Air bag fault light on dash

[AussieRover]

Hi there..I have a 2004 Rover 75 2 litre turbo diesel sedan with 80k on the clock. I bought the car 1 year ago and soon after the air bag light on the dash would come on intermittently, usually when I played around with the audio controls. Now it's on all the time. I was told it could be a faulty connection in the steering wheel.
Is it possible to fix by taking off the steering wheel? I'm hesitant in case I activate the airbag. Any clues on how to fix the problem?

Thanks
AussieRover Adelaide South Australia

[geoffm]

I think the steering wheel controls could be a red herring, it is more likely to be the underseat connectors.
There is one under each of the front seats and also side impact sensors under the carpet in the rear passengers footwells, I would first have the car plugged in to get a read out of the fault and which air bag sensor is at fault.
If you get a mirror and look under the front seats you will see two connectors under each seat, because of seat movement and dust ect the contacts behind dirty and the light comes on. Take them apart and spray with some electrical contact cleaner and clip back together them tie the up securely to the underside of the seat and see if the light goes out, 9 times out of ten this is the cause of the air bag light coming on but as i say get it plugged in for a read out off the ecu and you could save time chasing around the car locating the fault.
There are some good threads on the site covering all the air bag sensors.

[Departed 32016]

it could also be the clock spring between the steering column and wheel.

[chrissyboy]

mine played up a while back ,i tried pab`s tip and removed the fuse for 15 mins,it has not come on since ,

[mickso]

i have had this since i got my car the first time it came on i tuck the car back to rover cost me 70 in nots i wish i new then what i no now it .s the wires under the seat and it.s not an m.o.t failer so live with it i do

[bramblp]

It is almost always the underseat connectors, break and re-make each of the connectors several times to clean the contacts

[Devilish]

it.s not an m.o.t failer so live with it i do

You have more chance of living without it

[Devilish]

The only thing in my experience I have found causing a fault relating to the steering is You can check the drivers airbag connector, disconnect the battery for 15 - 30 mins, remove the airbag, there is a plastic retaining clip that pushes into the centre of the plug that is plugged into the airbag, make sure it is pushed in. If the airbag or steering wheel has been swapped, on rare occasions the plug is pushed in, but the retaining clip has been forgotten.
The pic below shows the yellow airbag and blue pre tensioner plugs and sockets with a length of loom wire attached that originated from under the floor carpet. You can unplug them and plug them back in a few times, then you can use a zip clip to hold the two halves of the plug and socket tightly together if the airbag warning light is off.

You can decide to cut off the underseat airbag and prtensioner plugs if the problem persists, and use solder and connector blocks.
Slide one end of each wire through a connector block, solder the wires to their corresponding wires, shrink a single length of tubing round each joint, then slide the connector block over the soldered joints and tighten. Then zip clip the connector block where you removed the original socket.

If you still should get a warning light I would swap the front seats with someone for a spell, this is the simplest way of omitting the side airbags and pretensioners.

All this you can do for free, that hopefully cures the problem. If not you are talking of T4, sensors, and the ECU, so fingers crossed :D

Effectiveness depends upon the care taken doing the job, and skill with the soldering iron, no huge pointed globs of solder

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv175/Devilish_UK/airbagtensioner.jpg