Passenger Airbag warning light

May 7, 2024
9
0
Hi folks
Just replaced the blower resistor on my 2010 Ibiza 1.6 TDS.
As per Youtube video, this involved removing glove box and unplugging the air bag.
After putting back together, airbag warning light stayed on. Removed glove box and re-inserted plug. This time light goes off and after a few seconds comes back on.
Code reader comes up with message 2Air - Not ready. I have tried to erase. this to no avail
Any thoughts?
 

dm222

Active Member
Dec 7, 2013
1,474
47
Airbag errors remain untill your clear it with software

Should remove battery negative terminal before disconect airbag or perform any action at all in the airbag to prevent this and also for your own safety.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Tell
May 7, 2024
9
0
Airbag errors remain until your clear it with software

Should remove battery negative terminal before disconect airbag or perform any action at all in the airbag to prevent this and also for your own security.
Thanks for response.
So what software do I need?
 

Tell

Full Member
Staff member
Moderator
Or obdeleven... you might need the Pro. Probably other coding tools.

It's the clear errors. If obdeleven has a clear errors on it without the pro option then that will do.

The issue hits people pulling fuses that they don't know what the fuse is. Air bags should never be unplugged when live else it sees that as an error. Half the circuit is live, the other isn't so it generates the error. Pulling the battery off stops that error ever getting set but you might have to retrain the windows, the mirrors etc. Depends on the model on retraining those.
 
May 7, 2024
9
0
Thanks folks
What is a VCDS?
The code reader I have been using is a Vgate 0BDII/E0BD+CAN which I assume is an obdeleven. It has an erase function
FYI it is not showing any codes.
But some interesting information under the I/M section
I disconnected the battery to see if that would help. Left it for 15 minutes before re-connecting. Same thing.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,851
1,007
South Scotland
I think that your OBDII is actually OBD2 which is also called EOBD.
OBDeleven is also written as OBD11.

So your scan tool will probably not be able to read SRS fault codes, that will be why none are being “seen” and so can’t be erased.
 
May 7, 2024
9
0
I think that your OBDII is actually OBD2 which is also called EOBD.
OBDeleven is also written as OBD11.

So your scan tool will probably not be able to read SRS fault codes, that will be why none are being “seen” and so can’t be erased.
Thanks for that. An OBD2 scanner doesnt look too expensive so looks like I'll have to get one.
 
May 7, 2024
9
0
I think that your OBDII is actually OBD2 which is also called EOBD.
OBDeleven is also written as OBD11.

So your scan tool will probably not be able to read SRS fault codes, that will be why none are being “seen” and so can’t be erased.
Just checked again, the scanner is a VGate 310 which according to the spec 'supports all OBD2 protocols including the CAN protocol. So this one should do the business.
Back to the drawing board
 

Tell

Full Member
Staff member
Moderator
Different product masquerading as Obdeleven. These dongle companies wanting to get in on the action. I know Syphon used a dongle once after an airbag light came on with fitting a camera.... they aren't coding dongles just scanners. Syphon's cleared the air bag light, I remember with that dongle. Not a proper Obdeleven device. Mind you I'd say buy Obdeleven and get the pro if you tinker with cars. If it's just for coding you can allow the pro license to drop once you have done the coding, Cheaper than obdeleven without the pro license but using the black box micro payment apps. That end of the market on the same device is to take on the dongles that don't offer coding. The vast majority of them.

It's a lesson you learn not to randomly pull fuses if you don't know what it does. I learnt it on my Altea when it refused to start it was dead. There was power to it but turning the ignition did nothing. It was an under the bonnet fuse that that I pulled that caused the air bag light to come on. Alteas mystery electrics, the car started the next day but the airbag light stayed on. The dealer cleared it for free when they were checking out why it was playing up on starting. In retrospect it could have been the immobiliser playing up. Think they reset after a day or something :oops:. Talking about 20 year old car electronics in the Altea.

