Airbag light & MOT

[corsehf]

Hi, My MOT tester tells me that the Airbag Light is now part of the test and typically!, I have an Airbag Light issue and have had it now for the last 6 months but not had time to look at it except for a quick butchers under the passenger footwell to check the plugs (thanks to the info on this forum!) but could not see any problem. I did pull the plugs apart and wd40'd the connectors but to no avail. I will check for continuity next time before i solder them up.
Anything else i need to check as well just in case this does not work??

[wheeler]

I will check for continuity next time before i solder them up.
Anything else i need to check as well just in case this does not work??

NEVER PUT A MULTIMETER SET TO OHMS ONTO AIRBAG WIRING WITH ANY PYROTECHNIC DEVICES OR ECU's STILL CONNECTED TO IT
An ohmeter sends out a small current to do an ohms check, this can be enough to detonate an airbag unexpectedly.

[Peter.N.]

I believe this new airbag light rule only starts in April. My 406 has just passed with the airbag light on.

Peter

[corsehf]

I believe this new airbag light rule only starts in April. My 406 has just passed with the airbag light on.

Peter

Not sure, i was told January.

[woodywoodpecker]

Hi, My MOT tester tells me that the Airbag Light is now part of the test and typically!, I have an Airbag Light issue and have had it now for the last 6 months but not had time to look at it except for a quick butchers under the passenger footwell to check the plugs (thanks to the info on this forum!) but could not see any problem. I did pull the plugs apart and wd40'd the connectors but to no avail. I will check for continuity next time before i solder them up.
Anything else i need to check as well just in case this does not work??

Hi Andy,
Soldered mine up last month and it as sorted the airbag light, Bit of a pig to hold the wires together and solder them with one pair of hands though...lol.
I think if i was doing it again i would buy some of them electric block connectors they come in a strip that you tighten up the screws to secure the wires together would of been alot easier.

[RichardW]

New rules came in on Jan 1, but there is a 3 month amnesty on the new items, so you should get an advisory, and note that it will fail next year.

If fixing the wires under the seat does not put the light out, then diagnostic session reuquired to see where the fault lies.

[jgra1]

it seems a bit of a lottery this..

my (new) mot tester last week, who seemed a perfectly decent chap, said SOME new things are Jan and some April.. I cant remember what he said about the airbag light though

edit

having said that, I am fed up with the in car disco-effect.. and passengers saying, is that safe, driving with that on? (it may not be if it goes off in their face )

but... I would like the car to get back to being as good as it can really.. a losing battle
I have about 2 weekends to pre-mot mine, very soon..

[Peter.N.]

Mines been flashing since I bought the car over a year and 11,000 miles ago, Iv'e got used to it now

Peter

[corsehf]

Mines been flashing since I bought the car over a year and 11,000 miles ago, Iv'e got used to it now

Peter

Need to get it sorted now!!


Ok, i have now removed the plugs and the are now wired direct and the result is that the airbag light (and bong!) now comes on after about a minute??
I have only done 2 plugs, a brown one and a blue one after reading another thread on here about it. Should i be doing the other two plugs??
It seems i have changed something but not fully. Anything else i can look at??

[chrissa]

Hi Corsehf, had same Airbag issue with my wife's Xantia 1.8 Forte Y reg just 2 weeks before Mot last year
searched forum and one member said try using switch cleaner in the key switch that turns it on/off
I too had checked plug/sockets etc but once switch cleaner used it's been fixed ever since.

Cheers, Chrisso

[handyman]

It is advisable NEVER to use WD40 or any of those other crap maintenance sprays on any electrical connections.

As the spray contains silicates that deposit themselves on any contact surface, all you have done is added a nice layer of insulation between the two points you are tryng to improve electrically. The only spray you should use anywhere near any electrical items is switch cleaner as this is does not contain chemicals that will set up a chemical insulation barrier.

Simple really.

H

[Peter.N.]

As a retired electronics engineer of 50 years+ my experience has been that WD40 very often works better than Servisol, certainly on volume controls.

[spider]

NEVER PUT A MULTIMETER SET TO OHMS ONTO AIRBAG WIRING WITH ANY PYROTECHNIC DEVICES OR ECU's STILL CONNECTED TO IT
An ohmeter sends out a small current to do an ohms check, this can be enough to detonate an airbag unexpectedly.

This is true, although the risk is not great it can (and does) happen.

You can check the wiring by all means but you **must** disconnect it at both ends, ie no airbag / seatbelt tensioner and no ECU, so all you are checking is a piece on disconnected wiring. If in doubt, don't check it.

Actually does a Lexia not show a resistance reading for you ?

[corsehf]

As my car DID get through the MOT with an advisory for the 'Airbag light', I've not had chance to look at this now for a while but there must be a fair few people out there now being caught out with this new issue.
In reply to Chrissa, i used to have a Xantia and if i remember, a quick spray of WD40 down the ignition key barrel used to fix many issues - on mine, it cured the blowers for the heating & demist.

[lurchy666]

if u have the keyswitch next to handbrake, get it out tip it upside down and move the key about in it to get all the dust etc out of it, if that dont work take the top of the switch off carefully as there is a spring in there and make sure the key part is connecting to the switch in the bottom, sometimes a good blast of switch cleaner will solve it, sometimes just gettin your key in it and moving it around a load of times does the trick,

if that dont work a lexia sesion will be needed to say whats actually wrong with it,