Airbag arrrghhhh!!!!

j_roc · Post by **j_roc** » 22 Oct 2005, 15:44

Afternoon to all. Today I have been offered a Xantia 1.9D (1995 M) for £125.00 (I think the Citroen bug has caught me

). But there is a small problem, let me explain - The airbag warning light on the dash is on permanently, or sometimes flashes on/off for about 10 seconds then stays on (bat has been disconnected for 2 days then back on). I have been told that I can delve into the car's wiring loom to see what the problem is if I want, but I cant seem to find any fuse(s) or relays mentioned in the Citroen handbook or the BOL. Any ideas ladies and gents, also, is there a schematic for the wiring loom for the airbag wiring annywhere? As the BOL dont mention the airbag wiring (typical

). Much appreciated - Alex.

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 22 Oct 2005, 16:30

The plugs and connectors under the front seats cause airbag indication faults.
There have been threads on the subject over time, but I don't find any for now.

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 22 Oct 2005, 18:37

How come I could never get a Xantia for that kind of money when I was Looking? That was the one reason my wife gave me that she would allow me to have a Xantia. It had to be cheap she said. All I could find that she liked were £1999. Bu**er!

As for thelight I think it could be the connection as previous post. Aslo could it be the 'slip ring' on the steering colum behind the steering wheel?

batwad · Post by **batwad** » 23 Oct 2005, 09:41

Clogzz is spot-on. These faults are usually caused by crappy connectors underneath the drivers and/or passenger seat. Years of bouncing bums works them loose and the connection breaks.

Standard warning: before working on the airbag system disconnect the battery for at least ten minutes before starting work.

Look under the seats and you'll see the connectors. Give the contacts a good squirt of contact cleaner or WD40 and push them together firmly. That should be all that's required; if not you'll need to get the fault code read

np · Post by np » 23 Oct 2005, 10:49

I`ve had my slip rings/contacts replaced 2 times now in the steering wheel because the light was on.To have the codes read at my local independant was about £30.

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 23 Oct 2005, 13:57

There is no such thing as a slip ring connecting the steering wheel airbag to the rest of the loom, the connection is permenantly hard wired using a coiled ribon cable, commonly refered to as a "clock spring".

I had the airbag light on a good few years ago, so I cut the connectors off onder the seats and soldered the wires together, no problem since.

Dave

bikemad650 · Post by **bikemad650** » 24 Oct 2005, 01:05

Mines been flashing as well since i got the car so i'll have a poke under the seats tomorrow,I was going to take the bulb out of the dash but i'll try this first. thanks to all.

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 24 Oct 2005, 08:05

Dave Burns wrote:There is no such thing as a slip ring connecting the steering wheel airbag to the rest of the loom, the connection is permenantly hard wired using a coiled ribon cable, commonly refered to as a "clock spring".

I had the airbag light on a good few years ago, so I cut the connectors off onder the seats and soldered the wires together, no problem since.

Dave

So, Dave, what exactly are these connectors for? I spotted them under the seats on mine, but could not figure out what they did.

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 24 Oct 2005, 17:36

The connectors under the seats connect the seat belt pretensioners (more explosive devices) to the loom, because they are actually bolted to the seat and not the floor there has to be a connection for manufacturing purposes.

The airbag and the pretensioners are all fired by the controller under the centre console, so they share the same circuit, including the dash warning light.

Dave

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 25 Oct 2005, 07:43

Dave Burns wrote:The connectors under the seats connect the seat belt pretensioners (more explosive devices) to the loom, because they are actually bolted to the seat and not the floor there has to be a connection for manufacturing purposes.

The airbag and the pretensioners are all fired by the controller under the centre console, so they share the same circuit, including the dash warning light.

Dave

Hi Dave
Thanks for info; I suspected it may have been something like that. Flippin' pyrotechnics in cars -

- it's bad enough for a whoopee cushion to be fitted pn my steering wheel.
Of course I could not condone binning this and sticking a small bit of junkbox electronics using a 555 to give a few seconds timer for the LED......

Of course, the insurance would be invalidated as well, if they knew.