01578 - Airbag Deactivation Warning Lamp; Passenger Side (K145)

Hello, my wife just got "no result" on her driving exam, because the airbag indicator warning light came on the dash during the test. So after being relieved of the £62 test fee, I am kicking myself for knowing about this issue and not doing anything about it!

Anyway, I am posting on the off chance someone experienced a similar issue to this and found a solution. The car is an A3 8L 2003 model.

The main airbag warning light comes on on the tacho, usually when the car is started from cold. Once the car has been driven for a while and is switched off, upon switching it back on, the airbag warning light usually stays off, but not always.

I've scanned the airbag controller using VCDS, which reveals the following fault:

VCDS-Lite Version: Release 1.1
Friday, 17 August 2012, 15:38:42:37423
Control Module Part Number: 8L0 959 655 L
Component and/or Version: Airbag Front+Seite 7008
Software Coding: 01104
Work Shop Code: WSC 06435
VCID: 47E14A3076A3
1 Fault Found:
01578 - Airbag Deactivation Warning Lamp; Passenger Side (K145)
31-10 - Open or Short to Ground - Intermittent

If I clear the fault, and restart the car, the faul immediately reappears.

So, this is what I've done so far to try and sort this out:

chopped off the yellow connector under the passenger seat and re-wired directly (solder) as per this post
removed the passenger side warning light from the ceiling cabin light assembly, re-soldered joints and tested for loose connections

By the way, the passenger airbag warning light looks like this (I can not find this replacement part 6350 1183C anywhere):

Attachment 17713 Attachment 17714

I am pretty sure there is a bad connection somewhere between the airbag controller module and the lamp or the lamp module, but I am reluctant to pull anymore of the car apart in trying to sort this (minor) inconvenience out.

Am I better off just sticking some electrical tape over the light and hope next time the DSA instructor doesn't query it? :D

Cheers,
-- ab1

P.S. FYI: there is another post on the forum regarding this exact issue, but no solution.