Punto 54 plate petrol

Driving in the rain the other day along the motorway the yellow passenger airbag light and the redballoon airbag light next it suddenly came on.

I disconnected the battery overnight, did not fix it.

I turned the key in the passenger airbag to the off position did not fix it

I turned the key back to the on position

It seems that the red light comes on because the yellow passenger light flashes for more than 4 seconds at ignition sequence. (it says this in the user manual too)

Where is the OBDII diagnostic plug on the Punto?

What is the cheapest on the market OBDII diagnostic toolkit capable of resetting this light?

If it cannot be reset - because it may be the passenger airbag has a fault which just causes the red one to come on at start up- What is the likely problem and what is the cure?

With airbag lights going to fail MOT soon, this is not making me happy. If I remove the airbag lamp it will likely fail the MOT for having a lamp missing - under the new rules-

If I remove the airbags and the lamps then that might pass the MOT. But I am yet to confirm this.

Kev_marea said:

With airbag lights going to fail MOT soon, this is not making me happy. If I remove the airbag lamp it will likely fail the MOT for having a lamp missing - under the new rules-

If I remove the airbags and the lamps then that might pass the MOT. But I am yet to confirm this.

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Your kidding right? the airbag system is there to protect you and your passenger(s) yet to get it through a MOT your thinking of removing the lamp (which is actually a LED) and the airbags themselves, I hope you tell your insurance company if you do this.

Or.......take it to a garage & get it fixed!

Airbag light Reset process here



Also removing the airbag or the warning lamp will also result in an MOT fail. so you have no option but to get it fixed if you want to pass the MOT.

as the light came on suddenly while driving this is probably down to the airbag isolation switch on the passenger end of the dash which will have triggered the fault, the airbags are only tested on start up so wouldn't have error's while driving.

this is the fix for the fault but you can usually get away with resetting the light when ever it occurs once you've got the kit

you may get away with that on an old car where air bags were an optional extra, but not on most cars built since about 2000, mot man isn't daft

from vosa when the airbag light becomes a testable item

The requirement for the SRS warning lamp to illuminate has been removed. Only if the lamp indicates a
system malfunction will the vehicle fail.

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so even though it would be madness it is a pass if you smash the led

you couldnt make it up

get the laptop out and diagnose it properly

FES free can do the mk2 airbags - so should do the mk2b i think

Ziggy

s and b said:

from vosa when the airbag light becomes a testable item

]

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got a direct link? i can only find the manual publisged in january 2012 and cant see nothing in the special notes either

dave said:

got a direct link? i can only find the manual publisged in january 2012 and cant see nothing in the special notes either

Click to expand...

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Special Notice 3-12.pdf

i cant see pdfs on this pc

Kev_marea said:

Punto 54 plate petrol

Driving in the rain the other day along the motorway the yellow passenger airbag light and the redballoon airbag light next it suddenly came on.

I disconnected the battery overnight, did not fix it.

I turned the key in the passenger airbag to the off position did not fix it

I turned the key back to the on position

It seems that the red light comes on because the yellow passenger light flashes for more than 4 seconds at ignition sequence. (it says this in the user manual too)

Where is the OBDII diagnostic plug on the Punto?

What is the cheapest on the market OBDII diagnostic toolkit capable of resetting this light?

If it cannot be reset - because it may be the passenger airbag has a fault which just causes the red one to come on at start up- What is the likely problem and what is the cure?

With airbag lights going to fail MOT soon, this is not making me happy. If I remove the airbag lamp it will likely fail the MOT for having a lamp missing - under the new rules-

If I remove the airbags and the lamps then that might pass the MOT. But I am yet to confirm this.

Click to expand...

I am close to you, have registered FiatEcuScan, more than happy to plug it in for you if you want. PM me.

AndyRKett, Thanks that's excellent.
Mal126, Thanks for the offer, I'll get in touch
S and B, Thanks, very interesting, are we sure they won't re-introduce the check in the future?

T14086, I've driven plenty of cars without airbags, still drive some now. Yes, faced with a choice of a large repair bill (which might fail again) or removing the system from the car I would be happy to do the cheaper option and drive without airbags. AFAIC it's no big deal. And an insurance co. could not withdraw cover unless the accident was caused by the lack of airbags - which is not going to happen, and it's hardly a material fact which needs disclosing IMHO.

My chosen options in order of preference will be to

1. Get it reset by OBDII software and forget about it
2. Get it reset (again) by OBDII software and do the modification with the wires
3. Cover the LED with black tape & pass MOT forget about it.
4. Remove airbags and cover/remove/break LED

So the option of removal would be last on my list, and in all probability either option 1 or 1 & 2 will be what happens, now that I am aware of them.


Thanks everyone

Kev_marea said:

T14086, I've driven plenty of cars without airbags, still drive some now. Yes, faced with a choice of a large repair bill (which might fail again) or removing the system from the car I would be happy to do the cheaper option and drive without airbags. AFAIC it's no big deal.

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Yes your choice but poor advice on a responsible public forum, airbags are there for a reason whether you think it's a big deal or not.

Kev_marea said:

And an insurance co. could not withdraw cover unless the accident was caused by the lack of airbags - which is not going to happen, and it's hardly a material fact which needs disclosing IMHO.

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Although there are reasons for removing airbags I would still tell the insurance company to make sure they are happy with what you have done. Agreed it doesn't cause accidents but they can void your insurance (and have done) and even take legal action against you in the event of an accident.

With the help and knowledge of fellow members here it will be cheap to repair your fault without resulting to drastic measures.

Removing the airbags will void your warrenty - as you have modified the car

And tbh.... the airbags will still be there - just not connected.... so it'd fail the MOT still....

Unless you fit an aftermarket wheel - and find a punto with a Driver airbag only....

Ziggy

54 plate punto, out of warranty long time ago

some people have a warranty from a warranty company

Since when had airbag lights been an MOT failure? I had mine on for 2 years before eventually getting it fixed and it passed both times

dave said:

some people have a warranty from a warranty company

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True Dave, wont cover wiring though.

jmckee4 said:

Since when had airbag lights been an MOT failure?

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April this year.

T14086 said:

True Dave, wont cover wiring though.



April this year.

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its not been implemented yet
it was stalled
late summer they said but that could be anytime seeing as we havent had a summer

yes maybe, think june was mentioned? My next car not due MOT until sept.

Why would you consider removing a security and safety feature from your car? That's just as mad as removing a reserve parachute on the grounds that your previous jumps were ok.
Fix the problem, pass the mot maintain a safe vehicle.
Ta.