I have avoided scanning my 2002 Octavia's airbag controller so far in case the airbag warning light is triggered by the VAG-COM. (This issue is covered by Ross-Tech in the link below.) Thanks to WJH Motors at Riseley who checked my car with their 1551/2, I now know that the part number of my car's airbag controller is 1U0 909 605L - which means that it should be safe to scan with my VAG-COM. My car was built in Aug 2001 so I would expect all Octavias of that vintage and later to be fitted with airbag controllers which should likewise be safe to scan. The problematic part number is 6Q0 909 605A (Golf, Jetta/Bora and Beetle) and variations of that fitted to similar SEAT and Skoda models.

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/vw_issues.html

I know my 03 plate is 99+% safe but i'm still too scared!

Bit the bullet and scanned mine just now. All OK with the airbag controller. I changed a couple of locking codes then tried scanning again - but inadvertently left the ignition off and only got results for the engine and radio. When I tried a further full scan I got a warning when the scan reached Address 15 - Airbags. The warning advised that the previous scan of the airbag controller had been unsuccessful and that I should turn the ignition off, wait for 30 seconds (which counted down on the screen), and then switch the ignition back on. I then had the option of resuming the scan - which I did - or cancelling it. That further scan was successful.

I used a Ross-Tech HEX+CAN-USB interface lead plugged into a USB2 port on a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop running VAG-COM Release 504-1. A full scan of the 10 addresses relevant to my car took around 2 minutes at most.

Denis

The Ross-Tech web site advises that scanning with the latest software (even the suspect modules) appears to be quite safe.

They have identified what wakes the bug in the firmware and have changed their software to avoid waking the bug.

Using early software on the questionable modules may have dramatic consequences.

Yours look quite safe.

Cheers

Dougal

Dennis

Here is a demo of vag-com including scanning the aibag controller.

http://www.onboarddiagnostics.co.uk/vagcom/vagcom_demo.html

Hope this helps

Dougal

Thanks for that, Dougal. It is an excellent demo of what the latest VAG-COM software and interface can do.