Cheap airbag light fix - brought to you by Bodgit & Scarper

gazcon · 10th October 2018, 10:26

Airbag light on? Why waste time and money messing about with under seat connectors and side impact sensors when you can have a permanent fix in minutes and for free?

Airbag light on....

Out with the IPK, and a quick squirt with a tube of black, sticky, mastic type gloop...

Low and behold, airbag problem "fixed"...

Total cost? Half an hour, a blob of black sealant and your immortal soul...

I'm currently reverse engineering this "fix" on my 1999 V6. With the MOT changes this year the car won't pass it's next MOT like that.

Many thanks to Trikey who kindly T4'd the car a couple of weeks ago, and tipped me off to some airbag errors that I'd been blissfully unaware of thanks to the above handiwork.

Lesson learned - always make sure the airbag light comes on first and then goes out when buying a car!

So I've scraped out the gloop, reassembled the IPK, and now have a nice shiny airbag light. The T4 pointed to side airbag sensors as the culprit, so I just whipped out the passenger side one.

It looks like new to me, no sign of water damage anywhere (the car has a sunroof), but I guess looks can be deceiving....

So, if anyone has a spare side impact sensor that looks like that kicking around then please drop me a PM!

Fox3 · 10th October 2018, 10:42

I had a similar issue with mine, although (luckily!) someone had just painted over the plastic.

Mine was also a crash sensor, easy fix!

gazcon · 10th October 2018, 10:46

Even better!

I hope that's the self test thingy, otherwise that's not what you want to see on your dash when travelling at 50 miles an hour

kelvo · 10th October 2018, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fox3

I had a similar issue with mine, although (luckily!) someone had just painted over the plastic.

Mine was also a crash sensor, easy fix!

It had been done to mine as well previously with a piece of sticky tape over it - can see the residue. Luckily it had been rectified by the chap I bought it off and I did check the light worked correctly when I bought it.

Interestingly I found a photo of my car on Facebook for sale a while back with a previous owner and black sticky tape can be seen...

SCP440 · 10th October 2018, 16:59

I have seen this done before but worse in my view was a piece of circuitry wired into the light so it illuminated for 3 or 4 seconds once the ignition was put on

.

I found it because I put a code reader on the said car and it showed up this fault together with several others that had been bodged.

With the regs as they are now anybody buying a used car even from a dealer should plug a code reader in and see what is potentially wrong with your potential purchase. Even pending codes could show up potential future expense.

The problem is the parts to fix some of these faults on some makes and models makes me think this kind of bodging will become more common place and could be a reason that reading codes could become part of the MOT test.

gazcon · 12th October 2018, 14:52

Well, I've replaced the passenger side sensor with one from eBay and... the airbag light is still on.

Sigh.

Will start stripping out the driver's side.

If anyone has a known good sensor knocking about then please drop me a PM.

Heddy · 12th October 2018, 16:14

Mine was the under seat connectors, still bodged it though. They looked fine, cut them out and joined wires using strip connectors.

trikey · 15th August 2020, 09:09

I once had a car with the ‘no airbag light’ issue, someone had removed the ipk, dismantled it and carefully cut and fitted pieces of cork into the holes where the led’s sit.

It probably took longer to do that that to repair the underseat connectors that were causing the fault.

10th October 2018, 10:26	#1
gazcon Avid contributor Rover 75 2004 Cdti Contemporary & a 1999 V6 "jap spec" Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Norfolk Posts: 226 Thanks: 111 Thanked 28 Times in 24 Posts	Cheap airbag light fix - brought to you by Bodgit & Scarper Airbag light on? Why waste time and money messing about with under seat connectors and side impact sensors when you can have a permanent fix in minutes and for free? Airbag light on.... Out with the IPK, and a quick squirt with a tube of black, sticky, mastic type gloop... Low and behold, airbag problem "fixed"... Total cost? Half an hour, a blob of black sealant and your immortal soul... I'm currently reverse engineering this "fix" on my 1999 V6. With the MOT changes this year the car won't pass it's next MOT like that. Many thanks to Trikey who kindly T4'd the car a couple of weeks ago, and tipped me off to some airbag errors that I'd been blissfully unaware of thanks to the above handiwork. Lesson learned - always make sure the airbag light comes on first and then goes out when buying a car! So I've scraped out the gloop, reassembled the IPK, and now have a nice shiny airbag light. The T4 pointed to side airbag sensors as the culprit, so I just whipped out the passenger side one. It looks like new to me, no sign of water damage anywhere (the car has a sunroof), but I guess looks can be deceiving.... So, if anyone has a spare side impact sensor that looks like that kicking around then please drop me a PM!

10th October 2018, 10:42	#2
Fox3 Avid contributor MG ZT CDTi and MG ZT 190 Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 188 Thanks: 53 Thanked 45 Times in 30 Posts	I had a similar issue with mine, although (luckily!) someone had just painted over the plastic. Mine was also a crash sensor, easy fix! __________________ 2003 ZT+ CDTI

15th August 2020, 09:09	#8
trikey Premium Trader Rover 75 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Devon Posts: 33,790 Thanks: 8,837 Thanked 14,831 Times in 8,030 Posts	I once had a car with the ‘no airbag light’ issue, someone had removed the ipk, dismantled it and carefully cut and fitted pieces of cork into the holes where the led’s sit. It probably took longer to do that that to repair the underseat connectors that were causing the fault. __________________ Lest we forget..

10th October 2018, 10:46	#3
gazcon Avid contributor Rover 75 2004 Cdti Contemporary & a 1999 V6 "jap spec" Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Norfolk Posts: 226 Thanks: 111 Thanked 28 Times in 24 Posts	Even better! I hope that's the self test thingy, otherwise that's not what you want to see on your dash when travelling at 50 miles an hour

10th October 2018, 16:59	#5
SCP440 I really should get out more....... MG ZT-T 260 Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Witney Posts: 2,504 Thanks: 6 Thanked 910 Times in 571 Posts	I have seen this done before but worse in my view was a piece of circuitry wired into the light so it illuminated for 3 or 4 seconds once the ignition was put on . I found it because I put a code reader on the said car and it showed up this fault together with several others that had been bodged. With the regs as they are now anybody buying a used car even from a dealer should plug a code reader in and see what is potentially wrong with your potential purchase. Even pending codes could show up potential future expense. The problem is the parts to fix some of these faults on some makes and models makes me think this kind of bodging will become more common place and could be a reason that reading codes could become part of the MOT test.

12th October 2018, 14:52	#6
gazcon Avid contributor Rover 75 2004 Cdti Contemporary & a 1999 V6 "jap spec" Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Norfolk Posts: 226 Thanks: 111 Thanked 28 Times in 24 Posts	Well, I've replaced the passenger side sensor with one from eBay and... the airbag light is still on. Sigh. Will start stripping out the driver's side. If anyone has a known good sensor knocking about then please drop me a PM.

12th October 2018, 16:14	#7
Heddy This is my second home None Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: None Posts: 5,556 Thanks: 465 Thanked 1,161 Times in 924 Posts	Mine was the under seat connectors, still bodged it though. They looked fine, cut them out and joined wires using strip connectors.