Airbag light - MOT failure?
Discussion
What about diesel heater lamps - the little orange coil indicator? Will that need to be working as well? If so I'll need to find either a donor instrument binnacle or get the existing one repaired. Of course that will necessitate taking it out of the car thus making the car un-driveable!
MrGman said:
How is this going to work with cars that have been turned into track toys?
My Clio 172 no longer has any seatbelt pretensioners or airbags, the light is on but this has never been a problem. I've looked into havin the SRS ECU removed but apparently the main ECU checks for this during the start up and as it's not there obviously throws up the airbag light.
I'm all for cars being to a safe and roadworthy standard but i do hope they don't make it impossible to pass a car that has been modified.
If you go to a Renault specialist or decent garagre this can be fixed. You can access the ECU and let it know there are no pretensioners. My Clio 172 no longer has any seatbelt pretensioners or airbags, the light is on but this has never been a problem. I've looked into havin the SRS ECU removed but apparently the main ECU checks for this during the start up and as it's not there obviously throws up the airbag light.
I'm all for cars being to a safe and roadworthy standard but i do hope they don't make it impossible to pass a car that has been modified.
I can do this if needed. Is pretty easy.
AlLondon said:
If you go to a Renault specialist or decent garagre this can be fixed. You can access the ECU and let it know there are no pretensioners.
I can do this if needed. Is pretty easy.
Yes but:I can do this if needed. Is pretty easy.
"The vehicle will fail the test if any airbag fitted as original equipment is obviously missing or defective.
A seatbelt pre-tensioner fitted as original equipment but missing or that has obviously deployed will be a reason for failure.
Seatbelt load limiters that are missing where fitted as standard or folding webbing type limiters that have obviously deployed are also reasons for failure."
Not just about warning lights though.
Astra Dan said:
AlLondon said:
If you go to a Renault specialist or decent garagre this can be fixed. You can access the ECU and let it know there are no pretensioners.
I can do this if needed. Is pretty easy.
Yes but:I can do this if needed. Is pretty easy.
"The vehicle will fail the test if any airbag fitted as original equipment is obviously missing or defective.
A seatbelt pre-tensioner fitted as original equipment but missing or that has obviously deployed will be a reason for failure.
Seatbelt load limiters that are missing where fitted as standard or folding webbing type limiters that have obviously deployed are also reasons for failure."
Not just about warning lights though.
If it isn't fitted then how can it be tested or failed? If you remove the abs system and replace it with a conventional system (for example standard hydraulic brakes utilising a bias pedal box) then the vehicle does not have abs so it cannot be tested. The same would apply to airbag systems in track cars. There are no airbags to deploy so cannot be tested. I would like to think that any decent MOT tester would interpret the rules according to the vehicle presented in front of him for testing.
Astra Dan said:
Daniel1 said:
so can you change the steering wheel to a race type item? Or do they mean the OE steering wheel with obvious missing/deployed airbag?
I don't know, this is my question too. :SAre we about to see the ph 'track only' classified section bursting at the seams!
Speaking to a few MOT'ers & friends in the motor trade, sell your French & German cars now!
The new MOT's are going to send soooo many cars to the scrap yard early. Find me a 5+ year old French car without a warning light on, a 5+ year VW without an ABS problem or a BMW without a duff Yaw sensor for the DSC. Plus the emissions rules are changing too, my local MOT'er had not had a single PSA Hdi engined car pass at the current level in the past six months.
Many of the issues are fixable but the cost to repair them in the average garage will far outweigh the value of the vehicle.
We'll soon get to see what are the real quality cars, I think I'll be keeping my clockwork Landcruiser for the forseeable future
The new MOT's are going to send soooo many cars to the scrap yard early. Find me a 5+ year old French car without a warning light on, a 5+ year VW without an ABS problem or a BMW without a duff Yaw sensor for the DSC. Plus the emissions rules are changing too, my local MOT'er had not had a single PSA Hdi engined car pass at the current level in the past six months.
Many of the issues are fixable but the cost to repair them in the average garage will far outweigh the value of the vehicle.
We'll soon get to see what are the real quality cars, I think I'll be keeping my clockwork Landcruiser for the forseeable future
snuffle said:
No it's not, go back and read the thread about light sequence.
ignition on pos 2.. they all light up, start the engine they all go out.. no tester is going to fail a car because the battery light and the airbag light went out at the exact same time or know the time for the light to go out on every car.Simon
JollyGrnMonster said:
ignition on pos 2.. they all light up, start the engine they all go out.. no tester is going to fail a car because the battery light and the airbag light went out at the exact same time or know the time for the light to go out on every car.
Simon
No. Even now the testers have a crib sheet. The ABS/ airbag lights should go out WITHOUT starting the engine. I have known a few 'bypassed' cars to be picked up by vigilant testers.Simon
JollyGrnMonster said:
snuffle said:
No it's not, go back and read the thread about light sequence.
ignition on pos 2.. they all light up, start the engine they all go out.. no tester is going to fail a car because the battery light and the airbag light went out at the exact same time or know the time for the light to go out on every car.Simon
AlLondon said:
This will only do engine, and even then will only be Emissions based engine so very limited.
ECU only, yes. I don't know what you mean by "emissions based engine"?My car hasn't got any other computers in it to go wrong, so it's a bit of a moot point for me. On the Elise the SRS light is handled by the ECU. Not that it actually checks anything, as far as I know - maybe the seat belt pre-tensioners?
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 14th December 23:34
I'd almost have more respect for the powers that decide these things to just coem out with it and ban all cars older than ten years old from the roads - do the Germans do that, or is it urban myth?
Most airbag lights will coem on at around ten years of age as that's when most manufacturer handbooks and service schedules recommend replacing the modules as the explosive stuff *may* deteriorate over time. Of course by the time ten years have passed, many cars are worth less than the cost of replacing one module, let alone the umpteen airbags that cars of the last decade come with.
As for why an inoperative airbag is a problem for many - I suspect that's mostly people who remember driving cars that didn't even have them and they weren't killed to death every time they got in them.
As we see here, all it will do is encourage greater numbers of owners and loosely moralled traders to get creative with "workarounds" - and they will...
Most airbag lights will coem on at around ten years of age as that's when most manufacturer handbooks and service schedules recommend replacing the modules as the explosive stuff *may* deteriorate over time. Of course by the time ten years have passed, many cars are worth less than the cost of replacing one module, let alone the umpteen airbags that cars of the last decade come with.
As for why an inoperative airbag is a problem for many - I suspect that's mostly people who remember driving cars that didn't even have them and they weren't killed to death every time they got in them.
As we see here, all it will do is encourage greater numbers of owners and loosely moralled traders to get creative with "workarounds" - and they will...
ks. So I now have to get my airbag light fixed on my Rover, all £500 of it even though it has been deemed roadworthy for the 5/6 years its been on. Not impressed.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff