Technical Air back alarm light on ... after seat removal

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Technical Air back alarm light on ... after seat removal

with the 2003-2005 models you won't be needing the obd2-3pins cable but with all other barchetta's you need both cables.
 
Hi,

I've got the same number ending 98 on my ABS unit and have been looking into which cables to buy (seats taken out by local garage without the battery being disconnected)

Can anybody advise the best option since the links on this post are a couple of years old.

Thanks
B
 
Hi

In an attempt to reset my airbag following seat removal(98 Barchetta), I've purchased the following set of leads and installed the required drivers including Multiecuscan

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391022515690

I've connected to the 3 pin port in the passenger foot well and used a 12v battery to provide power.

To test the drivers/com port I selected position 1 on the VAG KKL cable (Engine ECU) and ran a scan. On completion it reports back an Hitachi MPI injection, which indicates the drivers/port are installed correctly.

I then selected Position 2 (Airbag ECU) on the VAG KKL cable to scan for faults.

However, when i run TRW2SCAN it keeps displaying 'ECU response timeout!' during the scan.

Has anybody any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong??

Thanks
Bryan
 
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Thanks to everyone very for the quick responses!

HP - You spotted my mistake straight away :) .....I was indeed connecting to the wrong 3 pin cable in the passenger footwell.

Found the correct yellow cable and followed the instructions detailed in post 19 above.

Had to run Trw2scan.exe twice before the light went out, but all is back to normal.

It's also worth noting that the selectable cable i bought needed to be set to the first position (7) for the reset to work.

Had the car for 17 years, so might get anther one out of it now???

Thanks again
Bryan

:D:D
 
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hi guys. I'm watching this thread like a hawk. I have been living with airbag light problem ever since I stupidly removed the seats to fix a fuel pump seal.What I have learned is that I most likely have a TRW, airbag ECU, made right next door in Michigan.According to the vin the car was built in June of 97. When the car is off the road for winter I will remove it to check the numbers.Thanks for all of your info,Hal
 
Hi

I managed to use a torch and my phone to take a picture of the unit from the passenger foot well without removing it. Zooming in on the label clearly showed the model number etc.

Hope this helps

Bryan
 

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Quick question.
I will be removing my seats to do several jobs over winter ie; removal of plastic floor covering checking the floor for any rust also removing my petrol tank, to sort the petrol smell.
So I want to be able to move the car during its strip down, if I unplug the main plug from the airbag ECU will I be able to reconnect my battery so that I can drive the car without the seats? Just to manoeuvre the car around the garage.
Regards Dave M
 
Quick question.
I will be removing my seats to do several jobs over winter ie; removal of plastic floor covering checking the floor for any rust also removing my petrol tank, to sort the petrol smell.
So I want to be able to move the car during its strip down, if I unplug the main plug from the airbag ECU will I be able to reconnect my battery so that I can drive the car without the seats? Just to manoeuvre the car around the garage.
Regards Dave M


I was interested in the question and was waiting for a reply.
brian
 
If you reconnect the battery, without the airbags connected, that will be fine. But, when you start the car, it will check the airbags, find some missing, or not responding and pop a warning light on.
When you've refitted the seats, it will probably still leave the warning light on. This may reset after 3 starts, when the ECU is happy that all is again well, or it might need resetting using software, like MultiECUScan, or the dealer computer.

Presumably there's been no reply, because no-one has tried it, not wanting the hassle if it won't clear itself.

You'll need to very careful moving the car without seats. It is very easy to slip, and with no backrest, you could lose the brake and clutch.
 
Hi Nigel.
After a long think about this I think you are right, the main ECU will report that the airbag ECU is not returning information, and will report am error. Resulting in the dreaded airbag warning light.
Thanks for your reply I presume also that no one has tried this.
 
If you disconnect the battery and leave the car's airbag ECU/other systems to self discharge for 15 to 20 minutes and then disconnect the main airbag ECU connector and then disconnect the seat cables as you want to do then you should be able to reconnect the battery AND turn the ignition on with no problems.

