Technical Airbag warning - Verify poor contacts or OCS fault

[ianbunyan]

[FONT=&quot]HI all,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have a Stilo 1.9 JTD Dynamic 51-reg.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Have done some very interesting reading on 'airbag failure - stop engine' warning and worn out OCS in this forum. What would the forum say my issue is? based on following developments:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Used to have no warning lights on dash - lucky! Then...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1) In the Summer of 2009, I was driving car on long journey one day, had no previous faults[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2) Then during a long stretch on M4 with passenger (not unusual), 'airbag failure - stop engine' came up on display and stayed up, and red 'airbag' dash light stayed illuminated[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3) Couple of miles later, the light went out and the display cleared[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4) Couple more miles later, 2) happened again, then cleared, then came back... i.e. it was intermittent and random[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5) By the time we reached our destination, the red 'airbag' dash light was on all of the time as was the display 'airbag failure - stop engine'[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6) Oddly enough, during the same journey, the front left speaker became crackly until volume on stereo was turned up some more - this is no longer the case though[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]7) Also oddly enough, the lights that fade on when you unlock the car... well, the front light became problematic and since then has only worked for a few days here and there.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Since that fateful journey in the Summer, every time I start the car...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1) Amber dash light blinks rapidly (one that looks like a kiddie seat with a seatbelt going across it, just under the red airbag light) then goes off[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2) Red 'airbag' dash light comes on and stays on[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3) Display reads 'airbag failure'[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4) 30-60 seconds later, display changes to 'airbag failure - stop engine' and red 'airbag' dash light stays on[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5) No other lights stay on dash during the journey[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6) Pattern is no different with a passenger[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][Also, not sure how this is supposed to work, but with a passenger in the seat who has not got their seatbelt on, there are no warning lights - but as mentioned, not sure if there should be...][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have read the guide by ‘Deck’ but just am not sure which is most likely to be the cause for me... wiring? Or worn OCS?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for reading [/FONT]

 

[reecurner3]

I have the same problem, well, only the "airbag failure - stop engine" one, it happened when i took the airbag plug thing over on the passenger side, the bit where you put the key in to turn it off and on. I took it out to feed the power cable for my amp through the firewall and had to disconnect the air bag loom, but ever since i plugged it back in it has come up exactly the same as yours, when i get in the car it comes on, then the red light, then it comes on a little later all though my journey
Don't mean to jack your thread lol, just thought i'd share my experience

Hope we can find a solution

 

[ianbunyan]

No worries... I should add that, as yet, I have not tried anything (apart from wiggling under-seat wiring with no effect)... AND, do I need to disconnect the battery before unplugging orange connectors and giving them a clean??

 

[reecurner3]

Not too sure about the battery thing, although someone at work advised me to disconnect to battery to then reconnect and see if that has any effect, i mean, this problem has been bugging me for a while now, i got my windows tinted today and the guy there said for me to go in on friday and he'll do a diognostics test thing on it, but i don't really see how it could be anything to do with the wiring on mine as all i did was unplug it, hopefully some light will be shed on it on friday, well, hopefully sooner on this thread.
But yeah thinking about it you might want to disconnect the battery, just in case, i didn't when i unplugged mine, might be what caused it..maybe

 

[T14086]

no need to disconnect battery on stilo to clear errors however its safe practice to disconnect battery when touching any part of the airbag system.

 

[reecurner3]

Hmmr, well, if disconnecting the battery won't make much difference then what else is there that we can do i just don't see how its not working from just disconnecting it, and also in Ians case of it just randomly happening


BLAG! :bang:

 

[Deckchair5]

[FONT=&quot]1) Amber dash light blinks rapidly (one that looks like a kiddie seat with a seatbelt going across it, just under the red airbag light) then goes off[/FONT]
That's normal and shows the OCS is measuring the passenger

[FONT=&quot]2) Red 'airbag' dash light comes on and stays on[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3) Display reads [FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]airbag[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot] failure[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4) 30-60 seconds later, display changes to 'airbag failure - stop engine' and red 'airbag' dash light stays on[/FONT]

Not normal. So first thing i'd do is clean the easiest to get to airbag connectors with electrical contact cleaner. That's

under seats


access door in roof of lower glove box and


pull out compartment oddments storage box on rh side rear boot area. Bear in mind it will take 3 clear starts to clear so do one at a time and test each time so you know which one is the culprit. There's quite a few more but those are the easy ones.

As your OCS is responding normally then it may not be the OCS

[FONT=&quot][Also, not sure how this is supposed to work, but with a passenger in the seat who has not got their seatbelt on, there are no warning lights - but as mentioned, not sure if there should be...]
That's normal, it's up to the passenger whether they wear their seat belt so the driver doesn;t get any warnings
[/FONT]

 

[T14086]

Hmmr, well, if disconnecting the battery won't make much difference then what else is there that we can do

Take it to a garage? Stilo unlike the rest of Fiats range will not display airbag warning light if there are no present fault(s) , same as most of the Alfa range.

 

[ianbunyan]

Fantastic reply Deck ... SO what I will do is start with the drivers side under-seat connector, then wait 3 car starts later to see if it is cleared, then move on to passenger seat, etc. etc. I will keep you updated. Just need to get some contact cleaner

 

[Davren]

When I had a similar problem with my airbag warning, I cleaned and refitted the connector under the passenger seat and the light stayed off immediately.

You may not have to do 3 clear starts. I believe that is neccessary for engine faults.

Be sure to disconnect the battery and wait 20 minutes before working on the airbag system.

Dave.

 

[Godzzi]

from what airbag is the connector from the 3rd picture? It is for the side airbags from the back seats or for the windows airbags?

 

[Deckchair5]

Niether, as I don't have either of those, I would think it was for the rear seat belt pretensioner

 

[T14086]

then wait 3 car starts later to see if it is cleared,

:bang: you dont need to! NO FAULTS PRESENT = NO WARNING LIGHT

 

[ianbunyan]

Got that... from the previous post... ta muchly

 

[mnorth2589]

i have the same damn problem with these airbags in my 1.6 active sport.

i took it to kwik fit when the coil packs went for a diagnostic and it brought up that all four airbag wires have low resistance therfore ithink that they must have worn somehow through use of the car.

but as i dont know where all the cables are to check them (and is a ballache) i think ill try the cleaning method (as i have disconnected the front two before and the light went off for a day but came back in mid drive GRRRRRR :bang:

 

[ianbunyan]

Turns out it is the occupancy sensor and will require a new seat base... Hope I can find one!

 

[gneohbt]

Turns out it is the occupancy sensor and will require a new seat base... Hope I can find one!

just wondering if a ocs emulator from ebay would set the lights off rather than a new seat base which cost twice as much?:idea:

 

[T14086]

but.....if you have a bump and the passenger airbag goes off then that's a new dashboard which is 4 times more expensive than a OCS!