So the airbag warning light has appeared AGAIN on my Ducato.

[macberran]

Firstly a Happy New Year to all..hope everyone is hail and hearty... As the title states the airbag light has come on again just before the due MOT which does coincide with the EC500 control panel being repaired. Feeling a bit grim as its a minefield and just looking for any pointers from this learned forum as Gurgle or the 'net' can be total Voodoo...many thanks everyone and happy motor homing wherever you are.

 

[andyjanet]

First thing to check is the wiring under your swivel seats , this gets stuff rammed on top or alongside and the swivel seat will often break or loosen the connections

 

[jeffmossy]

When you say it has come on again, does that mean that you have previously had it repaired and was it crash data who repaired the unit, then the repair is guaranteed for life, just return the unit and your receipt

 

[merl]

Ours (2013 model) started playing up about 4-5 years ago, tried all the usual stuff like checking the connectors and wiring under the seats to the 'someone's sitting in the seat' sensors to no avail. Removed the air bag module and sent it away for 'repair' at a cost of about £80 but I can't remember where exactly. Before posting it I opened it up to check to see if there was obviously something wrong with any of the components but everything looked fine, when it came back from being 'repaired' I opened it up again and checked the soldering on the PCB to see what components they'd replaced....... NOTHING . It seems it's more of a re-program rather than a repair.
I'm convinced some of these 'faults' are deliberately programmed in to go wrong after a set time

 

[merl]

When you say it has come on again, does that mean that you have previously had it repaired and was it crash data who repaired the unit, then the repair is guaranteed for life, just return the unit and your receipt

AHH, that's who fixed ours, crash data Jeff

 

[wildebus]

Firstly a Happy New Year to all..hope everyone is hail and hearty... As the title states the airbag light has come on again just before the due MOT which does coincide with the EC500 control panel being repaired. Feeling a bit grim as its a minefield and just looking for any pointers from this learned forum as Gurgle or the 'net' can be total Voodoo...many thanks everyone and happy motor homing wherever you are.

I can't see a connection between the airbag light coming on and the EC500 panel being replaced? unless you are saying it is just an annoying co-incidence of incurred costs?

 

[r4dent]

Have you had a flat battery or jump started the vehicle ?

 

[yeoblade]

Have you run MultiEcuScan on it yet?

 

[macberran]

When you say it has come on again, does that mean that you have previously had it repaired and was it crash data who repaired the unit, then the repair is guaranteed for life, just return the unit and your receipt

I will check that out as it was done via a service dealer. Thanks for that.

 

[macberran]

I can't see a connection between the airbag light coming on and the EC500 panel being replaced? unless you are saying it is just an annoying co-incidence of incurred costs?

Well the sergeant threw up a fault with the battery charger when in for its Hab cert. So I sent it off and it is back with its '1' year warranty, in that time when doing a run in the MH just to keep it all 'good', the air bag warning light has come on again !..same thing last year before the MOT. Might be a glitch so I put it out here just for the feed back before I go through the detritus to find the real reason. Thank you all.

 

[macberran]

Have you had a flat battery or jump started the vehicle ?

The charging facility on the 500 was faulty and has had to be repaired.

 

[macberran]

I can't see a connection between the airbag light coming on and the EC500 panel being replaced? unless you are saying it is just an annoying co-incidence of incurred costs?

Don't know to be honest. 500 went for a 200+ repair and not fitted since. Only on with the run out yesterday has the airbag come on...it was repaired last year and didn't show up when the glich with the charging in the 500 became 'aware'. I appreciate there's a lot of electricfukkwiterry that goes on but the sergeant should not affect the air bag though a flat battery might...though it was not dead just 'weary'.

 

[r4dent]

Have you had a flat battery or jump started the vehicle ?

The charging facility on the 500 was faulty and has had to be repaired.

but have you had a flat battery or jump started the vehicle ?

 

[macberran]

but have you had a flat battery or jump started the vehicle ?

Yes R4dent..but no fault showed for 5 maintenance trips ..so thats the issue you reckon ?

 

[merl]

Don't know to be honest. 500 went for a 200+ repair and not fitted since. Only on with the run out yesterday has the airbag come on...it was repaired last year and didn't show up when the glich with the charging in the 500 became 'aware'. I appreciate there's a lot of electricfukkwiterry that goes on but the sergeant should not affect the air bag though a flat battery might...though it was not dead just 'weary'.

There's a thought that the airbag sensor is affected by losing power to it, I assume that's why r4dent asked if you'd had a flat battery. So presumably IF they disconnected the cab battery when they did repair on the 500 then theoretically that could have caused the symptoms....
All I know is our sensor failed while we had solar panels feeding both batteries during summer so that dispels that theory, also a year or so earlier I swapped out the cab battery without taking any precautions and the sensor was fine, so personally I can't see a link between the 500 being swapped and the sensor failing, more likely pre programmed failure to get folks to fork out for a new AB sensor

 

[yeoblade]

There's a thought that the airbag sensor is affected by losing power to it, I assume that's why r4dent asked if you'd had a flat battery. So presumably IF they disconnected the cab battery when they did repair on the 500 then theoretically that could have caused the symptoms....
All I know is our sensor failed while we had solar panels feeding both batteries during summer so that dispels that theory, also a year or so earlier I swapped out the cab battery without taking any precautions and the sensor was fine, so personally I can't see a link between the 500 being swapped and the sensor failing, more likely pre programmed failure to get folks to fork out for a new AB sensor

My cab battery has been on and off for the last 2 weeks, no ill effect, sometimes with these airbag modules £$%^ happens

 

[macberran]

All is as always in as much as normal with such things..total voodoo and fikwattery. I thank you all for your contributions ..at least I don't feel as lonely..

 

[r4dent]

Yes R4dent..but no fault showed for 5 maintenance trips ..so thats the issue you reckon ?

A flat vehicle battery or the use of jump starter are know to "Blow" the airbag module.

 

[wildebus]

FWIW, this delicate airbag ECU is why I recommend a good starter battery trickle charger/battery maintainer such as an Ablemail AMT12-2 to try and ensure the Starter Battery is never in a situation where jump starting or similar is needed.
I have one on my Motorhome and this time of year with rubbish solar have it set to be always active (override setting) as a precaution.

 

[JQB]

Firstly a Happy New Year to all..hope everyone is hail and hearty... As the title states the airbag light has come on again just before the due MOT which does coincide with the EC500 control panel being repaired. Feeling a bit grim as its a minefield and just looking for any pointers from this learned forum as Gurgle or the 'net' can be total Voodoo...many thanks everyone and happy motor homing wherever you are.

Not much help to u but we had the same just out of warranty, airbag ecu they claimed, and it was expensive don't recall the amount off hand, but after protesting fiat paid 50%.
Just another ducato inbuilt faulty widgets, like my "check glowplugs" random warning. Gloplugs working just fine.