Airbag warning light on

Shurwhynot

I drive a '00 Seat Leon and the airbag warning light has been on for the best part of a year. I was told that this wasn't a big deal so left it alone but now my NCT is coming up so must get it fixed.

My local mechanic said he couldn't fix it and said i'd have to go to a dealer. Would a Volkswagon dealer be able to rectify this for me or would it specifically have to be a Seat dealer? I live in Cork and there is no Seat dealer in the city so it would be very awkward to have to go to Midleton or Killarney, which is where the nearest Seat dealerships are

2 Espressi

Ring the VW place and ask? ECUs shoudl be the same…

There's a Seat dealer in Mallow as well I think?

EPM

Kiely's are in Mallow. Ring Cashmans and ask for Aidan. Arrange a simple diagnostic check and you'll know for sure. Although you don't have to go to a dealer. Find another mechanic with VAGCOM. Autowerks in Midleton are VAG specialists.

Midleton is probably the closest dealer to the city though. You'd be there in 15 minutes easily and if you pre-booked they'd check while you waited. Also their labour rates arent the worst down there either.

tossy

Whoever told you it was no biggie was misinforming you,when there is a fault logged in the Airbag control unit the air bag won't function!

It could well be a loose connection under one of the seats (if you have airbags in the side of the seats,these often get loose or frayed from moving the seat and it will throw a resistant too high fault.Check under the seats yourself to see what state the wiring is in,it could be a simple case of patching up a loose connection and then getting anyone with VCDS (vag com) to reset the dash warning light.

Esel

tossy wrote: »

It could well be a loose connection under one of the seats (if you have airbags in the side of the seats,these often get loose or frayed from moving the seat...

You don't need airbags in the seats for this problem to occur.

barochoc

tossy wrote: »

Whoever told you it was no biggie was misinforming you,when there is a fault logged in the Airbag control unit the air bag won't function!

It could well be a loose connection under one of the seats (if you have airbags in the side of the seats,these often get loose or frayed from moving the seat and it will throw a resistant too high fault.Check under the seats yourself to see what state the wiring is in,it could be a simple case of patching up a loose connection and then getting anyone with VCDS (vag com) to reset the dash warning light.

Agreed, My Citroen Xantia has been like this for a long time. It's an instant NCT fail. I read that it was most likely a sensor or wire under the drivers seat.

If you can't get a diagnostics report or garage to look at it before NCT you could always unscrew the clock from the dash & remove the bulb for the airbag so it doesn't show when the NCT guy is runnign the test.

I'm pretty sure they're only looking for lights staying on & not lights that don't come on.

I would still advise you to go & have it checked out. Have a look on Buy & Sell or even adverts.ie to see if any guys are near you with the equipment to sort this out.

don't forget, Google is great for getting some info on other peoples experience of the same problems. Always worth an hour or two before calling in the big guns

Esel

barochoc wrote: »

If you can't get a diagnostics report or garage to look at it before NCT you could always unscrew the clock from the dash & remove the bulb for the airbag so it doesn't show when the NCT guy is runnign the test.

I'm pretty sure they're only looking for lights staying on & not lights that don't come on.

I'm pretty sure you're wrong there. There is a slight possibility that the tester might not notice the light not coming on with all the other lights, but that's all it is - a slight possibility.

tossy

esel wrote: »

You don't need airbags in the seats for this problem to occur.

Well if you don't have airbags in your seats there will be no connection under your seat to get frayed or loose as there will be no loom running to the seat.

Esel

tossy wrote: »

Well if you don't have airbags in your seats there will be no connection under your seat to get frayed or loose as there will be no loom running to the seat.

Eh...... no. Sensor in passenger seat to detect presence of passenger (if passenger airbag fitted). Also, if seat belt pre-tensioners are present, won't there be wires to them too?

barochoc

esel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you're wrong there. There is a slight possibility that the tester might not notice the light not coming on with all the other lights, but that's all it is - a slight possibility.

99% chance he won't notice the light not coming on. 100% chance he'll notice the light that stays on or flashes. You do the math

tossy

esel wrote: »

Eh...... no. Sensor in passenger seat to detect presence of passenger (if passenger airbag fitted). Also, if seat belt pre-tensioners are present, won't there be wires to them too?

Most cars don't have a sensor in the passenger seat to detect the presence of a passenger,the passenger side airbag will go off regardless!!

Seat belt pre tensioners are at the bottom of the B pillar where the seat belt real is not in the seat.