Three problems related to air bag light on have been reported for the 1997 Dodge Ram 1500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While driving the vehicle the air bag light came on. After reaching my destination about 5 minutes or so later. I pulled into a parking space put the truck in park, turned off the ignition, opened the door and the drivers airbag deployed all by itself. Luckily I was sitting back in the seat starting to exit the vehicle when it deployed. Now I have been with this truck since it was purchased and it has never been in a accident. It actually set for a large part of its life because I drove a company vehicle for my job. I called the Dodge dealer where we bought the truck and they said there was nothing they could do because of the age of the truck and told me I should contact Dodge directly. I called Dodge and explained what happened to the lady that answered and the first thing she asked was if I was injured. I told her luckily no but me or someone could have been killed if I would have been driving. She finished taking the report and said someone would contact me in 2-3 days. I received a letter from Dodge about a week later stating that since there were no recalls or warranties listed for the truck per the serial number I should contact my insurance company and if they feel its a manufacturing responsibility ,they have subrogation rights. Now you would think Dodge would want to know what made this happen for the safety of their customers. I have found that there was a recall on these trucks but my serial number was not involved in that recall. My truck is in very good condition and I'm afraid the insurance company is going to total it because of its age. Someone needs to make these manufacturers stand behind their products especially when it involves the safety equipment. Any help in this matter you can provide would be appreciated.
While driving 97 Dodge ram my daughter almost wrecked due to vehicle sudden surge, stall and shut down causing loss of power steering and other control of vehicle. Also happened to me multiple times when I test drove it. Subsequent events found to include air bag light illumination, cruise control light on steering wheel comes on and vehicle surges with rpm's up to @ 2,000 before full stall. Code p0123 on obdii scanner. Sensor replaced and still happening. Stopped problem completely by disconnecting the clock spring connections. Researched other complaints and found many listed under vehcile speed control, clock spring, airbag, electrical etc covering many years and including injuries. Nhtsa needs to cross reference these complaints and connect the dots as there is no place I can find to type in the actual component name "clock spring" which is an extremely poor setup for a complaint site. Also limiting mileage to 3 numbers is rediculous. Speed ranged from barely moviing @ 2mph to 45mph. Somebody is going to get killed if they haven't already.
Air bag light is on glow as described in the recall notice of NHTSA id# 01v153000. Dodge mfg. And the dealer says no recall on my truck eventhough air bag light is on as described in the recall notice. Recall is on trucks yr. 1996 thru yr. 2000 and mine is a yr. 1997.