Airbag Light Staying on after the Car Flooded

A couple of years back my 05 Chevy Aveo was parked in the street during a flash flood. I had about 5-6 inches of water inside of the car. I dried it out and everything was fine, with the exception of the airbag light being stuck on. I'm assuming that the Airbag Module (ECM) got wet and is whats causing the issue, but I was wondering if anyone knew how to tell for sure?

Is there anything else that could be causing the light to stay on.. perhaps something a little less costly to try to resolve the problem first?

Any help would be appreciated!

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Originally Posted by zucifer

A couple of years back my 05 Chevy Aveo was parked in the street during a flash flood. I had about 5-6 inches of water inside of the car. I dried it out and everything was fine, with the exception of the airbag light being stuck on. I'm assuming that the Airbag Module (SDM) got wet and is whats causing the issue, but I was wondering if anyone knew how to tell for sure?

Is there anything else that could be causing the light to stay on.. perhaps something a little less costly to try to resolve the problem first?

Any help would be appreciated!

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The Airbag and key-less entry module(s) are underneath the console under the e-brake handle. If the water came up to that point and it got wet, it's more than likely toast. Hopefully it didn't short out and fry the airbags, if that's the case you're lucky they haven't went off in your face or when the flood occurred and busted your windshield. I would have it fixed as soon as possible. I realize that will be expensive, but I would rather fix it than have my face blown off or destroy my car driving down 16th street though the middle of town...

Best of luck,

-Andrew

what he said + the seat air bag connections are under the seats.. they could have gotten wet and corroded or shorted out from the flood.

And what he said, I had forgotten about the connections under there.

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Originally Posted by AndrewButler05

The Airbag and key-less entry module(s) are underneath the console under the e-brake handle. If the water came up to that point and it got wet, it's more than likely toast. Hopefully it didn't short out and fry the airbags, if that's the case you're lucky they haven't went off in your face or when the flood occurred and busted your windshield. I would have it fixed as soon as possible. I realize that will be expensive, but I would rather fix it than have my face blown off or destroy my car driving down 16th street though the middle of town...

Best of luck,

-Andrew

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Thanks for the feedback! I found this ECM Air Bag ECM Computer Module 04 05 Aveo | eBay

Figured I'd start with this first. Aside from disconnecting the battery, any idea what the procedure for replacing this would look like? Last thing I want is for this bad boy to go off unexpectedly.

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Originally Posted by zucifer

Thanks for the feedback! I found this ECM Air Bag ECM Computer Module 04 05 Aveo | eBay

Figured I'd start with this first. Aside from disconnecting the battery, any idea what the procedure for replacing this would look like? Last thing I want is for this bad boy to go off unexpectedly.

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Ok, I had to remove the lower console once to fix the shift-interlock switch. The tabs that held it broke off, so instead of buying the entire new shifter assembly for a scary amount of $$$ I super-glued it in place. It still works perfectly, and it has been 5 months since I repaired it.

Ok, back to the Airbag Module. If "I" were to replace it, this is what I would do. I would wear safety glasses just in case it were to go off, you're eyes would be safe. As you said, disconnect the battery. Now the fun part beings. Just to the right of the gas pedal there will be a black screw recessed on the side of the plastic console, remove it. You will also find one in the same place on the passenger side. (You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.) Now that you have removed those, you'll need to remove the boot from the e-brake. You should be able to run your fingers between it and the console and it should "pop" loose. Once you have it off, you'll see a small circle pop-out in the rear cup-holder, pop it out carefully and remove that screw. For me it was easier to pull the e-brake all the way to remove the console. Be careful when removing the console, before you pull it all the way up, unplug the connector for the power outlet. :)

Once it is removed, you will see this...

Attachment 7967

I would not recommend unplugging the key-less entry module, but since the battery has been disconnected and any remaining charge would have dissipated by this point it should be fine.

If it were me, I would simply wear ear plugs and goggles and unplug the connector and pray.

Once you have installed the replacement, I would connect it and reconnect the battery and see if the light stays on.

You can simply reverse my instructions and I believe that it will be rather self explanatory to put everything back.

(I cleaned all the dirt up after this picture was taken, before I put the lower console back.)

Best of luck, and keep us posted. To my knowledge there is very little information on this forum regarding the airbags, lets add some. :)

-Andrew

If you are going to take it off, First disconnect the battery and wait an hour or so so the charge can be discharged properly. Then do what the guy above me said. Those things have a stored charge. Oh and discharge yourself so you dont have a static discharge that could set it off.

