# Service Airbag Light & Heater Vents



## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

Last night coming home service airbag light came on. It was going on and off like there was a loose connection. Then at a light I hear like a clicking noise from the dashboard ( radio area ). When I got home I realize I could not control the positioning of the vents, another word it was blowing cold air from all vents, regardless of where the temp or vent settings were. I disconnected the battery for 20 seconds and it's now corrected. In regards of the airbag we'll see today if it corrected itself, if not I'll be making an appointment at the dealers. The car only has 750 km ( 469 miles ).


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

cruzers said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Then at a light I hear like a clicking noise from the dashboard ( radio area ). When I got home I realize I could not control the positioning of the vents, another word it was blowing cold air from all vents, regardless of where the temp or vent settings were.


 Something similar happened to me. One morning the heater would not produce heat.10 minutes later, I pulled over, turned off the car and restarted. After that, I was only getting full heat, and I could not change the vent settings (window, front vents, foot vents), it felt like air was coming out of all vents with weak force. I took it in and they said they had to re-program the heater. It has worked well ever since.
What I do not understand was the heater orignially programed wrong and they corrected it? Was it programed correctly and something threw it off? And if so, can it happen again? The dealer told me it was not a service bulletin issue.


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## robertbick (Jan 1, 2011)

Why the **** does everything have to be programmed? 

Remember the old email that made it's rounds... "If Microsoft Made Cars?" It is coming true...


*If Microsoft Built Cars*

*1*. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

*2*. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

*3*. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

*4*. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

*5*. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive, but would run on only five percent of the roads.

*6*. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

*7*. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

*8*. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

*9*. Every time a new car was introduced, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again, because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

*10*. Oh yeah, and last but not least . . . you'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off!


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...a hypothetical conversation:

Voice says: _"...Ms. Automobile, meet Mr. Electric Intermittant."_

Voice says: _"...He's our newest model and works *perfectly*, that is until something randomly--or not--happens to engage his 'Intermittant' instinct; then, he'll stop or do something totally different."_

_"...but, don't worry, all you have to do is 'get his attention' and he'll be OK again."_

Ms. Automobile asks: _"...how do I get his attention?"_

Voice says: _"...slap him upside the head...or, disconnect his battery."_

Ms. Automobile asks: _"...does that work every time?"_

Voice says: _"...NO, but that's all that GM has told us to do so far..."_

Ms. Automobile says: _"...funny, my Vista™Owners Manual says the samething."_


(wink,wink).


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

Well looks like it's going in tomorrow morning. I have an appointment, I showed up at the last minute of the day when the heater vents started acting up again to show them. It's just blowing cold air and the vents are now stuck front facing vents. No matter what position I turn the dials ( temp and vent ) it does nothing. As far as the 'service airbag' message goes it has not returned. I've always had bad luck in the first two weeks of ownership of GM cars, but always been taken care of, that's why I like my local dealership.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

There is a section in the owner's manual, 2-15- 2-18, that talks about reprogramming certain items if the battery is disconnected or recharged or is not working. Maybe this applies to the heater too or is somehow related to your heater issue?


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

fastdriver said:


> There is a section in the owner's manual, 2-15- 2-18, that talks about reprogramming certain items if the battery is disconnected or recharged or is not working. Maybe this applies to the heater too or is somehow related to your heater issue?


Hey Fastdriver thanks for the suggestion, but I'm going to let the dealers figure this one out. I just hope it's a simple re-programing, I don't want them taking the dash apart if they don't have too.


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...sounds *too* familiar: the airbag sensor on our new 1999 Malibu "died" within a week of its' purchase; but, once "replaced" it has never been a problem again (it's still in the family, but not here in Tucson).


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

cruzers said:


> Hey Fastdriver thanks for the suggestion, but I'm going to let the dealers figure this one out. I just hope it's a simple re-programing, I don't want them taking the dash apart if they don't have too.


I hear you. I hate it when the dealer has to take anything apart no matter how good they are because some don't care for your car the way you do. I hope it's something simple for your sake. For "fear" of being "chastised" again by someone in this forum, I can't believe that all these nitpicking things are popping up IF Chevy tested this car for 4 MILLION miles! Some say, car is different than it is in the other 61 countries- different suppliers etc. So, does that mean that the US suppliers are providing inferior products or is it "inferior" factory work? I don't fall for that "first year" car business because I have had a ton of first year GM products as well as other products with NO problems EXCEPT one- my 1999, Motor Trend Car of the Year, Chrysler 300M! In Chrysler's case, it's not first year model problem, it's just crappy cars, cheap parts, lousy service, lying factory reps etc.

Knock on wood, so far my Cruze has had no issues. Good luck.


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

Here's an update, and I'm beyond pissed !

