AIR BAG

[dale86]

Hi I was just driving along today and my airbag light suddenly came on and hasn't gone off since. I will be getting it scanned but just wondered if their is any common faults that leads to this soo I have an idea of what it may be . Thanks in advance

 

[DieselJake]

It's generally the seat, mine came on for about two months straight then disappeared, weird as hell but can't complain haha thus my advice is leave it unless an MOT is around the corner.

 

[Broken Byzan]

It's generally the seat, mine came on for about two months straight then disappeared, weird as hell but can't complain haha thus my advice is leave it unless an MOT is around the corner.

what's wrong with cleaning the connector and reassembling, then clearing code?

Leaving isn't the best advice because the whole system is off while the light is on

 

[DieselJake]

That requires doing something if it ain't broke don't fix it haha.

 

[PetrolDave]

if it ain't broke don't fix it haha.

Thing is, it IS broke - if the airbag light is on then NONE of the airbags will go off if you have an accident and need them

So it really IS worth getting it sorted, unless you like making intimate contact with the steering wheel boss in the event of an accident

 

[dale86]

Cheers lads and dont worry it will definlately be getting fixed soon

 

[shuggy81]

Same thing happened to mine, took it to an indy and they done something to the connection under the drivers side seat, and all gone. Seems to be a common issue with the B6's. I couldnt be bothered trying it myself.

I would recommend you don't ignore, as previous post states, whilst the light is on, none of your airbags will deploy if the worst happened.

Although what is weird is that I now is that I sometimes get the light back on, after being scanned it appears its now the passengers side.

Gotta love Audi's

 

[dualmono21]

the wiring connections over time show a higher than normal impedance , which triggers the airbag warning light
its possible to buy a kit from the dealer to cut the wires and re-solder the connections , clear the codes and hey presto

 

[Ian2012]

There is a fix to lengthen the wires as well, it's a common problem, clean the contacts (sometimes just undoing the plug works) and then spray with electrical contact cleaner, i always use acf 50 for electrical stuff

 

[Mav190sline]

As above. This happened in mine. Had the fault cleared. Ran ok for 3 weeks then airbag light came back on. I removed battery cable, undone all connections under the front seats. Cleaned using electrical contact spray and refitted. That was over a year ago and still ok. Hope that helps

Mark

 

[benjie]

It's common across VW/Audi/Skoda/SEAT... I wiggled the cable on my dad's Octavia and it went away!

 

[DieselJake]

Thing is, it IS broke - if the airbag light is on then NONE of the airbags will go off if you have an accident and need them

So it really IS worth getting it sorted, unless you like making intimate contact with the steering wheel boss in the event of an accident

Airbags will deploy regardless of a light on the dash. Hit and miss whether airbags work and/or deploy anyway, just because the light is off doesn't mean the airbags will deploy.

 

[benjie]

They won't go off if the light is on. They're all deactivated as the car detects a fault in the system. It says it in the handbook. Airbags have a 'life' of 10 years I read before.

Whether they go off or not is up to the car based on the individual characteristics of the accident.

 

[PetrolDave]

Airbags will deploy regardless of a light on the dash. Hit and miss whether airbags work and/or deploy anyway, just because the light is off doesn't mean the airbags will deploy.

Both untrue statements - I spent several years working for one of "The Big Three" car companies developing their airbag systems (smashing 200+ fully instrumented cars into a huge block of concrete and recording what happened with instrumented crash dummies and high speed cameras).

If the airbag light is on the airbags will NOT deploy - end of.

It's not "hit or miss" whether the airbags deploy, the airbags will deploy if the car is doing more than 20mph and the deceleration (as measured by the accelerometers in the airbag ECU and around the car) matches a "crash profile" (assuming the fault light is off).

As to whether airbags work - try talking to any maxilofacial surgeon, (s)he'll tell you they definitely reduce injuries significantly.