well it does turn out, if you come back to pull connectors out they do fall out, my little trick was that I took a screw driver I put it in the groves of the locking tab goes and pry up on it. it does work maybe not the best way

 

opening up this crypt...
does ayyone know if there is a difference between 93 modules and 94 thru 95... are they interchangable
idiot light indicates module fault..

 

[QUOTE=IMZman;8804882]History: Upon start up, air bag indicator light on left lower panel flashes 10 times indicating an air bag diagnostic module fault. See: 93-4 Body Electric System Manual, Section "S", page 9 for trouble code table.

Cause: There is a internal 1/4 watt 10 amp resistor used as a fuse (marked as such on the circuit board) that disables the module preventing inadvertent deployment of the air bag. One reason for the fuse to blow would be a defective crash sensor (one of 3) in the front end of the car.

Fix: The diagnostic module is no longer carried by Mazda. Prices quoted for non-existent unit ranged from $800 to $1200. A couple of "air bag" module rebuilding outfits quoted prices in the $90 to $120 range and 3 days to a week turn around, "if they could fix it". I figured for that, I would attempt repair myself.

The following is a brief pictorial of the process;[/QUOT




Who is offering the module rebuilding outfits for the part FD01-67-7F0C airbag control module

 

I guess this thread has new life.

Yeah, the only reason to have the big caps in there is as a "battery" backup. This is a critical piece of hardware so it has to be able to fire the air bags in the event of a power loss. Capacitors are the best component for that job. They charge and discharge quickly and they last a lot longer than an actual battery.

 

great timing. my airbag light started to act funny a couple months ago. from constant flashing to mainly 3 flashes at a time. then for a few days it behaves perfectly. then again 3 flashes. now the light doesn't even come on pre startup, and then it'll sporadically decide to flash every so often. I've pulled the module. I have a guy who did my cpu 2 fix for the seatbelt light. but on this board I'm not sure if I'm seeing anything bad. possibly a tiny bit of brownish tinge under c9 and c11. gurus options based on these pics?



possible leakage under c9

 

Update, the large 4 caps had leaked quite a bit. swapped them all out and cleaned the corrosion best we could. reinstalled the module. now the airbag light turns off super quick and every 10 seconds the car "whimpers". not a buzz or a harsh sound. just an electronic high to low sound that lasts around 1 second.

Anyone run into this? when I had the module off the car and drove it no sounds and the airbag light stayed on, ie bulb working.

 

eh, just realized it is some part of the viper alarm system on this car. hit the valet button during the module removal.

 

Thought I'd reply a half decade later, in case someone else is facing the same issue -
I checked wiring diagrams for 93 driver air bag and 94-95 two air bag systems . The 4 crash sensors, grounds and driver airbag route to the same 24 pin IC connections, so the board layout looks the same. The difference that might cause a "deployed airbag" code, is the missing passenger airbag circuit to the IC. A compatability fix might only involve transfering a missing low resistance surface mount resistor from your 93 module , if there in fact is one , to the 94 passenger airbag circuit. Not sure without seing both boards side by side. There isn't one in the 93 schematic.

It would make more sense to rebuild your 93 module for a few $$, knowing it will last for years,, than risk a deployed airbag condition, unless you already own a 94-95 module, and aren't bothered about potentially damaging it, through experimentation. Deployed airbag conditions typically get logged to the onboard Eeprom, and popular airbag reset services won't clear crash codes on these boards. Their focus is quick turnaround OBD Ii scanners.
CarProg Eeprom programmers reportedly don't work well with 24 series memory chips.
Costlier more versatile Eeprom programmers would probably be required, as a best guess.

 

What brought me to wrestling with the Diagnostic Module, my girlfriend was able to get out that #$%# 3rd screw, was the tone coming from it. I don't know why it was emitting this high pitched tone which started shortly after start-up but I considered just unsoldering the piezo buzzer and pulling it off the board. I didn't notice a problem with the air bag warning light and there is no sign of leaking capacitors. I want to get this car out of my girlfriend's garage ASAP, but now I'm considering ordering the CAPS and the resister, but I'd rather not. Any thoughts as to whats causing the piezo buzzer warning?