I bring in my car bright and early at 7:30 a.m. with my wife so we can go to work from there. I explain to the service advisor the problems I'm having, "no problem will take care of it". So I leave with my wife and she says we need to stop for coffee before we carry on. While at the coffee shop, don't we see a cruze speeding in to the coffee shop at a careless speed, I turn to my wife and said that looks like our car, sure enough it is! I ran in front of the car put my hand out too stop him and said " this is my car" the driver in the car says the service advisor gave him the keys to get coffee. I was so angry and told the driver "GET THE F**K OUT OF THE CAR". He gets out, I get in the car and the driver says "are you leaving me here". At first I said yes. Then I thought about it and told him to get in the back. Get back to the dealership, go through the drive-in service bay, and as I did all the service advisors mouth dropped when the saw their car jockey in the back of the car with me driving in. I told the service advisor you have a lot of explaining to do. He tries to tell me they sent the car on a road test while he gets coffee . I told him you sent a car jockey to road test my car! Do you not have any certified technicians! Too make a long story short I complained to the service manager he's somewhat sympathetic and tries to bribe me with free oil changes and carwash. That made me more angry and I went to the sales manager which I've known a long time and purchased 3 cars from him. The service advisor responsible for all this has been disciplined. I told the sales manager that my wife recorded this whole incident on her smartphone and if they like I can post it on youtube and then send a link to every dealership in ontario to watch.

Any ways in the end,they could not duplicate the issues I been having, so nothing got resolved. 

And for all you dealerships out there, if you want customer loyalty that is willing to pay twice the price of and independent garage, you also need to show dealership loyalty!


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

cruzers said:


> Here's an update, and I'm beyond pissed !
> 
> I bring in my car bright and early at 7:30 a.m. with my wife so we can go to work from there. I explain to the service advisor the problems I'm having, "no problem will take care of it". So I leave with my wife and she says we need to stop for coffee before we carry on. While at the coffee shop, don't we see a cruze speeding in to the coffee shop at a careless speed, I turn to my wife and said that looks like our car, sure enough it is! I ran in front of the car put my hand out too stop him and said " this is my car" the driver in the car says the service advisor gave him the keys to get coffee. I was so angry and told the driver "GET THE F**K OUT OF THE CAR". He gets out, I get in the car and the driver says "are you leaving me here". At first I said yes. Then I thought about it and told him to get in the back. Get back to the dealership, go through the drive-in service bay, and as I did all the service advisors mouth dropped when the saw their car jockey in the back of the car with me driving in. I told the service advisor you have a lot of explaining to do. He tries to tell me they sent the car on a road test while he gets coffee . I told him you sent a car jockey to road test my car! Do you not have any certified technicians! Too make a long story short I complained to the service manager he's somewhat sympathetic and tries to bribe me with free oil changes and carwash. That made me more angry and I went to the sales manager which I've known a long time and purchased 3 cars from him. The service advisor responsible for all this has been disciplined. I told the sales manager that my wife recorded this whole incident on her smartphone and if they like I can post it on youtube and then send a link to every dealership in ontario to watch.
> 
> ...


WOW!!! I would have DEMANDED to see the OWNER of the dealership never mind the sales manager even though he is a friend. I wonder how often this happens to all of us? I usually write down the mileage when I drop off the car especially if there is NO reason for anyone to drive the car anywhere. Whenever possible, I WAIT for the car.


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

fastdriver said:


> WOW!!! I would have DEMANDED to see the OWNER of the dealership never mind the sales manager even though he is a friend. I wonder how often this happens to all of us? I usually write down the mileage when I drop off the car especially if there is NO reason for anyone to drive the car anywhere. Whenever possible, I WAIT for the car.


I did just that, I recorded the mileage and also told the service advisor I have the onstar app where I can check. Next time I will write the mileage on a piece of paper and tape to the dash, so they know I know.


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## Primarycolors4u (Mar 13, 2011)

WOW!!!!! I also live in Ontario and I really do hope that is NOT the dealership I bought my Cruze from! When I have to take mine in for servicing I will record the mileage as well!


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

Well, today is round 2 in trying to fix the Service Airbag. I'll be dropping it off at the service bay for 7:30 a.m. After my first bad experience, I now have the President/owner involved. I made an appointment through the president himself. Agreement is, fix the airbag, and if it's not corrected by the time I'm done work, then rent me a car. I also stated in our agreement I don't want to here the words " we can't duplicate the Service Airbag Light" just keep the car and fix it. I don't care if it takes 3 months, I'll rack up the mileage on their car.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

cruzers said:


> Well, today is round 2 in trying to fix the Service Airbag. I'll be dropping it off at the service bay for 7:30 a.m. After my first bad experience, I now have the President/owner involved. I made an appointment through the president himself. Agreement is, fix the airbag, and if it's not corrected by the time I'm done work, then rent me a car. I also stated in our agreement I don't want to here the words " we can't duplicate the Service Airbag Light" just keep the car and fix it. I don't care if it takes 3 months, I'll rack up the mileage on their car.


