Airbag light on - Passenger igniter?

[Nobby]

Alright chaps!

Had the light on for a couple of months now but only really got round to having a proper look at it.

1 Fault Found:
00589 - Airbag Igniter 1; Passenger Side (N131)
001 - Upper Limit Exceeded - MIL ON

Just came on randomly one day, and the following evening I had a poke around under the passengers seat at the wires. Sprayed a little WD40 in the connectors, cleared the error and it didn't come back. Yay! Then 2 days later came back.

Thought it was a simple fix. I've looked at numerous Audi/VW airbag errors on the web and the majority of them point to a dodgy connector under the passenger seat. So thats where I started again.

There are 4 connectors. 1 yellow (what I believe is the airbag), and 3 others (big red/big green/small black) and I think they cover the power seats, heated seats and maybe seat occupancy sensor? (do our cars even have these?) Anyway, disconnected the yellow one, cleaned contacts, WD40 etc and error comes straight back when clearing with VCDS and my Autel reader. I didn't fiddle with the others as I don't think they do anything for the airbags. Interestingly when I disconnected the yellow one and scanned for errors it came up with another error - something about side bolster airbags. This cleared when connected. Lots of other Audis seem to have an additional connector further into the seat (i.e. 1 that connects to the floor, and then another under the seat) but ours look like having 1 connector and then the wire disappears up into the seat. Thinking it could have just been a coincidence that my fix 2 months ago might not be the source of the problem I looked elsewhere.

I had a fish around in the footwell and there's another airbag connector (they are always yellow on Audis I believe). Disconnect, clean etc.. and no change. When I disconnected this one another new error came up - think for the B pillar airbags. Cleared when connected too.

So, where else to look? I removed the glovebox to have a look at the airbag itself. Again cleaned connectors and error keeps coming back. When I disconnected it though I didn't get any new errors..................... does this mean that is my problem? (or wiring to the airbag). Unfortunately the wiring goes up deep behind the dash so its not easy to trace.

Next steps: Ordered a second hand airbag to see if that solves it. The deeper scan on VCDS showed that there were 3 or 4 things that said 'Too High', including seat sensor. Could it be the seat sensor after all? I don't know which connector that actually is though. I might try to locate the airbag controller and just give it a clean. Need to sort my workshop manual out though. Rebuilt the laptop and lost it all so might look into a Bentley proper book. Wiring diagram should come in handy.

Anyone else got any ideas? There was a chap on here who had the error last year (search for 'N131 airbag' and he comes up) but it didn't say if he sorted his problem.

Cheers
Chris

[MeTsU]

That chap would be me.

I haven't sorted out the issue yet. But I believe it to be the igniter itself which it as fault.

[Nobby]

Ah Hi MeTsU

As I say I've ordered a replacement, and it looks simple enough to swap over (remove glovebox, unplug airbag unit and its 4 nuts holding it in place). I'll let you know how I get on when I swap it. It also looks like a fairly common unit - maybe fitted to other Audis.

Looked up the controller and its waaaay waaaay hidden behind the dash. Don't fancy swapping that over if its a problem

[MeTsU]

Thanks Nobby - I'd appreciate that. Due to the rarity of the C5's in South Africa, parts can be quite hard to find. I very occasionally find an RS6 sedan to try get parts off of. Other C5's are possible to find, but funnily there have been quite a few things I've got from the UK, so the advice on how things pan out is greatly appreciated!

I really hope it's not a controller based fault!

Ciao, Matteo

[Nobby]

Replacement airbag turned up yesterday - from a slightly newer model and was dated 2003 (whereas mine was stamped Oct 2002).

Pretty simple to swap over. Disconnect battery, 5x 8mm bolts to remove the glovebox, unclip airbag connector then 4x 10mm nuts holding on the airbag under the dash.

Put it all back together and check for error - still there but I believe many airbag errors need to be cleared even if they are fixed. Cleared it and its not come back yet

Now, what to do with my old airbag? Is it the sort of thing that you can dispose of easily in the bin? I assume they aren't worth fixing.

[MeTsU]

Oh rad! Crossing fingers that that is it and it's done and dusted!

Thanks for updating. I might need to start looking locally to see what I can find - don't want to leave it tooooooo long.

[Nobby]

Ok Matteo.

I'll stick up a photo of my old one with part numbers etc.. Other audi models must be similar. The one I got was listed for an RS6 at a breakers who often taken them apart.

[MeTsU]

Ok Matteo.

I'll stick up a photo of my old one with part numbers etc.. Other audi models must be similar. The one I got was listed for an RS6 at a breakers who often taken them apart.

Thanks - really appreciate it Chris!

[Shoppinit]

Surely there is some fun to be had with an airbag before chucking it?

[Shoppinit]

Airbag lights always have to be manually cleared.

[Ajc]

It has to be set off before its disposed of , once out of a vehicle its technically classed as a class B firearm . We set all of them off that are not going back in .

[airtite]

had the issue on my 2004, my issue was slightly different and was a combination of issues. 1st was that I couldnt even clear the fault in VCDS. I got hold of a 2nd hand airbag controller and replaced mine now I could clear the fault but it would come straight back, moved onto next fix and I removed the yellow plug under the passenger seat (this is apparently an audi fix) this however didnt fix the issue...... I then decided to check the airbag under the dash, removed the 6 bolts that hold the cubby in place pulled the plug that goes to the airbag which came off too easily, used a small screw driver and cleaned the pins inside the plug reconnected and cleared faults and hey presto air bag light gone.

[MeTsU]

had the issue on my 2004, my issue was slightly different and was a combination of issues. 1st was that I couldnt even clear the fault in VCDS. I got hold of a 2nd hand airbag controller and replaced mine now I could clear the fault but it would come straight back, moved onto next fix and I removed the yellow plug under the passenger seat (this is apparently an audi fix) this however didnt fix the issue...... I then decided to check the airbag under the dash, removed the 6 bolts that hold the cubby in place pulled the plug that goes to the airbag which came off too easily, used a small screw driver and cleaned the pins inside the plug reconnected and cleared faults and hey presto air bag light gone.

Crossing fingers mine will be this easy. I still haven't gotten around to doing it. I've done probably 250km in mine so far this year - an absolute sin.

[Nobby]

Ah still not posted the photo of the airbag have I! I'll do it tonight. Its still sitting in my garage - haven't set it off yet