Technical Air Bag warning light & connectors

[AgainTheTime]

Re: Air bag with a difference

Ok, OCS mat arrived. I brought it out to the car and quickly checked whether it solved my problems by disconnecting the grey connector and plugging in the new one. Started engine and still have the beeps and "Airbag Failure" message.

Let me step back in time a bit and perhaps one of you insightful and helpful fellows could comment on my problem.

1) Airbag errors appear and I mention it at next service.
2) Garage says yep, "L/H/F seat sensor faulty" and quotes me a amazing total of €420 to replace. [see service_page.jpg below] Examiner printout verifies the problem (it does, doesn't it?) [see examiner_page.jpg below]
3) Order part myself (~€160 delivered) and as mentioned, doesn't solve problem.
4) I've now noticed that there is a recall out for my VIN which I've read here may solve the problem seeing as I have side curtain airbags.
5) I call Fiat Ireland to check any recalls on my VIN, but nothing shows up as being done and nothing shows up as needs doing. I quote the recall in (4) and the guy says that its a UK recall and there's been no similar recall in Ireland.

The guy in Fiat Ireland suggests that I call my dealer and tell him about the UK recall and he may do the work (for free) based on it. My point to him was that I don't think they will seeing as there is no such recall in Ireland (mad really) and my relationship with my dealer isn't exactly great at the moment as I had words with them about their charges(see 2 above).

Any suggestions as to what way to proceed? I'd rather not hand the car back to the dealer to "fix" and have to sell my right arm to pay for the parts and labour especially if I was in the UK it might be eligible for free repair under the recall.

TIA,

 

[T14086]

Re: Air bag with a difference

If it says 'internal errors' which it does it has to be replaced.

Normally electrical items are non-returnable so you might as well fit it & see what happens then,possible might have to get code cleared.

 

[Deckchair5]

Re: Air bag with a difference

Like T1 says, the Examiner is stating intermittent OCS fault so you have to change that first to eliminate it

After that, you might just have a common bad orange air bag underseat connector
Does the airbag light go on at start up-then off -then stay permanently on?
Is it intermittent?
Does it only go on when someone sits in the passenger seat?
Does it only go on when someone moves a seat?

I think the recall is to change the airbag ECU to prevent inadvertent deployment of the curtain air bags so if there's a different problem there within the airbag ECU you might be lucky and a new ECU cure it

 

[AgainTheTime]

Re: Air bag with a difference

Thanks for the replies guys!

I'm going to go ahead and fully replace the OCS mat and then take it to a Fiat dealer to have errors deleted/reset. Fingers crossed...

To answer Deckchair's questions:

Does the airbag light go on at start up-then off -then stay permanently on?
When I initially turn the key there are a few lights that come on which I presume are part of standard startup as these all came on when the car was healthy. They then all switch off but about 3 seconds afterwards, the red airbag light comes on and stays on permanently. When the "checking" is done I get the "ding" and error message.
Is it intermittent?
It used to be intermittant. By that I mean sometimes the car would start fine no errors and then at some stage in my journey the "Ding" and error would appear and stay there. Now, however, it happens all the time at startup as described above.
Does it only go on when someone sits in the passenger seat?
No, when someone sits in the passenger seat the amber (yellow) light below the red airbag light (looks like a childs car seat on a seat) flashes for a few seconds and then disappears. Think someone said this is the OCS mat caluclating weight etc??
Does it only go on when someone moves a seat?
No

Hopefully, when I fit the OCS mat and the garage reset the code, it will solve the problem and I don't have to go down the "persuading them to do a recall" route.

Thanks again guys!

 

[Deckchair5]

Re: 1.6 Stilo Air Bag Switch

The passenger air bag disable switch you can see if you open the passenger door wide and look to the edge of the dashboard, you operate it with the ignition key but it won't stop the air bag failure light coming on. The switch just tells the airbag ECU not to inflate the passenger air bag.

THINK which fault you have from the following symptoms

OC SENSOR FAULT
AIRBAG FAILURE warning happens only and immediately when someone sits or moves about in the passenger seat, steadily gets worse until it happens every time you turn ignition on. Twiddling with under seat wiring doesn nothing and it's usually accompaned by much flashing of the amber "passenger air bag switched off" warning light.
CURE
Need to change the passeger OC Sensor described in the Stilo Guides above

UNDERSEAT WIRING MOVEMENT
Movement of the seat or underseat wiring trips the AIRBAG FAILURE warning light but movemment of the under seat wiring temporarily cures it

THE CURE
I have AT LAST I believe found a more permanent cure for the underseat wiring movement tripping the AIRBAG FAILURE warning light which I'll post up later on when i have time with some piccies. My warning light was going off every week with the underseat wiring and now it hasn't made a peep for over a month so I'm fairly convinced I have the cure!

Yeah i know weld the seat to the floor! Ha! Not as drastic as that but simple and something anyone can do in 5 mins not involving any cutting of wires or soldering and costs just £4 but i need to take some piccies to help explain

ABS/ASR failure can be brake light switch out of adjustment. Check if your brake lights are permanently on

 

[AgainTheTime]

Re: Air bag with a difference

Ok, just to put some closure on this, I finally got it sorted.

I brought it back to the garage today and got them to clear the codes, turns out 2 new errors appeared on examiner:

"Rear Passenger side airbag explosive charge value too high
Rear driver's side airbag explosive charge value too high"

They repaired the wiring on both of these airbag connections and lo and behold I now have a stilo that doesn't beep on startup!!! Oh the joy....