IF I am not mistaken, I believe Chevy is supposed to give you a loaner or rental for any warranty issues? I'm not sure if you are in the US or Canada, but I was under the impression that this is what was called for.

My niece called me yesterday, she has an LT dark grey Cruze only WEEKS old, and got the AC off due to high engine temperature warning notice. She called OnStar because she was worried something would happen to the car since she was taking her daughter to school. OnStar only told her to take the car to the dealer and said that she could drive it. Turns out to be a faulty thermostat that the dealer said they "never" saw before! I think our Cruzes have an electronic thermostat. Naturally, the dealer had to order the part. Who knows where that part is coming from. She told the dealer that she needed a car for work. They gave her a loaner car. I would check into it.

STILL want to know what the "heck" they tested in those 4 million miles of testing!!!!!!


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

fastdriver said:


> IF I am not mistaken, I believe Chevy is supposed to give you a loaner or rental for any warranty issues? I'm not sure if you are in the US or Canada, but I was under the impression that this is what was called for.
> 
> My niece called me yesterday, she has an LT dark grey Cruze only WEEKS old, and got the AC off due to high engine temperature warning notice. She called OnStar because she was worried something would happen to the car since she was taking her daughter to school. OnStar only told her to take the car to the dealer and said that she could drive it. Turns out to be a faulty thermostat that the dealer said they "never" saw before! I think our Cruzes have an electronic thermostat. Naturally, the dealer had to order the part. Who knows where that part is coming from. She told the dealer that she needed a car for work. They gave her a loaner car. I would check into it.
> 
> STILL want to know what the "heck" they tested in those 4 million miles of testing!!!!!!


Hi Fastdriver,

Yes, I've read of that same problem your niece is having somewhere in this forum, and I believe their was also a TSB issued. I think the thermostat housing where the electronic plugs into gets contaminated somehow and ends up creating a condition like you posted.

You are also correct on the car loan, I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

As far as my car goes, I dropped the car off this morning and the owner is also waiting for me, and tells me everything will be addressed. I get a call 3 hours later at work, and tells me the isolated the problem. It's a wiring harness, which they after order from GM. They're Fedex'n the shipment asap. They also tell me it's looking like 5 days before the car can be repaired, they're going to brief me tomorrow morning on the status.


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## aviationtech (Jan 17, 2011)

My service air bag light keeps popping up here and there also. Im taking in on Monday but they said unless the computer saved the code then they might not be able to duplicate the problem. blah blah blah. My light will only pop up for a couple seconds once or twice a day so here we go. They are going to put me in a new set of wheels to drive until they can figure it out. I figure they will keep it a few days and then say we couldnt duplicate it but we installed some updates and think that will help the issue. Then a week later ill be back up there. Yay!


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## jaszypoo (Dec 1, 2011)

Which Toronto dealership is this if you don't mind me asking? Sounds like one to avoid.


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

aviationtech said:


> My service air bag light keeps popping up here and there also. Im taking in on Monday but they said unless the computer saved the code then they might not be able to duplicate the problem. blah blah blah. My light will only pop up for a couple seconds once or twice a day so here we go. They are going to put me in a new set of wheels to drive until they can figure it out. I figure they will keep it a few days and then say we couldnt duplicate it but we installed some updates and think that will help the issue. Then a week later ill be back up there. Yay!


Wow! My old post is back. My 'Service Air Bag' light was fixed. It was the side airbag curtain on the passenger side, it was a faulty connection and took about a week to get a new harness from GM. I believe with the new 2011 OBD II system, anytime a malfunction occurs the OBD II records the error into the system, because my "Service Air Bag" light was not on when diagnosing the car, but showed the multiple times the error had occurred. Some dealership are just lazy to properly diagnose and spend the time, you have stay on them.


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## maven (Feb 27, 2011)

I was finding there was a rather common issue with the rear side airbag harness being pinched by hte rear seat during assembly, Ive repaired at least 6 of them.

That really sucks you had an experience like that cruzers, its crap like that that gives dealers and techs a bad name....


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## TGrayEco (Feb 25, 2011)

I'm sitting at the dealership right now, just brought in my cruze. I too have had my service airbag light come on every now and then. Hoping it can be fixed. I can't work till it is, or they give me a loaner since I drive in my car all day.

Sent from my DROID X2 using AutoGuide App


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## lauph2000 (Dec 12, 2012)

I replaced my 2012 Cruze eco cloth seats with a leather set from another Cruze that I purchased from a salvage place. I believe they came out of a 2012 Cruze Lt. 

My problem is the airbag light comes on and service airbag system comes on the DIC. I tried disconnecting the battery but the light still comes back on.

My question is if there is a way to reset this without going to the dealer?

Thanks


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