i hit a few trails with my rig yesterday afternoon. a 97 legacy outback with a four inch lift. at one point i got pretty stuck in a deep mud hole with alot of sitting water in it. i managed to get out of the hole without too much hassle. the problem is i got two "idiot lights" immediately after i got out. one was the ABS light , which went off a few minutes later and hasn't been back on since. that makes sense considering the wheels were completely submerged in water and mud and the sensors probably got wet and caked with mud. what concerns me is that the AIRBAG light also came on and hasn't went out. i even unhooked the battery but the light came on and stayed when i hooked it back up. any ideas of why that light would come on from water. the car didn't take any major jars or hits and i didn't do anything to or with the airbags. thanks for any input. curtis

hmm maybe water go in where the crash sensors are behind the front bumper? well really mounted on the frame if I'm right.

 

but they seem pretty well sealed.

I would guess an issue with the sensors as well. They are pretty well sealed, but being submerged would be quite the test for them and the wiring going to them.

i hate all of these sensors! new cars have a sensor for everything. i'm surprised they don't have sensors to make sure the sensors are there and working. guess i'll see if the problem corrects itself with some time to dry and then get some stinking sensors if need be. curtis

heh the Air bag system does have a sensor to check the sensors

 

and I highly doubt they are single replaceable... if they are it's big $$$ I don't want to guess what the impact sensor costs...

i guess it's some black tape over the light then. seriously, i'll look into it tomorrow after work and see if i can find the problem. i don't know anything about the airbag system, but i'll try my best to figure it out. hopefully there's some info on it in the haynes manual, or as i call it , the subaru bible. curtis

would have better luck if you could find the FSM for your year and model.

I would "think" it might be that you might have "muddied" the sensor and might have to re-submerge your ride as the sensor is dirty. Or you might have knocked it when you went through the puddle with a knocked rock.

You should be fine, takes a serious impact to mess with one of those sensors, although if it is water damaged you will want to pull the fuse and/or disconect the airbags as airbag deployment timing could be off now if you were to get into an accident it could hurt you as aibags deploy at approx 300 mph. And yes these parts are expensive, if you have a deployment of the airbags in a car you generally have to replace the airbags, steering column "clockspring", sensors, and module (depends on manufacture recomendations)

 

I hope this helps, a little advice from your freindly usmb lurker body shop guy.

it was a dang fuse. thats it , a fuse! i feel stupid for even posting about it. i guess people always say to start with the simplest things first. i don't really know why it blew. i actually don't care , just as long as it's fixed! thanks for the suggestions and help. curtis