Hi,
I have tried to search forum for l
Previous threads, but not had any luck. I recently had an airbag failure light come on, on the dashboard. I took it to independent garage who diagnosed fault with the airbag Ecu. I was told that o ly a fiat garage could replace this and re programme unit to the car. I went on a Facebook forum and have been told this can be fixed easily. Is there anyone on this forum who has had experience of this and can you recommend anyone to replace this? Fiat dealership were quoting over £700. The Ecu needs replacing it is not faulty wiring under the seat or anything like that. Thanks

I have to say that given a choice of letting a Fiat dealer do it or taking advice from someone on Facebook...Fiat wins. It's your / passengers life at stake !

werdna said:

I have to say that given a choice of letting a Fiat dealer do it or taking advice from someone on Facebook...Fiat wins. It's your / passengers life at stake !

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Not at all. It s in no way necessary to go to Fiat for this it is easy to change.

I’ve changed loads of them. One bolt is fiddly but easy job.

It’s advisable to replace one with the same number although this has only come up recently.

There are two basic types the metal cased ones on pre 2010 cars or the black plastic topped ones on all the others.

Take the kick panel off to the left of the pedals. Disconnect the Earth battery terminal. You will see the ecu on the floor behind the heater. Next to the clutch pedal you will see two blue electrical connections. You have to push the tab and slide the lever which ejects the plug. Do that to both and pull them out of the way.

Go to the passenger side and locate two 10mm bolts. Start them off with a spanner and then undo them using a 10mm socket on its own, not on a wrench you can finish them off with your fingers.

The tricky one you need to do by feel as you can’t really see it. Looking towards the front of the car it’s on the right hand rear side. You can just see it if you get a torch and get your head right down there. It can be a pig to get out due to where it is.

Once that third bolt is out it will just slide out via the passenger side. Look at the number on the top and have a look on eBay. You should be able to find a good used one for around £100.

If it is damaged rather than having crash data it costs around £200 to repair so it’s worth just getting a good used one.

When fitting forget about that fiddly bolt, the other two hold it in just fine. Feed it through from the passenger side and plug in the plugs. Put the two remaining bolts back in and replace the kick panel.

You will now find that the mileage will most likely flash as the car detects a new module is there. It does not need programming to the car. Once installed you will see that the airbag light has gone off. If the mileage flashes which it doesn’t always especially if you put one in with the same part number it will need a proxy alignment which you can either do at fiat or if you can find one of the many members of this forum that have MES you may get it done for free.

If you need any more help, give me a shout. I’ve done loads of them, the latest one last week.

I think it goes without saying that safety is vitally important, but I want to know whether it can be done elsewhere as I obviously don't want to pay more than I have to! So thank you typecastboy for your reply.

I have a silver cased ecu so will need to check the number on it. I did have a quick look on ebay as you suggested, but I could only find black cased ones. When I'm able to get the number, I will have a further look. Where abouts are you based and would you be willing to fit and do the proxy alignment thingy-me-Bobby? (you'll note I don't have much of a clue when it comes to this sort of thing!) the Mot is due mid October and obviously won't pass without this being fixed. So I am prepared to travel to get this sorted. Also are there any other websites that you'd recommend for ecu replacements. I've seen some breakers, but a little anxious that they may have been involved in a crash or something. I've also noted various companies who claim to repair existing faulty ones. However, I am unsure whether these types of things are repairable or whether I should just get a replacement. You have been very helpful and I thank you for taking the time to explain.

I am in Bromley borough, 10 minutes from j4 of the M25. There are people on this forum up and down the country who have MES.

The silver cased ones are rarer and cost a bit more. Normally around £120-£140. There’s a bloke I use on eBay who resets mine that have crash data and I know he also repairs them but I think it costs a couple of hundred. It’s worth contacting him. Once you get your ECU out, take a picture of the top and send it to him. He should be able to give you a price.

This is the link to his airbag ecu reset service.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/302574613638

Is it really the airbag or is there a wiring fault that raising the error? Seat pressure switch and passenger side disable switch wiring are typical culprits.