What this guy said!!! ↑↑↑

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Originally Posted by AndrewButler05

What this guy said!!! ↑↑↑

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Thanks for the step by step guys! I'm currently battling a p0300 (Random misfire's on #2 & 3) issue, but hopefully have it narrowed down to the crank or/and cam position sensor. Once I've got that figured out I'll work through this and keep you guys posted of my progress.

Luckily mine is the SVM, so I don't have any fancy keyless entry/anti theft systems to worry about. I snapped this picture when I tore everything out to dry it off after the flood, so I'm pretty familiar with getting to the unit, just didn't know about the actual disconnect procedure.

Attachment 7968

Thanks again, sure am Glad I found this forum as my car starts to age!

Edit: For reference (And its a cool photo) this is where my car was parked when it flooded. This was another flood, I learned to not park in the street anymore!
Attachment 7969

This is a stupid question, but do the 05' Aveos have side Airbags? The yellow wrapped cables going to either side threw me off. I've never had the front seats out of mine, nor the carpet so I haven't been able to look and track cables.

As for the actual disconnecting procedure, I would simply do what 05Aveo and I said. I've talked to my dad about this, he used to work at our local dealer as a Mechanic until about 2006-2007-ish. He said the safest thing you can do is pull the power, and you can even do it one night when you go to bed, and it will be totally DEAD the next morning. They used to do that if they had one with issues, or would pull it when they got there in the morning, and mess with it after lunch. I would wait at least 3 hours, but it's up to you how long you wait.

Fun Fact = I pulled the history and my dad was listed under the inspector of my car when it came off the truck, back in 2005. I never thought that I would have owned a car that he inspected and test-drove new. That's kinda cool.

Best of luck,
-Andrew

To the best of my knowledge there is no side airbag.. at least they're not labeled as such. My guess is they run to inertia switches for side impacts. Thanks for asking about the Airbag, I think i'll definitely disconnect over night to be safe. Also figured I'd move the front seats up to block the airbag just in case.

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Originally Posted by zucifer

To the best of my knowledge there is no side airbag.. at least they're not labeled as such. My guess is they run to inertia switches for side impacts. Thanks for asking about the Airbag, I think i'll definitely disconnect over night to be safe. Also figured I'd move the front seats up to block the airbag just in case.

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Ok, I didn't figure there were side ones. They're almost always labeled. Moving the seats is a good idea, be sure to wear ear plugs too. It will be LOUD. LOL

Fingers Crossed,
-Andrew

They could be side are bags but dont think so. My thinking those are for the seat belts and the rear speakers and lights.

We could both be correct, there are wires that run underneath the kick panels on both sides. There are on mine at least. They're probably for the sensors.

Update:

Turns out it was the ECM that was causing the Airbag light to stay on. I disconnected the battery overnight, moved the front seats forward to block the airbags in the event of a deploy, disconnected the ECM while sitting in the back seat. After I had the new one installed I reconnected the battery & used a brick to keep the clutch pushed in and started it from the backseat. Light now stays on for about 5 seconds during start-up then goes out!

Thanks for all the help everyone, I appreciate it!

Hi zucifer,

I’m sorry to hear that you had this problem with your airbag light in your Aveo. I am glad that the problem has been resolved and that your vehicle is functioning properly. If you have any other concerns or questions regarding your Aveo please feel free to reach out to us. We are only a private message away!

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care

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Originally Posted by zucifer

Update:

Turns out it was the ECM that was causing the Airbag light to stay on. I disconnected the battery overnight, moved the front seats forward to block the airbags in the event of a deploy, disconnected the ECM while sitting in the back seat. After I had the new one installed I reconnected the battery & used a brick to keep the clutch pushed in and started it from the backseat. Light now stays on for about 5 seconds during start-up then goes out!

Thanks for all the help everyone, I appreciate it!

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Awesome! I work at an IT Helpdesk, and you would be surprised how often a simple reboot solves the weirdest of things.

I'm just glad you didn't have to buy an Air-bag module! :)

-Andrew

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Originally Posted by AndrewButler05

Awesome! I work at an IT Helpdesk, and you would be surprised how often a simple reboot solves the weirdest of things.

I'm just glad you didn't have to buy an Air-bag module! :)

-Andrew

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Actually, he DID replace the airbag module. "After I had the new one installed..."

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Originally Posted by EAD15

Actually, he DID replace the airbag module. "After I had the new one installed..."

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Whoops, my bad. :/

haha yup, had to replace it. But I found a (Certified) used one on Ebay for like $60... Small price to pay for having functioning airbags again! It was nice to drive my car w/o any indicator lights being on!