Nissan Repair: 2001 Quest Air Bag Dash light blinking, controller area network, nissan quest

Question
I am looking to do the repair for a blinking AIR bag dash light on my 2001 Nissan Quest.  Any suggestions?  Its been blinking for years.  Is the air bag not going to deploy in an accident if it is blinking?
Thanks,

Answer
Tom,

The airbag light flashing means that the airbag computer on the controller area network has sensed a problem.  What this means is that one or more airbags might not go off in an accident.  The only way to know for sure is to have it checked.  Nissan has a Consult II Scantool that reads the errors and will let you know which airbag or sensor is defective.  You really cannot diagnose yourself without a scantool.  Autobody shops also have scanners that will read the code.  Airbags are dangerous if they go off by accident and a person is not in the correct position.  So, from a liability standpoint the regular Joe is not going to be able to purchase a scantool that does airbags.  The factory service manual is quite specific and involved on instructions as how not to get injured or killed in removing and installing airbags as well as the electrical disconnect procedure to keep them from going off by accident.  I would first get it diagnosed and that is going to cost about $100 for them to hook up the scanner and let you know what is wrong.  The scanner costs over $4000 bucks and they need to get their money back.  Now, once it is diagnosed you could source an airbag at a wrecking yard and install it yourself.  But, here is the part that gets interesting.  If you successfully install a used one you will still need to get the airbag light reset.  So, your choice here on how you want to proceed.