Technical Both Airbag warning Lights (yellow and red)

[D4nny8oy]

Sounds like a better idea, I find main dealer pricing on rather the steep side!

And a case for the defence, m'lud:

Had a customer in with their cooling fan running constantly. Turned out a well-known Clutch fitting specialist had just recently replaced the cooling fan due to it seizing.

Upon investigation, Examiner flagged-up coolant temp sensor errors. Checking the connection revealed mangled terminals where some idiot with a cheap multimeter had stuffed the probes-in in a misguided attempt to test the fan after fitting, I presume.

So in an attempt to save a few quid getting something as simple as a cooling fan diagnosed and fitted (rather than go to a Main Dealer and their experience), it ended-up costing twice that in labour to remove and repair the terminals.

Now, this local garage may be more intelligent, and may be able to read the errors, but only the Fiat garage will have the part to repair it (if needed) and will need to confirm the fault with Examiner, as well as deleting it afterwards.

Now stop asking what the modified loom is for or you'll get the thread locked- we can't let that info out or else you lot will start chopping into the loom yourself's!

 

[Singh!]

And a case for the defence, m'lud:

Had a customer in with their cooling fan running constantly. Turned out a well-known Clutch fitting specialist had just recently replaced the cooling fan due to it seizing.

Upon investigation, Examiner flagged-up coolant temp sensor errors. Checking the connection revealed mangled terminals where some idiot with a cheap multimeter had stuffed the probes-in in a misguided attempt to test the fan after fitting, I presume.

So in an attempt to save a few quid getting something as simple as a cooling fan diagnosed and fitted (rather than go to a Main Dealer and their experience), it ended-up costing twice that in labour to remove and repair the terminals.

Now, this local garage may be more intelligent, and may be able to read the errors, but only the Fiat garage will have the part to repair it (if needed) and will need to confirm the fault with Examiner, as well as deleting it afterwards.

Now stop asking what the modified loom is for or you'll get the thread locked- we can't let that info out or else you lot will start chopping into the loom yourself's!

Right i know it may sound silly but i really cant afford the £60 that fiat wanted to charge to diagnose it, so my car is booked in on friday at my local garage which happens to be a specialist in diagnostics and tuning (superchips) so the should know what they are on about. (st.albans car clinic) -they are charging £25.
Hopefully it will be an easy fix, but from what you are saying even if they diagnose the fault will they be able to reset the system? or can only fiat garages do it? as then it will be kind of pointless taking it to a different garage.
Cheers D4nny8oy

 

[D4nny8oy]

If they can read the error, then they should be able to delete it.

But, if it's an exclusion switch-related fault then it's almost certain to need the modified loom to ensure a guaranteed fix (which only a Fiat Dealer can fit). Cleaning terminals and such will only be a temp repair.

I admit £60 is harsh, especially on a 6 year old car, but I suppose that's the joy of living near London.

It might be something else though, how many airbags does yours have? Front/side/roof bags?

 

[T14086]

£60 is nothing...its half your monthly council tax bill and worth every penny if it saves your life.

 

[bigbadjohn]

i currently have my 2airbag lights on also but from reading other threads on here i think it may be from when my battery went dead last month.can any garage with the diagnostic machine re-set this or does it have 2 be fiat garage?

 

[bruce400]

Any garage can reset it (had mine reset one year ago) provided they can fix problem and erase the code. My garage did it free of charge with the MOT but the going rate in the Midlands is £15.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I admit £60 is harsh, especially on a 6 year old car, but I suppose that's the joy of living near London.

Nothing to do with location! Norwich dealership wanted £75! That's over 15 hours of work for the average in Norfolk! And this was to read a fault code on a 1993 Panda. Now that is shocking. It's a licence to print money! I know its not the workers who decide the price, but the big bosses meed to realise that they own a Fiat dealership. Not a BMW or Merc showroom!

Sorry if it sounds like I'm a whining :tosser: but there is reasonable and reasonability.

 

[1383matt]

Nothing to do with location! Norwich dealership wanted £75! That's over 15 hours of work for the average in Norfolk! And this was to read a fault code on a 1993 Panda. Now that is shocking. It's a licence to print money! I know its not the workers who decide the price, but the big bosses meed to realise that they own a Fiat dealership. Not a BMW or Merc showroom!

Sorry if it sounds like I'm a whining :tosser: but there is reasonable and reasonability.

im lucky that i use the one at college,
diagnostics is easy money! i was using the snap on one at college the other day to find fault on a corsa c, i was amazed by how many things the diagnostic machine tells you. soon read code fixed car and reset it. i think its expensive because the people that do diagnostics for living have training and its specialist so youre paying for them to do something you cant. also the price of a diagnostic machine has to be paid off.

 

[Singh!]

If they can read the error, then they should be able to delete it.

But, if it's an exclusion switch-related fault then it's almost certain to need the modified loom to ensure a guaranteed fix (which only a Fiat Dealer can fit). Cleaning terminals and such will only be a temp repair.

I admit £60 is harsh, especially on a 6 year old car, but I suppose that's the joy of living near London.

It might be something else though, how many airbags does yours have? Front/side/roof bags?

