Check the sensors.

On my 06 DGC they were located under radiator, one on each side. I had the same problem but after a day or two stayed on. That happened after ai hit a coyote.

 

I'll check, but I didn't notice any sensors and/or yellow wiring near the radiator area when I had the nose apart. My understanding was that the '96-'00 vans had only one sensor, which was inside the Air Bag brain box. But it never hurts for me to check, I'll see what I can find. Thanks!

 

It could be, but look at this post:

Glad that fixed the problem. I had a critter chew through one of the airbag sensor wires on my old '92- it looked pretty similar to what your picture looks like.

 

Every time I see those pictures I say "what in the H was Chrysler thinking".

On a 97 the SRS sensor is in the control module at the base of the center stack inside the van. That may apply to all 3rd generation 96-00 vans.

Want the wire diagram? Send me an email address to send it to via a private message.

 

Sorry, I didn't mention I own a '98 PGV.

 

I did find something...

Under the van, mounted on the left frame rail to the left of the radiator, exposed to the ground, is (in inches) a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 box component with a 1-inch square blue label on its face. It has a metal base and is held to the frame rail by 2 8mm screws. From it come 4 wires: gray, green, light green/blue tracer and black. The wires look undamaged (as does the loom leading to it), the flat plug is in excellent condition. There's no yellow on anything about it (yellow is typical for airbag wiring, looms and connectors). I see no obvious damage, just a typical coat of dust and dirt. Looking elsewhere yielded nothing remotely similar. So...there it is.

 

Tried unplugging/plugging the connector to clean the contacts?

 

I'll do that in a bit, daughter used it for an errand. Looks easy enough...

 

Just sent the diagram. Be sure to disable the system before touching anything otherwise you could blow the bags. Disconnect the battery and wait 5 minutes.

 

So, a very quick browse shows the system is indeed simple, and the impact sensors are indeed inside the Control Module. Guess I'm suspecting both the case ground and the ground wire, they're the only two things I see which are remotely vulnerable, everything else seems solidly confined within the cabin. I'll take a look shortly, thank you very much again, RIP...now there's finally something to go on.

 

I went ahead and took the wiring diagram to the van and accessed the ABCM after pulling fuses 1, 2 and 6 (and waiting 5 minutes, of course). The ABCM is screwed securely into two mounts, I pulled both plugs and looked: wiring is all secure, no obvious damage, I'll do a continuity check on the BLK/LT GRN ground wire in a bit...but I noticed a peculiarity...

The first plug handles 3 power, 2 data link (OBD-II) and one ground wire (that BLK/LT GRN) and the diagram indicates a shunt between the BLK/LT GRN and WHT/BLK wire (a data link wire)...but on my van, the shunt is between the BLK/LT GRN and BLK/TAN wire (Air Bag Warning Lamp, fed directly from Fuse 6). Odd...that would suggest that the Warning Lamp would be constantly on, but it does turn off briefly after engine start and turn back on.

So, I decided to do voltage and continuity checks:

* The BLK/LT GRN wire continuity to ground is solid, no breaks when wiring is moved around.
* the WHT/BLK wire is putting out 2.2 volts, all the time...not sure why. If it's supposed to be shunted to the BLK/LT GRN wire, then this makes no sense at all, it would be a battery drain. But obviously it's not, in my case.

However...with all fuses in place and module still disconnected:

* LT GRN/YEL has 12 volts with key ON
* BLK/TAN -- AIR BAG light remains on with key OK. It shouldn't. I pulled the flat shunt by pressing on the tab that holds it in the plug and removing it...the AIR BAG light is off, predictably, since its ground was interrupted. I ground the BLK/TAN wire with key ON...AIR BAG light lights, turns off when ungrounded. Still don't know why WHT/BLK isn't shunted to BLK/GRN per the diagram.
* BK BLU/YEL has zero volts, key ON or OFF (it should have 12, key ON), so I looked deeper...and found that the front of the Power Distribution Center is cracked under where the #1 fuse is. The fuse which controls that wire. I obviously have damage, so a new Power Distribution Center from the boneyard is in order. Yay.

And I guess now I'll start looking for a pinout diagram for the Air Bag Control Module. I apparently need it. So, the Air Bag System in the van is DECOM until I make necessary repairs and get a pinout that makes sense...or look at other '98s in the yard. Agh... I still want to thank RIP for the ABCM diagram, at least I got somewhere so far. Thanks, RIP!

 

Hoorf,

Have you checked the multi-body grounds under the carpet behind front seats?

There's a link somewhere here. (LEVY?)

 

Thanks, I'll do that, too, as soon as I find out. I found there's a wiring discrepancy at the brain box and at the Power Distribution Center under the hood, I gotta go to the local yard and look at other ABCM connectors...AND get a new Power Distribution Center box. Tasty. But yeah, knowing where those grounds are would be a bonus. Thanks!

 

Oh, just wanted to throw this in: the two grounds have checked out so far:

* the black + green wire (our main source of concern), which I checked for continuity...it checks out with zero resistance, even with flexing and pulling. That's a great sign, but I'll still check its terminus at the other end that you suggested, when I find out where it is;
* the chassis of the Air Bag Control Module bolts to the steel center dash frame with two large sheetmetal screws. Seems a fairly solid ground, a continuity check with one lead on the case and one lead on the floor shows zero resistance.

