Permanent Fault - Drivers Level 2 Airbag igniter Open

[xsaras4ever]

Hello all.

Since we bought it our Xsara Estate Phase II , 2.0 hdi, it has always had the airbag light on.

BTW: We are in France so the car is LHD.

It had a new headlight when we got it and a very mildly damaged front wing.

We checked all the wires under the seats and cut out the connecting blocks and soldered the wires.

The light still stays on.

We finally bought a Lexia and eventually got the software installed and working.

The Lexia says

"Permanent Fault , Drivers Level 2 Airbag igniter Open circuit"

Clicked on it and got

Fault Code - 1802.
Fault characterisation - Coherence.
Fault type - Remote.

Any advice greatly appreciated as to what is our next step.

Thanks

[Mandrake]

Since we bought it our Xsara Estate Phase II , 2.0 hdi, it has always had the airbag light on.

[...]

It had a new headlight when we got it and a very mildly damaged front wing.

[...]

The Lexia says

"Permanent Fault , Drivers Level 2 Airbag igniter Open circuit"

Clicked on it and got

Fault Code - 1802.
Fault characterisation - Coherence.
Fault type - Remote.

Just thinking out of the box here, but if the fault has been there since you bought the car, there are signs of impact damage and repair at the front, and the Lexia says the igniter circuit is open, is it possible that the air bag was activated during the impact and has simply been REMOVED and not replaced ???

Air bags are one use only, must be replaced after activating and are not cheap, so maybe a previous owner decided to be a cheapskate and strip it out.

Have you visually confirmed the air bag is still present ? Trying to figure out precisely which air bag "level 2" refers to might be fun - hopefully RichardW sees this thread as I know he looked into an airbag fault on his sisters Xsara...

[uncle buck]

Have a read of this...it gives the most common reasons for the fault...I know it's Peugeot but they're the same...

http://www.peugeotcentral.co.uk/ftopic- ... rasc-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Taken from the link above

This code is usually down to one of three things.

(A) Poor connection at the two pin blue or brown connector on the back of the Comms 2000.
(B) Poor connection at the two pin blue or green connector on the back of the drivers (steering wheel) module.
(C) Intermittent break in the rotary connection built into the Comms 2000.

I think Module 2 are the blue connectors whilst module 1 are the green and brown connectors.

The majority of the time I find one of the connectors have come out of the airbag module itself.

Try checking the connections first and if thats not it then a Comms 2000 (lights / wiper stalk) may be required.

Remember to take all the usually precautions when working with airbags.

Cheers.

[Northern_Mike]

There's a chap in Bradford who sells and refurbs Comms 2000 units. He might be able to help if you need one, rather cheaper than dealer prices!

[uncle buck]

Is this him.....>> Comms 2000 repair service <<


Cheers.

[Northern_Mike]

Yes, that's the chap, he's called Graeme, posts on the Berlingo Forum sometimes.

[uncle buck]

Handy to know.

Hopefully xsaras4ever fault will just be a loose connector.


Cheers.

[Northern_Mike]

Looks like my Comms 2000 is faulty, so I'm going to take it up to Graeme to sort or replace. He happily sent me some fault-finding advice to try first at no cost, and others seem to have had good experience with him.

[myglaren]

That could well be a "Useful Link"!
And A Recommended Service.

[Northern_Mike]

I shall report back my findings and put it up there.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[RichardW]

I haven't actually followed up on the Xsara air bag light yet.... However, the fault is lack of connection to the driver's airbag I believe, and the advice given above looks good - so I will chat to my sister and see about getting the unit off and checking the connections, before splashing out for a replacement (which is £180.... )

[xsaras4ever]

Hello all and thanks for the advice.

We have removed airbags before , on Phase 1 Xsaras and Peug 406.

However , each time it has just been a single orange connector that pushes into the back of the airbag and has been easy to un-pop with fingers - no metal tools to be used.

However , on this Phase II Xsara with steering-wheel radio controls, there are 3 connectors.

The brown connector comes off the steering wheel itself quite easily but we havn't seen the yellow ones before - one top of airbag , one on bottom.

We have wiggled them a bit but they havn't moved.

We dont want to be idiots about this and cause damage to the airbag or to ourselves - so thought it better to ask - do they pull off or is there a tab you depress or what ?

The connectors are yellow with a blue internal from what we can see.

Thanks

[Mandrake]

I can't answer your question about how the tabs release, but do make sure you disconnect the battery for at least 10 minutes before unplugging any air bag connector, least it accidentally go off in your face!

[xsaras4ever]

Hello again Mandrake.


Absolutely yes , we always disconnect the battery for 30 mins beforehand and we also pop the battery connections into silicone gloves.

The yellow connectors do look like they need some sort of tab to release but airbag stuff is quite scary and we always take a softly softly approach.

[xsaras4ever]

Hello again,

we found out how to open them. There is a little wing that folds back out of the way and allows you to release the connector from the airbag.

Here is a photo of it in the open position.