Mitsubishi Mirage Airbag

[Sean01A27clerkenwell]

Hi Im a newbi here so go easy ; )

I have been trying to sort a problem out for my Nephew. He left his car idle for about a month, its a Mitsubishi Mirage on a 15 plate with 13k miles from new.

When he started the car the airbag light stayed on. He had it diagnosed and Fault B1479 B/u Capacity low Requires SRS ECU.

I was amazed that it could not be reset and did some digging I found a "technical Service Bulletin" (TSB-18-52B-001) which addresses this exact fault. The main dealers won't even look at it and just dismiss him and say they have to fit a new airbag module at the cost of £999.50.

I have tried a few independent mitsubishi service centres and they cant help. His MOT is due soon so he has to sort this pretty soon.

What would you do in this situation? seems that to even get a 2nd opinion it would cost him another diagnosis at £138 he has already paid.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[tux850]

Perhaps the 'non-resetability' is down to the assumption that this fault can only be caused by internal component failure which, in Mitsibishi's view at least, is not fixable and thus requires a replacement module. The risk with allowing a reset of a safety-critical component code is that the fault might be intermittent and thus if it is to be reset needs absolute confirmation of a successful repair (otherwise it might return at the worst possible time) which, as mentioned, such a repair is assumed not possible in this instance. As the TSB advises updating the software on the replacement ECU perhaps the process and/or thresholds of failure detection have been changed in the update, at least enough to not be triggered as a consequence of the vehicle battery simply going flat as in your nephew's case.

Have you tried calling any of the SRS ECU specialists? They can often perform magic on these sorts of things given the knowledge and tools that they (or some of them) have. A well-established outfit will, I am sure, be aware of this issue.

Alternatively, if you find the part code of the ECU you could see what options you have buying a replacement off eBay? (And don't let the battery go flat again in case it has the old software!) There are risks with this approach, but it is what I would do which is what you asked.. Certainly no further diagnosis is required - the circumstances that led to this code are clear (and is a situation echoed by others from a cursory search) as is the 'approved' resolution as per the TSB.

Edited by tux850 on Wednesday 31st January 13:52