When we say mystery electrics a few years later I had a bout on headlights "on" with the switch turned off. That lasted a few days and fixed itself. Dampness probably. Altea the dealer said has an electrics control box that is temperamental (one of those high value things). By that stage the dealer had the habit of charging for diagnosis so I didn't bother with the diagnosis given that it had cleared itself.

Generally you are suppose to pull the battery if fiddling with the electrics for this reason but as said in the previous post you then have to retrain the windows so they drop on one touch and the mirrors fold in and don't stay out if they work like that. It's one touch that has to be reset.

Edit.. found the post now... cover one touch in that as well.


Reckon it was this one Syphon used

 
Last edited:
May 7, 2024
9
0
Different product masquerading as Obdeleven. These dongle companies wanting to get in on the action. I know Syphon used a dongle once after an airbag light came on with fitting a camera.... they aren't coding dongles just scanners. Syphon's cleared the air bag light, I remember with that dongle. Not a proper Obdeleven device. Mind you I'd say buy Obdeleven and get the pro if you tinker with cars. If it's just for coding you can allow the pro license to drop once you have done the coding, Cheaper than obdeleven without the pro license but using the black box micro payment apps. That end of the market on the same device is to take on the dongles that don't offer coding. The vast majority of them.

It's a lesson you learn not to randomly pull fuses if you don't know what it does. I learnt it on my Altea when it refused to start it was dead. There was power to it but turning the ignition did nothing. It was an under the bonnet fuse that that I pulled that caused the air bag light to come on. Alteas mystery electrics, the car started the next day but the airbag light stayed on. The dealer cleared it for free when they were checking out why it was playing up on starting. In retrospect it could have been the immobiliser playing up. Think they reset after a day or something :oops:. Talking about 20 year old car electronics in the Altea.

When we say mystery electrics a few years later I had a bout on headlights "on" with the switch turned off. That lasted a few days and fixed itself. Dampness probably. Altea the dealer said has an electrics control box that is temperamental (one of those high value things). By that stage the dealer had the habit of charging for diagnosis so I didn't bother with the diagnosis given that it had cleared itself.

Generally you are suppose to pull the battery if fiddling with the electrics for this reason but as said in the previous post you then have to retrain the windows so they drop on one touch and the mirrors fold in and don't stay out if they work like that. It's one touch that has to be reset.

Edit.. found the post now... cover one touch in that as well.


Reckon it was this one Syphon used

Thanks for this but I didnt pull any fuses, so not sure what you mean here and I was aware that it was the connector for the airbag
Funny you should mention the side lights but at the beginning, the nearside side lights came on by themselves. After starting the engine they went back to normal
From what I can see of the spec of the scanner in the link you posted`, it is the same as the Vgate
 

Tell

Full Member
Staff member
Moderator
Disconnecting the air bag has the same effect :oops:. It's looking out for airbag errors. I suspect you did have one side of the circuit live and another side disconnected. Probably the bit live was upstream of what you disconnected. A monitor of the circuit, failed wiring of unplugging it would be seen as a broken connection. Same result as random pulling of fuses if you hit on a fuse that covers part of the circuit. That's what happened to me 17 years ago. Those under the bonnet fuses in an Altea. My last dealer said that fuses were not a customer area in answer to the hidden ones in RHD cars under the drop down glove box. Ateca. He didn't know himself how to get at them when I asked.

It happens to all of us. Moral is don't touch airbag connections or related fuses if you don't disconnect the battery. Those that start pulling fuses looking for a 12volt connection for the dash camera fall into this trap if they hit on the airbag fuse.
 
May 7, 2024
9
0
OK,
Pont taken. So having scanned everything and found no error messages, how do I sort the issue of the airbag warning light going off and then coming back on?
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,851
1,007
South Scotland
When you used that scan tool, did you check the list of controllers that it “found”?

If so, was the airbag system included along with all other possible non engine related controllers, at the moment I can’t remember which controller covers the air bags.
 
May 7, 2024
9
0
@fraid not as didnt know what I was looking for when I first looked at it. Thought I would find some codes. I dont have much experience using the scanner. Never needed to as although the car is 14 years old it's been really reliable.