Sneaky Airbag Warning Light Fix

I took the car for an M.O.T. on Friday and it failed on the airbag warning light, and the fact that there isn't one fitted in the passenger's side as I have the navigation tablet there in its place.



Anyway while having a talk with the people in the know it became apparent that the rules are open to some interpretation. Technically it should fail as the light comes on due to the missing passenger's airbag, but, if the light doesn't work it can be written up as an advisory and it won't fail the MOT.

So aside from faffing around to get the bulb out, you can actually fix it by putting another one in.





Firstly you'll need a simple bulb, in this case it is a rear number plate light bulb.






Peal back the wires on the bulb.





Give them a twist.




Go to the airbag connector and space the wires so they match the holes where the airbag plugs in.




Push the bulb in.




Turn on the ignition, the airbag light will blink on and off a few times and if you have it inserted properly it should then switch off and stay off. If it goes solid and doesn't turn off taking the bulb out and splaying open the wires a bit before putting it back in and trying again.


So how does it work? Well when the ignition turns on it checks the resistance across the airbag circuit. If there is nothing there, or if the resistance is too low the warning light will come on. The inserted bulb matches closely the resistance mimicking the airbag so the system thinks it's connected and turns off the warning light.

Removing the bulb was what I was planning, but I think it's a right bugger to get to. So fitting the bulb was a 60 second fix for the MOT.

In the long run taking out the bulb or removing the system entirely is what I would do too. Maybe now I don't need to though.

If you remove the air bag system and use it on the road it will/should fail the mot as it is standed equipment and is ment to be fitted just like the anti roll bar and as for your bodge id rather undo the gear leaver trim and unplug the ecu