Side Air Bag on 99 Passat

[Robert Bucke]

:1zhelp: My air bag warning light is on and I had it diagnosed at a local VAG dealer as the side air bag N/S/F resistance too high and a replacement air bag is needed at a cost of nearly £400:aargh4: and the dealer charged me £70.00 just to tell me this:mad: Can anyone suggest how I can get this repair done at a cheaper rate, I have spent a considerable amout of time on the web all to no avail, please help any suggestions will be appreciated:approve:

[RobNorwich]

Hi, Had this on my other halfs 99 passat. There are connectors under the seat that link the airbags to the airbag control modules. On ours I disconnected the plugs, cleaned the contacts using some spray contact cleaner, reconnected and so far so good. I had to use Vag-Com to reset the fault code otherwise the light would come on after driving a few meters every time you got in the car.

Make sure your ignition is OFF when you do this otherwise the system will log another fault code. This is a very common thing from what im told.

Please bear in mind that you must reset the fault code otherwise you will still be presented with the Airbag Fault warning on the dash.

£70 to do a code read is steep in my opinion - yes they are there to make money but using vag-com I could have told you the same thing in thirty seconds. Personally I would rather charge a lower fee and have happier punters - but thats just my way of thinking.

Hope this helps, I also seem to remember that dampness can cause the same issues with airbag faults - try the connectors first tho. Be careful to use a proper contact cleaning spray and dry it all off before reconnection.

Rob

[Robert Bucke]

Rob was correct, this is a common problem with the Passat according to other VW dealers and independents! As I have a bad back I did feel like crawling around and diving under the seats so I got an independent auto elec to replace the connectors under both the passenger and drivers seat for £60.00 plus I complained to the garage that charged £70.00 for the diagnostic check and they have refunded me the full cost:D so this has made me very happy and I will never use a main dealer again

[RobNorwich]

Robert,
Apologies for my delay in getting back to you. I had (I thought) posted a reply some days ago but I clearly did something wrong as it didnt appear.

Good to hear you got your problems sorted AND a refund - cant be bad!

The price the guy charged you for the wiring work sounds very reasnoble to me by todays standards - hopefully this will be the end of the airbad light probs for you.

Im now in the process of trying to resolve a "CHECK BRAKE PADS" warning light which is intermittent and can for some reason be upset by the use of the horn! GRRRRR I hate those sorts of problems!

Glad your all sorted now

Regards


Rob - Norwich

[rmnp807]

I've got this displayed on my Passat & want try & resolve it without paying a VW dealer megadosh. How does one reset the fault using Vag-Com? Or is it a better idea to get a local auto electrician to do it? Thanks rmnp807

[Col]

Another alternative but not an ideal one if you have vagcom, would be to recode the airbag controller to omit the side airbags so that you only have the two main dash mounted units operational.

[jonathan bees]

short of changeing the airbag for a new/used one. one thing you could do if you dont mind not haveing the airbag working is unplug it and bridge the 2 wires with a 2.5 ohm resistor then have the light reset and it will think that airbag is fine evan though it is not conected