The airbag system is a totally separate system (for obvious reasons) and if you correctly disconnect the systems brain/ECU then it just does not exist. The problems occur when one tampers with parts of the system.

When putting back ensure the battery is disconnected and the car left to self discharge to rest for 15 to 20 minutes (engine ECU, clock module, and other active devices will have stored energy that could hold the car's 12V power lines positive for a period of time). Then put the all the airbag system connectors back together again.

With the connector under the seats then I would check them for damage, bent pins, etc and then spray both parts of the connector with "switch clean and lube fluid" and then plug and unplug the connectors a couple of times to allow the pins and sockets to wipe themselves clean of any surface oxidation. Radio Spares / Maplins sell various electrical lube and clean products. I've used WD40 as a last resort in the past with no issues at all. Indeed on my old Tipo and Tempra which were my first cars with modern ECUs / Injection systems / electronics etc. I used to WD40 lube all the engine bay connectors every service.
 
i have been watching this thread and i have a question : my car as a TRW airbag module number 46535343 my car as the 3 pin plug and i have sucessfuly conected the blue vagcom with the 3 pin cable and multiecuscan (free version) to the engine ecu . pluging the cable under the gloove compartement plug is it possible reset the airbag ligth with multiecuscan off this specific airbag module ??
i disconected the battery for removing the seats but it seams i didn't wait for the necessary time for discharging the system capacitators !!
 
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i just tried out , and ... it worked out just fine (y)
after all , the error was still present and it was the plug under the drivers seat as usual... i just dismantled the plug it self and i find out the pins were all green , sand it up with fine sand paper aplyed a coat off wd40 and raped all up again.
with multiecuscan made a new diagnostic and the error was "intermitent" (not present any more), so , i was able to reset it :cool:
it's all normal again :)
 
You have the unit ending with 98. Same as mine and not able to reset with fiatecuscan.
But you can if you do the next:

first get an obd2 cable
this is selectable so you can read abs and engine with fiatecuscan

than you need:
Then install all drivers included with the obd2 cable.
install fiatecuscan to read out engine and abs

To reset airbag please read (google translated)
- Download the zip file from the following link:
- Unzip the file to a directory in the root of the C drive, eg c: \ trw2scan
- Connect the USB connector of the KKL / OBDII connector to the computer
- Close the 16pins connector of the 3pin adapter to the OBD connector
- Connect the 3 pin connector to the airbag connector. This is in a dummy plug on the fan in the foot well of the passenger seat
- Connect the red wire of the 3 pin adapter cable to 12V (battery)
- Put the key in the ignition and turn (so the engine does not start) it to the first position
- You now have two options, use the command prompt or Windows Explorer.

Command Prompt
- Open the command box (W7 and W8 type cmd, then enter)
- Type: cd ..
- Repeat this until you are in the root of the C drive
- Type: cd trw2scan and gives enter (if you received the program in a different directory ge-unzip you choose that directory)
- Type: trw2scan trw2.obd and press enter

Windows Explorer
- Browse to the directory where the program is (C: \ trw2scan in the example)
- Right click on trw2.obd
- Choose OPEN
- Choose CHOOSE A PROGRAM INSTALLED (text could be something else, I an English Windows version) Choose OK
- Choose BROWSE
- Now browse to the program directory and choose the program trw2scan.exe

The program is now run in the DOS box. It makes contact with the airbag ECU and gives an overview of the error messages.
Finally it proposes a query that looks something like this:

reset faults y / n

- Now key y

The errors are reset and the DOS box terminates automatically. I had to run the program twice but then the light on my dashboard was out

Success!

THANK YOU :worship: After several days of fighting with AirBag error, i found this tutorial and litle software! Error eventually cleared! THANKS!
 
Hi. I found a small program I used to turn my airbag light out, trw2scan.
My "B" is -97, and the ecu is 46443798.
Search for "Trw2scan - RepairWiki" and find out more.
By the way, there is an video there he shows how it works, but you don't need to take out the ecu, just use 3 pin adaptor and a obd2 ;)
 
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