Air bag light came on.....dealer said that the computer probably just needs to be reset, now neither cruise control or horn are working. I am an armchair mechanic at best, does anyone out there know if these problems could all be related or is their something majorly wrong here? I can't see where any of these systems would be connected. Ideas?

 

First, yes the dealer needs to reset the computer with a dealership-only scan device. As for the other problems, I'd let them look at it while you are there. I highly doubt it's a major problem.

 

there is a black divice under your steering wheel . where the wheel joins the colloum inside the car

 

As you can see by my handle in the forum, I am probably less than an armchair mechanic but here is my take on this having just been through an airbag, seat belt and horn issue on my 2000 Elantra.

When they swapped out my steering wheel air bag, my horn stopped working. The relay under the hood had been taken out while they worked on the steering wheel and they didn't put it back on right. That tells me there is probably some wiring harness in there that provides the connection to mutiple systems (of which there is the airbag and horn) which was making the horn sound while they worked on it. Hence, they took out the relay to save themselves the headache.

Also, on my Ford Truck recall to avoid bursting into flames, the wiring for the cruise control unit is within the steering wheel so I made the leap that all three systems are connected to the same wiring harness under the steering wheel airbag on both cars.

I know you can get the code and turn off the check engine light with one of those computer interfece devices from Sears or some other similar place but not sure it applies to the airbag light. If you have one, wouldn't hurt to check.

I know the airbag light comes on if there is any issue with the sensorsl, airbag itself or the seat belts. My guess that something electrical could also do the trick. It may not necessarily mean a major issue. Could just be that the wiring harness somehow slipped it's connection and is not conducting to the three systems.

Might just have to open the steering wheel up and plug that bad boy back in. Then again, I may have absolutely no idea what I am talking about and my forum name is ...

badwrench

PS Let us know what happens. I'd be interested to know if my idea has any credibility at all. :-)