Resetting service warning lights

Except when the fire-brigade attend, they would disconnect the battery and expect the door bag to be inactive as a result.

Reply to
Fredxx
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Thanks for clarifying that. (I'm not a tester so it was a genuine question). Typical Government logic then. Though TBF there's probably a legal basis for it somewhere, there usually is for seemingly bizarre rules :)

Reply to
Lee

Why would they stock air bags as separate spares? Usually airbags would be sold as part of an assembly. For side air bags in the seat you have to buy a NEW seat. For a 10 year old car the cost of new parts alone for replacing the assemblies with air bags is uneconomic. The damage done by airbag deployment is usually enough to write off any car over 10 years old.

Dash is usually destroyed - huge amount of labor to replace the dash. Airbag deployment usually cracks the windscreen if there's a passenger. How many airbags? 2 front + unknown number of side bags. Collision sensor is not re-settable and has to be replaced.

And then there's still the damage from the accident that triggered the airbags.

Even if it's not your fault you need a replacement car.

If it has air bags your car better be worth over £10K to be repaired by insurance, cos this will be £5K by the time an insurance approved rip off repairer has had their cut. New passenger air bag will come as part of the dash assembly. £1000? New drivers air bag will come as part of the new steering wheel. £300? New seats will have side airbags in them. £1250 each (ford focus) £1500 if heated and £2500 if motorized?

Reply to
Peter Hill
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You forgot the cost of a new bonnet and associated gubbins if the pedestrian protection system deploys.

Reply to
Huge

30 min after switching off may seem a bit excessive but it is STILL NOT SAFE. The air bag system isn't switched off by the ignition switch and is still ARMED. Battery has to be disconnected, then wait for circuit to discharge.

Mazda 323F service manual - "more than" 1 min.

  1. Turn the ignition switch to LOCK position.
  2. Disconnect the negative battery cable and wait for more than 1 minute.
  3. Remove in the order indicated in the table.
Reply to
Peter Hill

Yes it is legal

Would love to know how anyone would actually perform this action

The built in precautions to prevent accidental deployment of an airbag also ensure intentional deployment

Reply to
The Other Mike

The airbag light sequences for each car are published. Requiring an engine start to extinguish an airbag light would IME not be a valid sequence.

Reply to
The Other Mike

Well that is a stupid claim, care to back it up?

Reply to
dennis

I suppose the specific warnings in car manufacturers own service literature for the past 30+ years stating similar precautions before woring on any part of the airbag system are invalid too?

Reply to
The Other Mike

Almost certainly the case with aftermarket low cost diagnostics.

Pre-OBD it sometimes required another specific manufacturer plug in data cartridge that only covered the airbag function and nothing else.

This used the same basic handheld diagnostic device as used for the engine still plugged into the same vehicle diagnostic socket using a shared pin on the same vehicle bus with each control unit responding to a specific poll. .

Reply to
The Other Mike

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You may note that it includes the terms that it is dangerous to you or anyone else. This includes things like faulty safety systems like brakes and airbags. Only a part of a system has to be faulty to be unroadworthy, like the warning lights being on or not working.

Reply to
dennis

Peter Hill used his keyboard to write :

I was responding to the manufactures original suggestion of the need to replace them after ten years, rather than after deployment. Nobody stocks them, even for new cars - so far as I am aware and the latest advice is that they have an unlimited installed life anyway.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

The Other Mike brought next idea :

None the less - I understand that doing such resets the warning light on my car, not that I have ever needed to. It will be recorded in the SRS ECU though, as a fault.

Usual fault is moisture getting into the floor mounted ECU, replacement of which requires coding and poor connections to the seat / head airbags, due to movement of the electric seats.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

True of most of them. Mine needs separate systems for OBD, SRS, FBH, ABS and etc..

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Dave Plowman (News) laid this down on his screen :

It is quite feasible to have them capable after much longer than 30 minutes, but they design them to be discharged within 30 minutes to be safe. An airbag being triggered can do some serious injury.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Fredxx explained :

I don't know how the FB deal with the risk, mine has steering wheel, A post, B post and more in the side sides. I have in mind an image of me and car bouncing down the road is they should ever deploy.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

The Other Mike formulated the question :

In my own experience, manufacturers play very safe with such instructions, rather than risk someone being hit in the face by a deploying bag. Likely five minutes wait would be enough for it to be safe, but why take the risk?

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

That section relates to selling a vehicle. You want section 42 of the same act which makes it an offence to drive a care which fails to meet

*any* particular one of the construction and use regulations. But you still need to prove (rather than merely assert) that the failure of a airbag warning light amounts to a breach of the construction and use regulations. I agree it is quite likely, but that would not be sufficient basis for prosecution until the relevant clause in the regs is found.
Reply to
Roger Hayter

even full time testers have a job to be fully conversant with all the rules, the ones I use have received no notifications about the changes coming in May, and were bemused when I printed them a precis of the changes, which are available on the dvsa site!

Reply to
MrCheerful

Just querying the half hour. Because for a start it will invariably change from car to car. So I'd guess a figure plucked from the air.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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