As far as i know i only have the steering wheel airbag and the passenger airbag above the glovebox. Hopefully they can also tell me why my powersteering light has been coming on now and again. I really do hope it a simple fix, i do love my car but i just can't afford to keep having silly problems with it.
Luckily I do have warranty cover on my car if it is a major problem but it doesn't cover airbag faults or diagnostics.
Cheers guys for the very much appreciated advice as always

 

[T14086]

Nothing to do with location! Norwich dealership wanted £75! That's over 15 hours of work for the average in Norfolk! And this was to read a fault code on a 1993 Panda. Now that is shocking. It's a licence to print money! I know its not the workers who decide the price, but the big bosses meed to realise that they own a Fiat dealership. Not a BMW or Merc showroom!

Sorry if it sounds like I'm a whining :tosser: but there is reasonable and reasonability.

im lucky that i use the one at college,
diagnostics is easy money! i was using the snap on one at college the other day to find fault on a corsa c, i was amazed by how many things the diagnostic machine tells you. soon read code fixed car and reset it. i think its expensive because the people that do diagnostics for living have training and its specialist so youre paying for them to do something you cant. also the price of a diagnostic machine has to be paid off.

Excuse me, but if you had any understanding the amount of training a diagnostic technician had to undertake (worktime & personal time) then you would think different. Its not just a case of reading a code or number but being able to decipher what codes to investigate & what ones to ignore. What one person might think is loads of numbers going up & down to a good technician this will indicate where potential faults lie. Lets not forget diagnosing CAN system errors which can be difficult let alone when its a intermittent fault.

Printing money is someone setting up a building/plumbing/electrician etc business with little or no training/experience which is perfectly legal, becoming a good tehnician at a dealership requires often years of training within the group/Fiat,IMI/ATA etc

£75/hr for a BMW/merc dealership is a bargain!

 

[SAAAAAAM]

as soon as you get the fault deleated it will return in about 1-2 months later ..happned to me had to get the modification done to cure it properly..just do that striagt away itll save you alot of time and hasstle in the long run

 

[Natty]

Excuse me, but if you had any understanding the amount of training a diagnostic technician had to undertake (worktime & personal time) then you would think different. Its not just a case of reading a code or number but being able to decipher what codes to investigate & what ones to ignore. What one person might think is loads of numbers going up & down to a good technician this will indicate where potential faults lie. Lets not forget diagnosing CAN system errors which can be difficult let alone when its a intermittent fault.

Printing money is someone setting up a building/plumbing/electrician etc business with little or no training/experience which is perfectly legal, becoming a good tehnician at a dealership requires often years of training within the group/Fiat,IMI/ATA etc

£75/hr for a BMW/merc dealership is a bargain!

Sorry off topic but....
While I appreciate the training a tech might have to go through and no disrespect to any of them, I am driving a 1.2l car not flying a space shuttle or driving an F1 car and if I had to pay £75.00 to "possibly" find out why my car might not be working correctly then I would be p*****d, maybe if they didnt get it right they would refund the £75.00, unlikely yes.
Cars now are too complex for what they have to do, bunch of nonsense all this driver assisting malarky, I love the new Alfa mito but would be dead scared to own one, and no I will not be buying a Tata nano to keep it simple

 

[suze22]

Just collected mine from main dealer Bristol - £365.00 - same problem - they said the air bag control unit had died!

 

[suze22]

Just collected mine from main dealer Bristol - £365.00 - same problem - they said the air bag control unit had died!

Next car will be a car which can be repaired by a proper mechanic rather than a 'specialist technical operative' as my one today was described as....

 

[T14086]

Sorry off topic but....
While I appreciate the training a tech might have to go through and no disrespect to any of them, I am driving a 1.2l car not flying a space shuttle or driving an F1 car

Not alot of difference in a GP 1.2 to a expensive car. GP has ABS/HH/VDC, control area network, body computer, electric steering just as more expensive cars have (what makes the GP good value) so I disagree to some extent as tech has to be knowledgeable on all these systems plus petrol & diesel engine management, EOBD, stereing/suspension, electrics, diagnostics, engines & gearboxes/drivelines etc etc Takes more than a few months at college to learn that lot.


Whats a 'specialist technical operative' ???

 

[Singh!]

Hi, sorry about the late reply.... been really busy with uni work.
The diagnostics showed that there was a low voltage error to the airbag sensors, the mechanic deleted the error to see if the fault returned... nothing immediately so he concluded that the fault was caused by a low voltage throughout the car (ecu) and it shouldnt really return.
I've had no problems yet with the lights coming back on 'touch wood', and they also said if they do come back on then i can take it back and they would diagnose the fault and give me a quote free of charge so overall im happy.

 

[Rich_65402]

i had a simular fault with mine but mine wasnt idoling right and it was due to low voltage... weird

 

[Singh!]

i had a simular fault with mine but mine wasnt idoling right and it was due to low voltage... weird

Guess we all just need new batteries lol

 

[Rich_65402]

Guess we all just need new batteries lol

well both our puntos are 6 years old this year batterys don't last forever lol, mine had a new battery... not had a single problem