1998 Ford Escort Between a rock & a hard place

NL

MEMBER
1998 FORD ESCORT

Electrical problem
1998 Ford Escort 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

I had my car towed to a repair shop because it ran out of power and then stopped dead on the highway going up a small incline. When the mechanic ran the diagnostic, the machine didn't work so he reattached cables and when he did, the airbags blew out and the electrical system on my car blew.

First of all, who is liable for the damage. One of my friends said that the mechanics were supposed to disengage something first before running the diagnostic to avoid this.

Next, is it worth it to have the airbags replaced and electrical system repaired; at whose expense; and could this have triggered more problems for the future of this vehicle.

1 Reply

RICK 08

MEMBER
54 POSTS

My Two cents.

I am not a pro mechanic.
Have not heard of disconnecting anything to perform an OBD2 test. Have performed this scan on my 98 escort many times. Disconnecting the battry after 1- 5 min in most cases will disable the air bag system but some if not all codes would be lost rendering a code read valueless. Not having reviewed tech data to my knowledge, many restraint systems are not part of the powertrain system thus.. Perhaps a defective code scanner may cause this?
Replacing air bags is costly. I can not give legal advise but givin what you posted I would insist they replace the air bags at no cost to you. See what others here share with you.