Local garage has diagnosed air bag light on is caused by open circuit passenger side 

sorry haven’t got the code 

they have looked for break in wiring.

checked connectors 

They have now suggested changing the seat belt and pretensioner 

I would appreciate any thoughts please before I go any further

 

I presume you are aware that passenger air bag light on is standard practice in all cars for at least the first 30 seconds...

5 hours ago, Tonyr said:

They have now suggested changing the seat belt and pretensioner 

But are they sure?

Before you go ahead with any suggestions, always have a back up agreement with the dealer.

If any item they suggest isn't the answer, you need it removing, & not paying for it.

They are supposed to be able to diagnose correctly, not guess.

 

Could always try a second hand part from breakers????

2 hours ago, freedie said:

I presume you are aware that passenger air bag light on is standard practice in all cars for at least the first 30 seconds...

If airbag is enabled the "ON" light in orange lights up under the hazard light switch on every start for 65 seconds and if disabled lights up "OFF" in orange for all the time the engine is running.

I have had the car for 2 years and I know the light stays on for a time but the warning light is on all of the time 

mended a broken wire in door hinge which I don’t know what it was for as everything in door was working .

May be have to go to main dealer even from a breakers seat belt is pricey if I could find one 

This is probably the airbag connection under the passenger seat which is an issue across the VAG stable. 

I have had connectors apart and they look fine

Have you locked and unlocked the airbag switch?

Yes have done all that 

would I have to get fault codes cleared to put light out 

I assume I would 

There are probably more connectors than the ones you have located, some are buried in the upholstered section, that said you may have already remade any bad contact, the fault code does indeed need to be erased to extinguish the light, assuming the fault is no longer present.

Well based on their diagnosis that you have written and the fact they cant tell you exactly what is faulty and just suggest changing the seat belt pretensioner... I would be getting as far away from that workshop as possible and going to someone that is actually able to diagnose an airbag fault.

 

It really is not a hard thing to diagnose

-Fault scan to find fault code

-Locate component relating to fault code

-Locate all connectors along the path back to ECU

Disconnect component and ecu. Check each end of the wire of the pair for continuity, resistance and shorts. Ideally load testing the circuit to do it properly. Any faults should arise from wiring. Make sure to do your checks using suitable pins as sometimes the terminating connectors themselves can be loose and cause the issue. Resistance across the wiring should be 0 or 0.1 ohm at most. Make sure the terminating connectors dont have dead short fail safes that will skew your readings. If the wiring faults, split it into sections and retest until the fault is located, if the wiring tests okay, dont test the component, just replace it.

 

Theres also the other method of using the vehicles inbuilt measured values to constantly read resistance whilst checking parts of the circuit. Both work and should be used alongside eachother.

 

TAKE NOTE THIS IS NOT ME TELLING ANYONE TO WORK ON THEIR OWN AIRBAG SYSTEM AND SHOULD LEAVE IT TO A QUALIFIED COMPETENT PERSON - THERE IS A LOT MORE INVOLVED THAN JUST THE BRIEF ABOVE AND YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF.

 

Im simply stating, airbags are a very basic system for a decently qualified mechanic to work on, if they shockingly cant find a specific fault, bin them off.

 

Hear-hear!

My MK2 Octavia was sold as spare or repair due to an alleged broken engine block and a recurring airbag fault, looking through the history file I was shocked to see that the owners had spent thousands with their trusted garage over the years paying to have the airbag fault codes removed every couple of months and having allegedly paid to have the passenger seat airbag and both seatbelts replaced, in the end they got fed up with throwing good money after bad.

 

None of the airbag components had of course been replaced but I could see a lot of bodging had been done on the connectors, I had a few false victorys until I removed the seat and found an extra connector tucked up under the foam squab.

 

The MOT (done by same garage) said upper engine mounting broken, needs new engine block, this was just after they had done a timing belt and left a bolt loose, the broken threaded boss was not the engine block at all but the alloy combined alternator and power steering pump mounting bracket which the engine mount bolts on to, I had one the next day from a breaker on ebay for £10.

1 hour ago, ApertureS said:

Theres also the other method of using the vehicles inbuilt measured values to constantly read resistance whilst checking parts of the circuit.

Can you expand on that please Aperture S?

 

I realise that the controllers must be monitoring the voltage drop in order to give out high or low resistance fault codes but do not know how to access that detail in VCDS, it would be very usefull and avoid having to hold probes in place with both hands with the meter dangling out of view.

 

I get really peeved with the fault codes that say "high resistance or short circuit", they are mutually exclusive and not specifying which one is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

I would assume he is meaning to monitor specific MVB's in airbag module in VCDS whilst you prod/move cables about to see if measured values fluctuate.

 

Could be wrong, but that's how I read that.