Barring those two, the other major issues thus far are the shunt on the power/ground/OBD-II plug connecting what appears to be the wrong two wires (according to the diagram) and the dk. blue/yellow wire, which is not putting out 12v (fuse is good) with the key ON...which was deduced to be a result of a rather healthy crunch in the Power Distribution Center box, at the exact corner where said dk. blue/yellow wire meets up with Fuse 1. The van suffered a moderate collision in the front left 4-1/2 years ago, which I repaired...all except the aforementioned Power box. That will be the next item on the replace list, as well as looking at the wire arrangement on the ABCM plugs of vans in the wrecking yard. They will take care of a good chunk of the problem, at the very least. From there, I can finish the rest of the diagnostics and corrections. And hopefully soon.

 

Checked the yard, the plugs are all wired exactly like mine. So, the diagram is in error when it shows a shunt going between BLK/GRN (chassis ground) and WHT/BLK (data link connector), the shunt is indeed between the BLK/GRN and BLK/TAN (AIR BAG light circuit) on all vans.

Also, took the time to see how hard it was to swap out a Power Distribution Center: un-nut two heavy leads at rear of PDC, undo two bolts out (on right side, as you view it), flip entire box over to your left, there are 8 large wiring plugs. Slide over red retainers, press down thumb tab on each plug, pull out, toss old box. Installation is reverse. A matter of a few minutes. I wish other vehicles I had were so easy...yow. See what happens next payday...

 

Problem Solved

It was the Power Distribution Center. All else checked out: the ABCM plug, the ground, everything. The #1 fuse circuit, which one of the Air Bag hot wires hooks to, was damaged in its accident before I bought it, here it is...



The circuit affected is at the very corner...here's another view:



The box swap took all of 9 minutes to do, very easy. Reprogrammed all my radio stations & settings, started up...the Air Bag light turns out and stays out.

Not only that...the Check Engine light turned off, too!

 

It was the Power Distribution Center. All else checked out: the ABCM plug, the ground, everything. The #1 fuse circuit, which one of the Air Bag hot wires hooks to, was damaged in its accident before I bought it, here it is...



The circuit affected is at the very corner...here's another view:



The box swap took all of 9 minutes to do, very easy. Reprogrammed all my radio stations & settings, started up...the Air Bag light turns out and stays out.

Not only that...the Check Engine light turned off, too!

Hoorf, your images are not displaying, please see this post regarding Photobucket images: Announcement - Photobucket images no longer working

 

(and/or pay the price :dollar

 

Why pay the price when there are so many free hosting sites around?

 

Well, I have no way to delete the posts or put up images here then. They show up here for me, but not for you. I'm sorry this happened, I had no idea this went on until now. Please delete my previous post, and you know the Power Distribution Center was the culprit. It was cracked pretty bad at its front, obviously bad enough to interrupt the #1 fuse, which was one power supply for the Air Bag Control Module. Again, thanks to all who participated for their input and staying along to its end. I appreciate it greatly...and no more Photobucket pix from me.

 

I see quite a few good ones listed...do you have a recommendation? Any particular one that stands out in your experience? I'd be grateful for the advice once again. Thanks!

EDIT: I just checked...Christ, they want $400?!?!

 

Thanks to this change in photobucket policy I now have dozens of photos to upload somewhere else, and repaste all the links in the forums. What a drag. $400/year, seriously? Does Photobucket expect anyone to pay that?

I might try imgur.com https://www.lifewire.com/free-image-hosting-sites-3486329

Never mind, imgur looks like a nuthouse to me, too much bizarre stuff there.. Maybe postimage.com

 

What a drag. $400/year, seriously? Does Photobucket expect anyone to pay that?[/url]

Well, yep, there it was. They even graciously provided the box to take my credit card info. I saw their Facebook page, they are drowning in hostile responses, and I added my own, in three words: "GET BENT. Goodbye." And I closed my account. H-e-double-toothpicks, I only had 50 images there, using far less than 1% of the allocated space.

Granted, nothing is truly free, but that doesn't give them the excuse to act bipolar about it. I'm just happy my van's fixed now.

 

I am also very upset with Photobucket, this is totally lame. It's not so bad redoing all the work on some forums, but on this one, I can't edit my own posts after 15 minutes, so I'll have to ask the mods to do it. And I just spent several hours relinking all my photos here to Photobucket after another hosting site went under. Not happy.

 

Oh, BTW...someone on Photobucket's Facebook page said that TinyPic is owned by Photobucket. Just a heads-up...I can't confirm it but it's a yellow flag.

 

Okay, one more time...

Got a new hosting site, Postimage.org to use. Here's that first image, let me know if it's okay or otherwise...this is the front of the PDC, #1 fuse circuit:



And here's a look from undah...



It was hit worse than I originally believed.

 

Wow, that thing has seen better days. Why don't you hotlink the actual image, instead of a thumbnail, like this:

 

Will do, sorry, am still learning. Just found out how to do it right next time, at least I know it's working now. Thanks again!