Airbag light on

[dilyanyordanov]

Hi guys,

I recently purchased my 2008 rs6 c6. I had an airbag light on when I purchased it and the error from the health check report is B10001A Driver Airbag Igniter - Resistance Too Low. I searched the forum but there aren't a lot of topics with this error. Does this mean there is a short circuit somewhere. I found most people look under the seat to check the cable connector or am I mistaken ?

Thanks.

[Jim Haseltine]

ISTR that "Driver Airbag" means the steering wheel airbag so I doubt that any connections under the seat would be involved. Resistance too low would indicate a short circuit - resistance too high would be a break in the cables. Unless you know what you're doing don't mess with it yourself - an airbag is an explosive device and there are procedures you need to follow to ensure that it doesn't get triggered by accident.
The problem could be in a connector, could be in the loom or could be in the bag circuitry itself. Tests of airbags seem simple but have to be done correctly, even connecting a meter the wrong way around will set off a bag. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX THIS BY YOURSELF.

[dilyanyordanov]

Thanks...I definitely wouldn't try it... The previous owner has changed the steering wheel to alcantara one ,so i was actually wondering if they had done anything wrong when disconnecting/connecting the steering wheel again.
Thanks for the input.

[Jim Haseltine]

Ah, well as you've got a clue like that, try clearing the code before you do anything else.
Airbag/SRS codes are non-volatile so once set have to be cleared manually when the cause has been dealt with. This can be a pain as often you'll need a specialist reader which can access the SRS ecu. VCDS does it of course but the £10 things you can pick up just about anywhere won't touch them.

[dilyanyordanov]

Well, so my new milltek catback was installed. I told the guys to check on the airbag light and they said everything seems to be okay BUT it is something in the electronics and in order to check that they have to disassemble the whole dash and said 99% of the time, it is some small stupid thing that causes the light. However they are not really sure if something happens that the airbag will deploy....so that's not good at all haha. I don't know what to do. Those guys charge a wholeee lot of money, so i will def not do the airbag there. Does anyone have any recommendations ? I am worried that the dash will squeak a lot after assembly.

[Jim Haseltine]

they said everything seems to be okay BUT it is something in the electronics and in order to check that they have to disassemble the whole dash and said 99% of the time, it is some small stupid thing that causes the light.

Did they give you any details about what they investigated?
"something in the electronics" is the modern version of "It's the ECU' - 99.99% of the time it isn't.
The SRS ecu memory will hold the error code(s) which have triggered the light so from that they should have a pointer (sometimes a vague one) to the cause and yes, it can be "some small stupid thing". Without seeing a diagnostic my first thought would be that it is a result of some error made when the steering wheel was changed - it doesn't take much, just switching on the ignition with a loom connection incorrectly seated can do it. So like I said earlier, if it hasn't already been tried, get the code read, cleared and see if it reappears - it's likely to be quicker, cheaper and less hassle than somebody randomly stripping the dash out in the hope they'll find something.
To give you an idea how small the 'stupid thing' can be, the first time I did anything connected with an SRS system was to replace a frayed seat belt in a Volvo and I switched the ignition on without having connected the trigger loom to the belt - SRS light came on so I switched off and checked things again, discovering what I'd done. There are different levels of error code, some are minor and will trigger a warning which will disappear if the error doesn't reoccur within a certain time (or number of start/stop cycles), whereas others - like anything 'safety' related - are major and have to be cleared to stop the warning, even though the fault hasn't happened again, so even though I'd corrected my mistake, the SRS light stayed on.
I read the code to ensure that it was my mistake that triggered it, cleared it and it never reappeared.

[Jim Haseltine]

Forgot - the code logging will also record when and how often the fault has occurred. So if it's only happened once and it was before you got the car I'd be even more alongside it being something that happened when the wheel was changed. An SRS light is an MoT fail in the UK, so if you're here it should have happened since the last test.

[dilyanyordanov]

Jim,
Thanks for the response. I think this particular Shop didn't know how to clear the codes on the SRS module, so i am taking the car to my mechanic tomorrow, so he could check it. He might be reading my this thread later ( so hello there Krasi hah ). I have to change my battery since it isn't the correct one installed ,so i was wondering if that has anything to do with the airbag light but i doubt it but just saying it our here if anything has had the same issue. The code as i first stated is B10001A Driver Airbag Igniter - Resistance Too Low but that's all and it might be e really generic one, not really sure.

[dilyanyordanov]

Jim,
Nope, I live in Bulgaria. Car was imported from Germany last year, previous owner had it for one year but says it happened before the steering wheel was changed. The previous owner said it appeared once, disappeared and then appeared again and it stuck.