AIR BAG Warning Light

**Maximus2k3** · 14-12-2010,05:35 PM

Hi all,

Last week my 05 1.19Tdi went in for a major service. I was fed up with paying Audi prices so I went to an Indy (Kenny's in Inverness, as I'd seen him recommended on here).

When I went to drive away, the Air Bag warning light came on and wouldn't go off. They had a quick go (2, in fact) at trying to lubricate the contacts and reset the computer but to no avail - they said the problem had probably been caused by them moving the seat to drive it on/off the ramps etc.

I booked it in a few days later and they spent a fair bit longer thoroughly lubricating the contacts. This seemed to work but this afternoon it came on again!

They've said the next stage is to try and solder the contacts together - failing that its £240 for a new Air Bag! They want to charge me for the soldering job, and will obviously charge me if a new Air Bag is needed - do I have grounds for recourse, seeing as they caused the problem in the first place?

I've already spent a fortune on the service, 4x new tyres and brakes all round, and really don't want to fork out any more before Xmas!

Any advice/experiences of this problem would be welcome.

Cheers!

**Issac Hunt** · 14-12-2010,05:59 PM

Did you get the fault code that is stored by the car?

If indeed it is the connector under the seat thats at fault then you can remove it, solder the wires and bypass it. Do it yourself, it'll take you twenty minutes and wont cost you anything.

**Maximus2k3** · 14-12-2010,06:13 PM

I didn't get the actual code, but he said it was for Air bag 5 (Drivers side bag)

How do I go about resetting it to take the light out? If I can find my Iron I'll gladly do it myself!

**Issac Hunt** · 14-12-2010,06:24 PM

You'll need someone with diagnostic equipment to turn the light off. VAGCOM/VCDS will do the trick, plenty of folk on here have it.

**MarsM** · 16-12-2010,10:31 AM

I live in the Inverness area and have the kit to switch of the airbag light. More than happy to do it for you. I also had problems with the connector under the seat (both sides) and can give you a bit of advice.

**Maximus2k3** · 16-12-2010,10:57 AM

Cheers MarsM, I might just take you up on that! As long as I can find my soldering iron!

Is it an easy enough job to do, i.e. minimal taking if seats apart etc?

**Issac Hunt** · 16-12-2010,01:19 PM

You wont need to take the seat apart, just unbolting it from the floor will be enough (4 bolts to take out)

**MarsM** · 16-12-2010,02:07 PM

As Issac has said , just unbolt the seat and tilt. Its the yellow connector under the seat base. Its always a good idea to disconnect the battery first just incase the airbag is set off. When I fixed my own car the warning light went out because there was no longer a fault. If yours does not then let me know and I will scan for codes and try and reset the light.

Cheers.....

**Zenerdiode** · 16-12-2010,06:51 PM

Sometimes these things have a habit of being purely coincidental. If the guy who checked your car said it was the driver's side bag, did he actually mean the driver's side seat bag or the driver's side (steering wheel) airbag? If it's the main bag, doing a lash on the seat connector is not going to fix it. If it is the main bag, most likely is the 'clock spring' on the steering column.

Also, if you are going to work on any part of the Airbag system; do you know how to deactivate it properly? What if your soldering iron introduces an earth or a common circular ground path and a random bag deploys?

For the very same reason, the plug couplers on the various parts of the Airbag system are designed to protect you if they become disconnected - as they have special shorting links contained in the coupler.

Airbags can cause bad injuries if you are not in the correct place (i.e. strapped into your seat) when they deploy. Please, get it sorted by someone who knows what they're doing - and don't bodge with the soldering iron...

**Issac Hunt** · 16-12-2010,07:59 PM

Behave! Working on airbags isnt like juggling live grenades or defusing a bomb! As per post #2 I mentioned that the OP needs to obtain the relevant fault codes to 100% confirm the faulty part.

With the battery disconnected it'll be absolutley fine. Bypassing the connector isnt a 'lash' (if its the faulty part) IMHO. It's what 99% of garages will do, the alternative being replacing that part of the wiring harness - not cost effective in the real world is it?