the curse of the airbag warning light.
Discussion
right, swmbo's 07 reg vw beetle 1.4 has had a reacurring problem with the airbag warning light coming on.
1st time we were told it needs a new airbag-not covered by the third party warrenty. after arguing the toss with the (mazda) garage we bought the car off we ended up paying around £300 as a contribution to the circa £900 costs.
couple of months later the light comes on again, car taken back again to the same garage where they diagnosed the fault was something to do with the horn sensor or something, fixed under warrenty.
now it's come on again this weekend.
now, i'm inclined to think the mazda garage hasn't a clue what they're doing & might be changing random things, or that seeing as the car is ok for a couple of months at a time there is something else triggering this fault.
has anyone else had any issues of this type?
it's a relatively lightly used little city car, only one previous owner & under 25k miles. no signs of accidents in the past either?
1st time we were told it needs a new airbag-not covered by the third party warrenty. after arguing the toss with the (mazda) garage we bought the car off we ended up paying around £300 as a contribution to the circa £900 costs.
couple of months later the light comes on again, car taken back again to the same garage where they diagnosed the fault was something to do with the horn sensor or something, fixed under warrenty.
now it's come on again this weekend.
now, i'm inclined to think the mazda garage hasn't a clue what they're doing & might be changing random things, or that seeing as the car is ok for a couple of months at a time there is something else triggering this fault.
has anyone else had any issues of this type?
it's a relatively lightly used little city car, only one previous owner & under 25k miles. no signs of accidents in the past either?
Dr G said:
Is there a notable height difference between you and your Mrs? Pushing the seat back fast can jiggle the connector the the airbag and brake it (can be fixed easily).
Otherwise sounds like you need someone non Mazda to look at it
Aye that's the answer I reckon, though the service manager there was vag trained.Otherwise sounds like you need someone non Mazda to look at it
I just can't believe that in 15 months of ownership there's been three seperate airbag faults
One of the MANY current common faults on VAG cars. As stated above, it's normally the passenger seat wiring loom (same seat in most cars, different cloth). the loom is about £17 from VAG, but takes an age to fit removing the seat, stripping off the cloth and padding, then re-installing. My warning light has been on for 3 years, but I'll have to get it fixed before the next MOT in JAn 2013.
WalterEgo said:
One of the MANY current common faults on VAG cars. As stated above, it's normally the passenger seat wiring loom (same seat in most cars, different cloth). the loom is about £17 from VAG, but takes an age to fit removing the seat, stripping off the cloth and padding, then re-installing. My warning light has been on for 3 years, but I'll have to get it fixed before the next MOT in JAn 2013.
So if it is was the sensor fault, how come we get rid of the dreaded orange light for a few months & then it comes back?Don't get me wrong I hope it's something simple like that but I can't figure out why it sorts itself then comes back.
On a related note, though the not changes come in January next year would the car pass its test with the light in this year??
To be honest I'd rather just have the miss's driving round in a safe car but this reoccurring fault is boiling my piss
WalterEgo said:
One of the MANY current common faults on VAG cars. As stated above, it's normally the passenger seat wiring loom (same seat in most cars, different cloth). the loom is about £17 from VAG, but takes an age to fit removing the seat, stripping off the cloth and padding, then re-installing. My warning light has been on for 3 years, but I'll have to get it fixed before the next MOT in JAn 2013.
This + 1Its a faulty wiring in the loom, almost every VAG car over 4 or 5 years old will be failing mot's on similar stuff from this month onwards.
cragswinter said:
cptsideways said:
This + 1
Its a faulty wiring in the loom, almost every VAG car over 4 or 5 years old will be failing mot's on similar stuff from this month onwards.
So realisticly if that is at fault what's the simplest answer? Remove the loom completely as suggested??Its a faulty wiring in the loom, almost every VAG car over 4 or 5 years old will be failing mot's on similar stuff from this month onwards.
Just be careful though as I know of someone recently who set a passenger airbag off testing the wires with a multimeter!(on a bmw)
Friend just rang me re his Audi A4 petrol 02 plate estate, due for an MOT next week. It's a one owner FASH car with 120k on it, athough rather an untidy example to say the least.
Current faults on display
AIRBAG WARNING
ENGINE MANAGEMENT LIGHT
DSC & ABS LIGHTS
The car is probably only worth £600-800 fixed tops, to fix that list of faults would cost hours of work, (Audi wanted £1600!!!) I suggested it was a write off even doing it cheaply.