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: looks like they might have soldered the connectors as the guy mentioned cutting the connectors off and soldering the wires:
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-technical/26609-airbags-going-mad.html?highlight=explosive+charge

 

[Adze]

Air Bag Warning Light (again!)

Guys,

Sorry to be a nuisance, and I know this has been discussed many times before, but I have been getting this airbag failure warning light continously for nearly a month now.

I have tried the excellent guide to fixing the problem by Deckchair5, but it did not work. Has anyone got any other solutions?


Many Thanks


Paul

2002 5 dr Stilo Abarth 2.4

 

[Deckchair5]

Re: Air Bag Warning Light (again!)

Is your passenger seat OC sensor gone? Details of symptoms and how to replace are in the Stilo Guides

If you don't have the common faults of under seat wiring or OC Sensor gone then the airbag ECU is triggering a warning because of a fault in the system which will need going on to Examiner to identify

 

[Shaker]

Re: Air Bag Warning Light (again!)

Hey dunno if the guide says anything about the connecter in the glovebox, but that was what was causing the problem for me last time i had a airbag failure.
You might wanna try fiddling with that connecter, if it comes back.

 

[Rich]

Re: Air Bag Warning Light (again!)

Hey dunno if the guide says anything about the connecter in the glovebox, but that was what was causing the problem for me last time i had a airbag failure.
You might wanna try fiddling with that connecter, if it comes back.

Eeeek, that's the main passenger airbag connector if I'm not mistaken!!
Careful if playing around with that!!!

 

[Shaker]

Re: Air Bag Warning Light (again!)

uh oh
Well it worked for me, disconnected and rearranged the pins, connected it again.. airbag light disappeared and haven't come back ever since

 

[Muki]

Re: air bag warning light

This helps for sure:
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/72482-airbag-failure-warnings.html

 

[numero-uno]

New OCS , and still Air Bag Failure!

Hi

Just got back from Fiat in Southgate, after purchasing new OCR sensor for my stilo jtd 1.9 3dr 2002. Placed the new foam seat (with OCR sensor built in) on top of the existing seat of the off-side chair. Plugged in the grey connector into the grey block. Switched the engine on, and again the beep, beep, beep alarm , STOP engine, AIRBAG FAILURE.

The red light on the dashboard (picture of a deployed airbag) is still illuminated , and will not go away!

Also tried seating on the new seat, as per instructions in the guide by Deckchair, whilst engine on etc.

Before this, I tried moving the orange connectors, and other wires under both seats, and this error is not going away.,

What else could it be?? V. cheesed off that I just forked our a 100 quid on something that is useless!

Pls help. cheets

 

[Deckchair5]

Re: New OCS , and still Air Bag Failure!

Awww. You should have asked here first before stumping out for an OCS.
The guides are clear as to what the symptoms are for each item. If the light goes on when someone sits in the passenger seat but goes out when they get off then it's OCS. If not then it may well be something else. The airbag failure is simply saying there's something up in the system

There are a lot of airbag connectors that you need to search for and give the same treatment, as explained in the guides, to each depending on how many airbags you have in your car.


Air bag connector in the roof of lower glove box behind a small drop down panel

Connector at rh rear over shock absorber

There are others if you have rear airbags or side curtain airbags, there are also connectors to the side air bags but go for the easy ones first

After you've done the above ones and any for the rear then there's the side air bags


These are coloured green

Parts depts will often accept undamaged returns for a small handling fee

 

[numero-uno]

Re: New OCS , and still Air Bag Failure!

Managed to sort this out!

I noticed while disconnecting the negative off the battery, that there was oxidisation on one of the three spade connectors to the battery negitive connector. I cleaned off the blue powdery compound with a stiff wire brush, so that the copper connector was like new. Put the negitive back, and switched on the ignition....hey presto, no more AIRBAG FAILURE

 

[numero-uno]

Re: New OCS , and still Air Bag Failure!

Deckchair, thanks very much for your detailed help. Just now managed to sort out the problem and noticed your post. I'm sure others will find this information of great use, as I use struggling to identify other causes.

I just now need to sell this OCS, can't take it back to Fiat as they charge 25% handling. My fault :bang:

 

[cook66]

Hi all

Stilo 1.9jtd 115bhp 02 reg

Air bag light has occassionly come on but now on all the time.

It stayed ON one day after the Computer reset all the faults.

Tried to clear the airbag fault again but could not register on the computer.

Someone has said it could be under the seat, a wire maybe. seat is moved back and forward.

any ideas??

I had read there was a recall for the airbag module? Is this true?

Lots of air bags in the car. 6 in all i think?

Cheers

Kevin

 

[john55]

re: Air Bag warning light & connectors

Does it intermittently come on/ off when you have a passanger in the front seat? If so, it is probably the seat occupance sensor. See the guides section for replacing it.

 

[cook66]

re: Air Bag warning light & connectors

It ws intermittently but now ON all the time. No difference if anyone is in the seat or not. I am planning to look at the seat connections and sensors.

cheers

kev

 

[ioannidis]

re: Air Bag warning light & connectors

Do you get and the "Stop Engine" message or is just the little amber light?
Did you check all your airbag connections?

Check and the one on the roof ceiling of the glove department...