A7 Rear Side Airbag Short to Ground

[Audi_Mike]

Hi,

I currently have the Airbag light illuminated on the dashboard of my Audi A7. Running VCDS shows me the following fault message (which is a hard fault that will not clear):-

Address 15: Airbags (J234) Labels:* 4H0-959-655.clb
Part No SW: 4H0 959 655 C HW: 4H0 959 655 C
Component: Airbag10.43 H40 0040
Revision: -------- Serial number: 003JG005BF8Y Dataset Number: 4G8909602E 0002
Coding: 30314530323130303134554A305234473853
Shop #: WSC 02391 785 00200
ASAM Dataset: EV_AirbaAU10BPAAU64X 001014
ROD: EV_AirbaAU10BPAAU64X_VW51.rod
VCID: B63ECFEFB8C5CA5A657-80E2


Crash sensor for side airbag: driver side:
Serial number: 3575HRB405P0TGJE29D$


Front Passenger's Side Airbag Crash Sensor:
Serial number: 3585HRB404P0T3R8AO2/


Rear Side Airbag Crash Sensor (on driver's side):
Serial number: 3515JRB405N0OSD4IPRR


Passenger side rear thorax airbag crash sensor:
Serial number: 3525JRB405T0OSD4N90$


Crash sensor for front airbag: driver side:
Serial number: 3554VRB40630P4N09GAE


Crash sensor for front airbag: front passenger side:
Serial number: 3564VRB40630P4N0COEU


1 Fault Found:
9441297 - Rear; passenger's side; side-airbag igniter
B1010 11 [137] - Short to Ground
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 163836 km
Date: 2023.04.12
Time: 09:12:05

I am very familiar with working on airbag systems and fully understand all of the precautions and procedures in the Audi workshop manual for working on this system. What I would like advice on is the exact location within the car of the airbag that is causing this fault. I initially thought it was the rear side airbag which should be fitted in the side panel next to the rear bench seat, but having removed this panel on both sides, there is no airbag fitted in this location. I unplugged the front passenger seat airbag and ran the diagnostics again. I can now see that the front passenger airbag has changed to open circuit as I would expect, but the rear side airbag still shows short circuit, so it is definitely not the side airbag in the passenger seat. Any ideas would be much appreciated.......

Regards,
Mike

[VAG-Abound]

There have been previous cases of errors appearing for airbags that were not fitted. Hopefully not the case, but see if you can find the posts here and elsewhere in case they help.

There hasn't been any water damage or swap of control modules recently has there?

[Audi_Mike]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. No, there have been no control module changes or water ingress. I will have a search for any further info on other cases which have had a fault appearing for an airbag that is not installed and see if I can find anything.
Regards,
Mike

[Vadim111]

Did you find what cause this error?

[Audi_Mike]

Hi,

I put my car into Audi who confirmed the fault and contacted Audi Technical for advice. They confirmed that the control module coding was correct and that the pins on the control module for the non-existent airbag had "gone live" for an unknown reason. Audi want me to take the car back in for further diagnostics but I have not had time recently to book it in. I suspect that it will be eventually turn out to need a control module replacement, which at £860 (plus fitting charge) is going to be a lot of money. I will let you know what happens........
Regards,
Mike

[christiaan1]

hi m8 ,i have same issue on an a6 c7 its started from nowhere ,i visited 3 garage 1 told me they are not on to this,other one was distroying my interior parts not fitting back proper,other yesteday just read the error and will contact me later after investigating,so i dont know what solution we have?replace the module i was thinking too but its any guaranty after i buy a new one or sh its all fine?if there its realy a wire to that area from plug on short? i have 4H0 959 655 C
Cheers and hope you fix it too

[Audi_Mike]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally managed to find time to get my A7 back into Audi for them to troubleshoot my airbag problem. They had the car for nearly a week and checked all of the wiring and found no problems with it. They then changed the airbag control module and this finally cured the problem. Not a cheap fix though..... The module was £865 (inc VAT) and with the labour for the fault finding and fitting of the new module, my total bill came to over £1200. Anyway, I now have no airbag light on. Just as well as my MOT is now not far away.......
Regards,
Mike