It's going to the scrapyard today
Current faults on display
AIRBAG WARNING
ENGINE MANAGEMENT LIGHT
DSC & ABS LIGHTS
The car is probably only worth £600-800 fixed tops, to fix that list of faults would cost hours of work, (Audi wanted £1600!!!) I suggested it was a write off even doing it cheaply.
It's going to the scrapyard today
cragswinter said:
Blimey that's unbelievable, hopefully we won't be scrapping the four year old bug because of this light though I've got to be honest a bloody feel like it sometimes
Just be grateful it's not the f
king stupid seat belt light with its equally fking stupid constant binging, or the equally stupid wiring in the tailgate that means the whole thing shuts down, won't open, fog lights don't work, reversing light doesn't work...Bought a golf for reliability
Mind you now that it is all working again and fixed, it is fast and comfortable car that seems to swallow everything you put in it. Brakes are crap though.
Firstly does the car have CANBUS? This is a new bit of technology that should never have been invented. Take a friend's Seat for example. The car which looks beautiful was given to him because it had problems. The front tyres were worn out, the car needed an MOT and it seemed that the battery was a dud. A brand new heavy duty battery was purchased but it too went flat in three days.
Some Internet research was done and the most likely problem was thought to be 5 door software in a 3 door car. The result is that the CANBUS or Body Control Module works 24/7 looking for the two missing doors! I queried this with a Main Dealer's Master Technician and yup, some cars were fitted with the wrong software! As the car is well out of guarantee there would be a fee of over £100 to put it right. As the car is only used about once a week a battery isolator solves the problem. Quite frankly the car should have never been allowed out of the factory with such an awful defect although the fault would never be noticed if the car was driven regularly.
As others have stated check the wires underneath the seats. If a heavy shopping bag is put on the passenger seat that will cause trouble too unless the seat-belt is used to secure the bag! Good luck!
Some Internet research was done and the most likely problem was thought to be 5 door software in a 3 door car. The result is that the CANBUS or Body Control Module works 24/7 looking for the two missing doors! I queried this with a Main Dealer's Master Technician and yup, some cars were fitted with the wrong software! As the car is well out of guarantee there would be a fee of over £100 to put it right. As the car is only used about once a week a battery isolator solves the problem. Quite frankly the car should have never been allowed out of the factory with such an awful defect although the fault would never be noticed if the car was driven regularly.
As others have stated check the wires underneath the seats. If a heavy shopping bag is put on the passenger seat that will cause trouble too unless the seat-belt is used to secure the bag! Good luck!
DaveBenyon said:
Firstly does the car have CANBUS? This is a new bit of technology that should never have been invented. Take a friend's Seat for example. The car which looks beautiful was given to him because it had problems. The front tyres were worn out, the car needed an MOT and it seemed that the battery was a dud. A brand new heavy duty battery was purchased but it too went flat in three days.
Some Internet research was done and the most likely problem was thought to be 5 door software in a 3 door car. The result is that the CANBUS or Body Control Module works 24/7 looking for the two missing doors! I queried this with a Main Dealer's Master Technician and yup, some cars were fitted with the wrong software! As the car is well out of guarantee there would be a fee of over £100 to put it right. As the car is only used about once a week a battery isolator solves the problem. Quite frankly the car should have never been allowed out of the factory with such an awful defect although the fault would never be noticed if the car was driven regularly.
As others have stated check the wires underneath the seats. If a heavy shopping bag is put on the passenger seat that will cause trouble too unless the seat-belt is used to secure the bag! Good luck!
CAN is from the 80's and is a brilliant system, hence even though competitors have appeared and disappeared, CAN still keeps going.Some Internet research was done and the most likely problem was thought to be 5 door software in a 3 door car. The result is that the CANBUS or Body Control Module works 24/7 looking for the two missing doors! I queried this with a Main Dealer's Master Technician and yup, some cars were fitted with the wrong software! As the car is well out of guarantee there would be a fee of over £100 to put it right. As the car is only used about once a week a battery isolator solves the problem. Quite frankly the car should have never been allowed out of the factory with such an awful defect although the fault would never be noticed if the car was driven regularly.
As others have stated check the wires underneath the seats. If a heavy shopping bag is put on the passenger seat that will cause trouble too unless the seat-belt is used to secure the bag! Good luck!
It would be unusual for the Body computer SW to not support both variants of body style. sounds more like someone has been messing with VCDS or equivalent and screwed up the configuration.
May want to try an independent VAG specialist.
Can't speak for the wiring issues.
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