Is this the cause of my airbag warning light? (1 Viewer)

Oct 11, 2019
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I have a warning light on the dash for an airbag failure. I wouldn't be bothered but I am lead to believe it is an MOT failure issue. And it's probably better to have it working if possible. I had decided to just leave it for a mechanic to sort at some point, but I may have stumbled upon the cause?

When I removed the passenger seat in my van (Peugeot Boxer 2013) I found this unattached cable. Am I right in thinking a yellow connector indicates it is something to do with the airbag system? Should this cable be attached to something, and might attaching it fix the warning light?

van airbag.jpg



I hope you guys don't mind me asking all these questions! I'm grateful for all the advise offered to me so far.
 

joka250

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It's definitelyrelevant to airbag. Don't just plug it in. Disconnect vehicle battery first. Lots of useful videos on YouTube.

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Apr 22, 2018
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I believe that is normal not to be plugged in, especially if you don‘t have passenger airbag on the dash.
 
Dec 2, 2019
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That is a seat belt pre tensioner plug. If you got one then it needs plugging back in as it works in conjunction with airbag deployment. If you pull it out, without disconnecting the battery, it trows a fault. It needs to go back in and reset re scan for codes.
 

BwB

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Looks like the seatbelt pre-tensioner lead to me too. You shouldn't need to unplug the battery, just make sure the ignition is off. When you plug it back in to the seat and the warning light should go out. If you're not putting a seat back (or you had a double passenger seat and replaced it with a single passenger seat) then you'll need to put a resistor in that yellow plug (which is no longer being used) to keep the warning light off. From memory I used a 3k 1/4watt resistor but a google will point you in the right direction.

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Aug 4, 2019
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CamperJack
Oct 11, 2019
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My thanks again for all the helpful replies.

I have had another look under the seat despite not being able to find anything to plug it into when I descovered the unattached cable. I found this. It looks like once upon a time there was something here as there are remains of yellow plastic.

9906BD3B-4F5F-42AD-8249-C9DD8DD9CC4F.jpeg


It doesn’t look to me like there is an airbag on the passenger side of the dash. The steering wheel has the word airbag on it but the passenger side dash doesn’t. The passenger dash is also so full of glove boxes I don’t see where they could possibly have put one.

With this in mind is the best solution to fit a resistor as per recommendations made by BwB and xxanthxx?

I’m having trouble finding one online. I don’t really know what I’m looking at! I’d be greatful if someone could provide a link to the right thing.

Thanks again for everyone’s help so far! ???
 

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Steve and Denise

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On our first van a Mcloui Tandy the converters had cut the wiring harness then joined it back with crimp terminals, if they had taken time to look the plug was only 200 mm along the wire.
I Han numorous errors until I found it and soldered them up.
That was the wiring for pre tensioner.
 
Aug 4, 2019
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As BwB pointed out it is the seat belt pre-tensioner cable, its just connected to the air bag circuit that is why the airbag light is on on the dash, not because of an airbag. Just the lack of the pre-tensioner makes the system think it has failed.

The value of the resitor required depends on the resistance of the original pre-tensioner that was on the seat.

Has your seat already been changed, maybe from a bench to a single as I did.

You could just order an assortment of resistors of the values included with the tester I linked to earlier and slowly increase the value until the light goes out.
 
Last edited:
Dec 2, 2019
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Another way round it, is with a obd scaner capable to delete the tensioner that is missing. I did that with op com on my old Astra, after changing to bucket seats.

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Sep 16, 2013
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I had the same issue a few months back.

If it's an issue where it had a double seat, but now a single, an OBD reset doesn't work (at least on a 2010 Boxer). It's a different ECU on a single seat model.

The way around it is a resistor as you already know. I have an image showing the exact wires that need cutting and bridging that I'll dig out and send you. I also have a load of the correct resistors as I bought a pack, so can send you a couple if you like?
 
Aug 4, 2019
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You can just bend the legs on the resistor, shorten them and then push them into the corresponding holes in the multi-plug or get the opposite end to the connector and fit the resistor to that.

That way it’s plug n play without butchering the loom and it would be easy to replace a seat with a pre-tensioner In the future should you want or need to.
 
Sep 16, 2013
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Sent you a PM with images and the instructions I followed. The resistor is a 2.2ohm. The images sent and the resistor are correct for a 2010 model, so should be the same on a 2013.

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Graham of Madrid

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From a breakers yard you could get the opposite/corresponding plug/socket that is missing/broken and solder the resistors to the bared ends which would be a better plug n play solution
 

MarkOgden

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Having the same problem having removed and replaced the seat. How or where can I find what resistor I need for my Peugeot boxer (63 plate)

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Jan 28, 2008
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if its a fiat you need to use a reader to remove the code after you have fitted the resistor have you recieved the pm from wissel above?
 
Aug 4, 2019
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When I removed my twin bench seats to replace with single seats in both a Scudo and a Ducato. After fitting a resistor for the removal of the pretensioner, all I did was cycle the ignition a few times and the airbag light went out.

I do have Multiecuscan but it wasn’t needed for me...
 

BuilderBob

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Same issue here, removed front two seats, replaced with a single one, have fitted a 3.5amp resistor, but still need to remove fault from screen, hopefully. Anth is right and it will correct itself after a few starting cycles.
 
Aug 4, 2019
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The only extra thing I will say is I have never turned the ignition on without either the seat or resistor fitted.

What I did find in the scudo was, if ever the van battery was really low the airbag / pretensioner warning light would trigger, after charging the battery and a few cycles it always went back out.

I probably had a slightly to high resistor fitted tho? But as I mentioned earlier I bought a box to simulate resistance that when connected you increase the resistance till the light went out, which is what I did.

I did this in the Ducato too and never had any issues after.

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Zoobec

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We removed the double seat in our 2018 boxer, to swap to a single, and the seatbelt pretensioner wasn’t connected to anything originally anyway, as there is no passenger airbag.. So maybe this is the case for you?

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MarkOgden

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We removed the double seat in our 2018 boxer, to swap to a single, and the seatbelt pretensioner wasn’t connected to anything originally anyway, as there is no passenger airbag.. So maybe this is the case for you?
Yep same with my double seat. It’s only the driver that has the pre tensioner
 

MarkOgden

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Either use the kit I linked to in the early posts or just try a selection of different resistors around 2.2ohms
I’ve absolutely no idea about electronics. So a couple of questions before I start messing with it.
1.Will putting in the wrong resistor damage the circuitry? if not then guessing I don’t need to buy the testing box just a range of resistors?
2. I’m assuming I need to have the ignition off when putting in the resistor Then turn on ignition after it’s in place to see if it has worked?
Obviously want to get this right as last year I had to replace the ecu and it cost £500+ 😬 thanks again for your advice and help 👍
 
Aug 4, 2019
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The first time I did one....I did just that, I bought a pack of mixed resistors and started off with small values and just kept increasing the values.

I had the ignition off in between fitting each resistor and power cycled the ignition a few times after each resistor was fitted till it went out.

You could if you wanted, try the next resistor back down in size after the light has gone off, just to make sure it was the right value or the power cycling that removed the light.

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