum to research issues (other than GRM)?

I bet a dollar that whoever did the rear hub bearing assemblies bought non-ABS ones. Go buy correct ones and that should solve the issue.

As for the airbags, I echo those above me and say that it's probably in the seat wiring, and most likely the driver's side.

In both cases, get a scan tool that talks SRS and ABS (or a dongle and the full pay Torque app on your phone) to verify unique codes first.

JohnRW1621 wrote:

Hal wrote: The ABS with both rear sensors showing bad sounds like someone did a brake job or bearings and did not get the sensor rings in correctly. On some of the Focuses the sensor ring was part of the rear bearing and it was not unusual for someone to put the bearing in backwards.

Excellent info. Yes, the car recently had a rear wheel bearing replaced!!!

The "tone ring" is separate from the bearing, but it may have been destroyed in removal and discarded. It doesn't look like a tone ring, it just looks like a dust seal.

If you ever replace the drums, they come with wheel bearings, but they generally don't come with the tone ring, so you need to carefully pop it off and install it on the new drum.

Good stuff. I'll try to find an explode view to get familiar with the parts to expect in the rear

Technically the axle nut and dust cap are one time use only items. You WILL mangle the dust cap trying to remove it. Axle nut should be one of those weird multi layer nuts that Ford was fond of using in the timeframe, torqued to (IIRC) 184ft-lb.

The bearing races are snug enough fit on the axle stub that sometimes you need a puller. It's not a press fit, though, just very close tolerance slip fit.

Here's a good picture of what the tone ring looks like. Doesn't look like a tone ring, does it?

BTW - Yes, I got my butt kicked by the first ABS-equipped Focus that I replaced the drums on. Scan car, light bulb goes off in head, remove "dust seals" from old drums and install on new...

So this is one of those things where I feel duty bound to help others learn from my mistakes

JohnRW1621 wrote: In reply to Hal: What's a good Focus specific forum to research issues (other than GRM)?

The two biggest ones are FocalJet and FocusFanatics. Although lately GRM might be better except for the archival stuff.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Does anyone else get a chuckle that the speedo goes to 140 mph? Having driven this, it is more than a little bit optimistic. 140 kph, sure; that's like 90 mph but 140 mph is impossible. I'll try source a better scantool and continue to look for loose connections for airbag.

In my autotradgic '01, it would get up to the limiter at 112 and sometimes let you slightly past it.

In reply to Knurled:

Okay, I could only find that ring on RockAuto. I ordered two as well as two nuts and dust caps.
I'll dig into it in a few days when it all arrives.
One side of the car recently got a rear hub and I notice that the rear drums are generally not the same color (one looking newer) so I have suspicion that both sides have been tampered with and both sides may be actually missing the ring for different reasons.

If nothing else, I can return the unused rings but will be able to mangle to nut and cap when I go in for inspection.

It's not too far reaching to think that maybe they finally got rid of the car because of a ABS issue. If a shop told them it is the ABS control module which is bad then that is a $378 part for a reman'ed on Rock Auto. Add labor to that and you might unload the car faced with a near $1k repair bill on a 16yr old car. Hopefully I'll have this solved for $30 per side!

I looked at the original window sticker in the glove compartment today.
Side airbags $350 option.
Leather seats $695 option.

Sticker price $17,520 in '00

Internet calculators says that's $24,124 today.
I guess a 2016 well equipped Focus now retails for $24k.

Knurled wrote: Technically the axle nut and dust cap are one time use only items. You WILL mangle the dust cap trying to remove it. Axle nut should be one of those weird multi layer nuts that Ford was fond of using in the timeframe, torqued to (IIRC) 184ft-lb. The bearing races are snug enough fit on the axle stub that sometimes you need a puller. It's not a press fit, though, just very close tolerance slip fit. Here's a good picture of what the tone ring looks like. Doesn't look like a tone ring, does it? BTW - Yes, I got my butt kicked by the first ABS-equipped Focus that I replaced the drums on. Scan car, light bulb goes off in head, remove "dust seals" from old drums and install on new... So this is one of those things where I feel duty bound to help others learn from my mistakes

SO much joy. Fixed.

Knurled, I would not have found the issue if not for you. THANKS.

Neither side had the ABS ring. Once I was all done and started to drive the car, the ABS light was still on but when I got to the end of the drive (about 200 yards), the light went out.

I took a lot of pictures so I'll just upload them all as a little picture diary which may be helpful for anyone who needs to do the job in the future.

Some key items to note:
Driver side has a left handed thread 10mm retainer nut.
Axle nut is 30mm Torque spec is 173 ft/lb on that big nut.
What I read says that if not torqued right you'll blow the bearing quickly.

Driver's side. Recently replaced bearing was needed. Seems that when you replace the bearing it is really the whole drum that gets replaced with bearing pressed in but the ABS ring is expected to be carried over to the new drum. These ABS rings fit so tight that I had to use gentle persuasion from a dead blow hammer to get them in place.

Removed and discover no ring:

Passanger side now with ring added (where it had none.)

THE LIGHT IS OFF!

Overall an easy fix and not really expensive. Well, maybe it was expensive. I bought the rings through Rock Auto and the damn things were $23 each. That does not seem so bad by brake parts standards but when they arrived, I figured they must have sent the wrong parts. I checked and they had not but I am pretty pissed that I paid that much for something that really quite resembled the outer ring of a canning jar lid.

Awesome!

ADDED BONUS.

With the ABS fixed, I ran some errands and every time I start the car since the ABS fix, the Air Bag light has remained OFF!
I have always wondered if these two issues were related. It seems that they are.

Now, all the lights are off on my dash and that makes me really, really happy!

Cool! Did I see the airbag light off, too? Did I miss in this thread where you fixed it?