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Non-Mini Mot Failure Woes


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#1 Ben_O

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 12:39 PM

Hi All!

 

Just took the Xsara For it's MOT and they failed it on the air bag light being on..

 

The report says thus:

 

P1805 - Front left Petensioner Open Circuit

 

P1A02 - Driver's Level 2 Airbag Igniter short circuit

 

They weren't very clear about the cause and suggested an auto electrician would be needed in order to fix it.

 

So is this likely to just be wiring or is it going to need parts?

 

Not being able to test it myself, i thought i would ask if anyone had experience with this and could advise where to start.

 

I was thinking about unbolting the seats so i can get to the wiring under the seat and check for breaks or loose connections.

 

I know these cars have a rep for the wiring being disturbed by moving the seats back and forth. The garage said this and i have encountered it before myself.

 

Cheers

 

Ben



#2 Tamworthbay

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 12:44 PM

It can't harm to have a look. there are a lot of problems with French wiring to say the least. My mates other half's car is a peugeot and he has had all sorts of seemingly random issues that stem from loose connections at connector blocks.

#3 mab01uk

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 12:49 PM

On my R50 MINI the common cause of airbag light was a bad connection in the yellow wiring connectors under the passenger seat to the seat side airbag, soon after seat was moved back by a passenger. This caused a fault code which had to be canceled after fixing the problem. I bought an SRS Airbag diagnostic tool for BMW's and MINI's off ebay for about £30 which read & erased the fault code and extingushed the warning light. Dealers wanted £70-80 to reset SRS system so it has paid for itself and been used by my brother for the same fault on his wifes R53 MINI.

 

Also heard of bad/dirty connections in the seat belt buckle pre-tensioners causing problems, clean or replace with good used unit but as with all airbag related stuff disconnect battery and wait for 20 minutes or so to prevent retained charge (capacitors?) firing airbags or belt tensioners!


Edited by mab01uk, 28 October 2014 - 12:52 PM.


#4 Ben_O

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 01:01 PM

I think that's where i will start tomorrow afternoon. Thinking about removing the seats, cutting off the wiring plugs and just soldering the connections and shrink tube them.

 

Thing is, the MOT man says the rear axle hangers will fail next year due to corrosion so we will probably run it for another year and then scrap it and buy another.



#5 jamesmpi

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 04:34 PM

On my R50 MINI the common cause of airbag light was a bad connection in the yellow wiring connectors under the passenger seat to the seat side airbag, soon after seat was moved back by a passenger. This caused a fault code which had to be canceled after fixing the problem. I bought an SRS Airbag diagnostic tool for BMW's and MINI's off ebay for about £30 which read & erased the fault code and extingushed the warning light. Dealers wanted £70-80 to reset SRS system so it has paid for itself and been used by my brother for the same fault on his wifes R53 MINI.
 
Also heard of bad/dirty connections in the seat belt buckle pre-tensioners causing problems, clean or replace with good used unit but as with all airbag related stuff disconnect battery and wait for 20 minutes or so to prevent retained charge (capacitors?) firing airbags or belt tensioners!


My misses has a first gen Yaris and this has the same fault. If she drives it (seat position quite far forward) it's fine, no warning light. When I get in and slide it back the warning light pops on. I can see the connector under the seat and it looks fine so I guess it's the airbag cable.

Luckily if she drives it a while the light resets itself.

#6 Dan the Van

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 06:36 PM

Yep classic Xsara problem.With ignition off waggle the yellow or orange plug under the drivers seat or un plug it and plug back in a few times.Very poor quality connectors,a lot of peeps cut off the plug and solder the wires.I have to play with mine all the time(ooh err).No need to remove the seat,plug is just clipped in place,best access from behind seat.Light will re set on start up,no need to clear fault codes etc.Mine's a 1999 by the way.

#7 lsto

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 07:18 PM

Had the same issue on my old astra g van. I just cut the plugs off and soldered the cables together. Job done...

#8 Ben_O

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 10:12 PM

Thats the plan for tomorrow - solder the wires.

 

Now having trouble with the abs light too  >_<

 

Any ideas?



#9 Carlos W

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 10:36 PM

Can you plug your laptop into it?

#10 Ben_O

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 11:00 PM

Can you plug your laptop into it?

Tried but the software only works on diesels after 2004. This is a 2001.

 

It's a weird one though. MOT man said no faults came up on the diagnostics to do with abs and the light only comes on every other time you turn the engine on.



#11 Alex_B

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Posted 28 October 2014 - 11:41 PM

I wouldnt be soldering SRS wiring if I were you, infact I wouldnt want to solder any wiring on modern cars as most run the CAN-BUS system that requires equal length wiring and thus soldering and messing with the wiring will likely bugger it up! But seperating and rejoining connectors and then maybe hot gluing anything thats falling out of place to fix it might be a better solution?


Edited by Alex_B, 28 October 2014 - 11:41 PM.


#12 Ben_O

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Posted 29 October 2014 - 12:12 AM

I wouldnt be soldering SRS wiring if I were you, infact I wouldnt want to solder any wiring on modern cars as most run the CAN-BUS system that requires equal length wiring and thus soldering and messing with the wiring will likely bugger it up! But seperating and rejoining connectors and then maybe hot gluing anything thats falling out of place to fix it might be a better solution?

I'm not sure if that would apply to this car because lots of people seem to do it with 100% success but thanks for bringing it up. I will be looking into it before i cut anything.

 

Cheers

Ben



#13 Dan

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Posted 29 October 2014 - 06:02 AM

I permanently fixed the same intermittent fault on my old '96 Saxo by simply unplugging and reconnecting the passenger pretensioner under the seat. Just make sure you plug it in properly concentrating on the actual pins locating each other and not just the moulding.

#14 jime17

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Posted 29 October 2014 - 08:43 AM

With regard to the abs light, my scenic has a problem with the reluctor ring working its way off the cv joint to a point where the sensor can't see it.

im assuming the xsara works in a same way.

#15 The Matt

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Posted 29 October 2014 - 09:00 AM

Yup. Typical PSA problem. My 306 did it, the 307 does it. Check loom and plugs under seats.


Pain in the backside.




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