passenger airbag problem

[marco2002]

hi
I need a bit of help my neighbours just put his 406 hdi in for the mot (its my old car )all its failed on is the airbag light. The main airbag light is flashing. The garage had a go at it they said they couldnt fix it said that its passenger airbag squib ? said new airbag is 250 quid they can get one but would take a month! then they said try the scrapyard or take the airbag out and put capacitor in to get rid of the light. Didnt say what value capacitor to use. Garage said they cant do it! I had a lookat the connectors under the passenger seat disconnected battery then unplugged them used small needle file to clean contacts then a bit of contact cleaner let it dry then plugged the connectors back and its no different main airbag is still flashing. A friend of the neighbours works in another garage and hes offered to chop the connectors and solder the wires which has been done by a few people with a 406. Has anyone had a problem like this before and what is a passenger airbag squib??Any help would be appreciated as neighbours mot runs out on weds so keen to get this sorted. Many thanks

[panadero]

Yes I have had this problem for a couple of years and my friendly MOT tester just looks the other way so I'm OK with the MOT. I'm also told that
you can put sticky tape over where the light is and the MOT people are not allowed to remove it. They
then cannot fail the car on those grounds. Anyway I have usually been able to cure the problem on a temporary basis at least
by fiddling with the wires under the passenger seat - the MOT tester said it's the yellow plug. But then after a while the
light comes on again - presumably due to vibration of the wiring.

Its a well known fault with the 406 so I would be very cautious about renewing the airbag especially if you go to all that
expense and the airbag light still comes on. Like you I am thinking seriously about soldering the wires - so it's over to
anyone out there who knows exactly how to do that job. Sorry I cannot be anymore help.

[panadero]

Just re-read your post - you say the airbag light is flashing. Mine is not flashing its just on all the time.
Not sure whether that means anything. Can anyone help?

[gumby6371]

Ideally you want to get a planet owner to identify exactly which connection is faulty, there are 3 wires under each front seat and also the steering column connections.
I'm assuming the 'squib' is the pre-tensioner, 'usually' a thin orange cable on a brown connector. If you go down the chop and solder route then put solder spade connectors on there so it's easier to pop the seat out in future if needed.
Apologies for the lesson in egg sucking but follow the battery disconnect procedure and then leave the car for a while to allow any residual charge to dissipate before playing with the airbags.

I did learn recently that individual airbags can be turned off with planet if you want a quick fix for the MoT

[MixMan]

You could take a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyCN-LF4I9A
Although he uses a PP2000 in the video, if you skip that part and solder the wires, I am confident your problem will be solved.
I have had nothing but trouble with underseat and undercarpet wires and connectors, now everything in sight is soldered and not had any issues since doing it.

[panadero]

I had a look at the youtube video. Very helpful so many thanks MixMan.