Air Bag Code 42 nightmare

[thumper477]

My airbag light has been bilnking a code 42 since I bought the ex 2 years ago.I finally got tired of the light being on (and the airbags not working in an accident)so I bought some used sensors on fleabay.Being that the code 42 pertains to the sensor on the left front I figured that would fix it.Well,changing the sensor is a PITA.You have to take out the grille and lights on that side as well as moving some splash shields.The bolts holding the sensor bracket were really stuck and required much force and liberal PB Blaster to come out.When I keyed it up with the "new" sensor installed I was pissed to find that the code 42 was still there.I cleared the code with my scanner but it came right back immediately.Crap.Now what?Maybe I got a bad used part?Well,I tested both my old and the "new" sensors as per the shop manual test and both tested good.OK,so I go back to my computer and print out the Ford pinpoint test for the code 42.I had to pull the right kick panel and unbolt the airbag computer from the cowl(another PITA!).After unplugging the connectors from the air bag module I was instructed to run resistance checks on the harness that connects the computer to the left sensor.It turned out that one of the wires was open in the wiring harness somewhere between the computer and the sensor connector.Not wanting to spend 3 days pulling harnesses out of my 200k mile truck to find the break in the wire I elected to run a new wire instead.It works fine now and I feel more comfortable knowing that the airbags will function now if I crash.Total time spent,3 hours.