My airbag light is also on,
Haven't had a chance to get at the ecu yet,
I took the airbag off the steering wheel and the long flex cable looked ok,
I have also got no horn or steering wheel controls,
They all went at the same time,
Any help is appreciated
Thanks

llamallama said:

My airbag light is also on,

Haven't had a chance to get at the ecu yet,

I took the airbag off the steering wheel and the long flex cable looked ok,

I have also got no horn or steering wheel controls,

They all went at the same time,

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

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As we probably mentioned above, you need to plug the car into MES to find out which airbag out of the 7 or one of the pre tensioners or seatbelts is causing the light to come on.

Might be worth changing you clock spring too as that’s where the connection goes to as it would be a bit of a coincidence as the steering control and horn have packed up too. You can pick them up on eBay for about £20

DaveMcT said:

Is it really the airbag or is there a wiring fault that raising the error? Seat pressure switch and passenger side disable switch wiring are typical culprits.

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I wondering if you can help me as I have the same problem with my airbags and the problem started when my partner moved back the passenger seat with some force! I did think there was a connection but the garage is saying I need a new ECU which is really expensive. How would I get the wires checked ?

Cedsmum said:

I wondering if you can help me as I have the same problem with my airbags and the problem started when my partner moved back the passenger seat with some force! I did think there was a connection but the garage is saying I need a new ECU which is really expensive. How would I get the wires checked ?

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Where are you based?

Ideally wants plugging in to decide what errors it is reporting.

Charlie

Double check the seat plugs if moving the seat caused it it's a simple fault? Un plug and 're connect them possibly disconnect the battery first then see what comes up on 're starting?

Cedsmum said:

I wondering if you can help me as I have the same problem with my airbags and the problem started when my partner moved back the passenger seat with some force! I did think there was a connection but the garage is saying I need a new ECU which is really expensive. How would I get the wires checked ?

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As above. Needs plugging into MES to diagnose. I don’t trust garages when it comes to stuff like this, they generally have no idea.

If you’re nearby to one of the many people on here with MES then that is your first port of call.

The passenger seat has three electrical connections. If you look under the seat from the front you will see them. Disconnect the Earth of the battery and have a look at the wires, you may have damaged them. It’s a possibility the ECU is damaged but unlikely. Depending on the year of your car you can pick one up on eBay or around £100. Get it plugged in first if there’s no sign visibly.

By plugging into MES it will tell you exactly what the problem is.

varesecrazy said:

Where are you based?

Ideally wants plugging in to decide what errors it is reporting.

Charlie

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I’m in Birmingham

typecastboy said:

As above. Needs plugging into MES to diagnose. I don’t trust garages when it comes to stuff like this, they generally have no idea.

If you’re nearby to one of the many people on here with MES then that is your first port of call.

The passenger seat has three electrical connections. If you look under the seat from the front you will see them. Disconnect the Earth of the battery and have a look at the wires, you may have damaged them. It’s a possibility the ECU is damaged but unlikely. Depending on the year of your car you can pick one up on eBay or around £100. Get it plugged in first if there’s no sign visibly.

By plugging into MES it will tell you exactly what the problem is.

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I took it to a garage and they said they plugged it into their machine which I’m guessing is maybe the MES and that’s the diagnosis they gave me but I just think it makes way more sense that it’s something to do with the wires as it happened as soon as the chair moved. Maybe I’ll take it to another garage. Thank you

John202020 said:

Double check the seat plugs if moving the seat caused it it's a simple fault? Un plug and 're connect them possibly disconnect the battery first then see what comes up on 're starting?

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I tried unplugging and plugging back in the wires, didn’t work I’m going to try the battery now. Thanks

Cedsmum said:

I tried unplugging and plugging back in the wires, didn’t work I’m going to try the battery now. Thanks

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Airbag errors won't just clear themselves even after the issues has been resolved they needed to be cleared manually via a code reader

chris3234 said:

Airbag errors won't just clear themselves even after the issues has been resolved they needed to be cleared manually via a code reader

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Some do. Crash data won’t but several airbag/sensor lights will go out once rectified although the ECU will still hold the codes.

Cedsmum

Where in Birmingham ? I'm not far away in Redditch and have MES so depending on which side of Brum your on could pop over and plug it in for you and see what comes up.

Zeewulf said:

Cedsmum

Where in Birmingham ? I'm not far away in Redditch and have MES so depending on which side of Brum your on could pop over and plug it in for you and see what comes up.

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That’s very kind of you! I’m in Bartley Green, if that’s to far I could come to you or meet you somewhere closer