airbag warning

Disconnect battery Cut the wires below both front seats one by one and solder them up and tape properly Reconnect battery.

This is caused by the pre-tensioners for the seat belts making an intermittent connection...... not only on Citroen but many others too

JK

Thanks for the tip. I'll have a go over the next few days and let you know the result Chris

You are right in that it most likely is the seat-belt pre tensioners, but I can't believe the advice you've given out - it's positively dangerous.

By doing what you advocate, you're running the potential risk of setting the airbags off and/or triggering the tensioners. They're either explosively activated or by one hell of a spring - either has the potential of causing severe damage to a hand that might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As for cutting the wires and rejoining them, therefore attempting to bypass the tensioners, what on earth is that for ? You are doing away with a potentially life-saving device.

I'm not impressed.

You've misunderstood a little here.

The connectors under the seats on this model of car are AFAIK, a known weak spot.

The known solution to the problem is to remove the connector, and join the wires directly together, using a solder joint.

JK wasn't suggesting bypassing/disabling the pre-tensioners, just removing the dry joint & source of problem.

You'd still need to be careful of setting the pyro charge off accidentally.

Pete.

accidentally.

IMHO the only safe advice one can give about pyro devices like these is "if you don't know what you are doing with them then leave them alone and get someone who does to look at them"

Spark

"Chris Hewison" wrote

My citroen did the same thing, intermitent airbag warning lights. I found the wires under the seat and opened and closed the connectors a few times. This cured it for a while but I had to solder the wires in the end. By the time you have poked about under the seat for a bit you will get to know which is the offending joint. I can assure you that my efforts did not set off the air bags or seatbelt pretensioners. I did switch off the ignition but not disconnect the battery. When you think about it, the wires are under the seats and could be quite easily kicked or pulled about by your passengers. They are not just trailing about under the seats but fixed up in a clip, still I doubt they are all that delicate, or liable to go off at the slightest touch.

pb

It's the connecters that fail, they're not particularly near the tensioners so unless you try really hard you won't chop your hand off. & setting them off accidentally's more likely from vacuuming near them (Volvo 440's used to do this a lot according to our local dealer). Anyway the instructions on how to safely unplug are in the Haynes manual.

Still not had a chance to get under the seat yet... However, I was describing the problem to my daughter (10) while we were driving along. She then proceeded to drag a long length of loose wire from under the passenger seat! "Shall I just pull it out?" She called. I managed to dissuade her :-). Will have a good rummage around the loose wires tomorrow. Cheers Chris.

From what I've seen there are often mechanisms to ensure these things don't fire, in the case of electrical systems by plugs/switches that short together the airbag/pretensioner connections. In my car the pre-tensioners are mechanical (ie gert big spring) and there is a procedure for disabling them if you remove the seat, etc.

I've had a poke around under the seats and pushed the connections around a bit. Started the car and ...airbag light now goes out!! It will probably re-occur, but at least I've got a good idea re. what's up. Thanks to everybody who posted help and advice. Cheers Chris.