[200q20v] Airbag Light on Too Long

[Phil Rose]

Hi Steve,
Glad to see you're back "with the pack" so to speak.

The understanding that I have about the airbag  is that for some 
reason-after the recall work-- the system becomes more sensitive to 
the resistance value of the spiral spring. That is, it's less 
tolerant of the spring's electrical resistance being somewhat out of 
spec. In some cases that causes the  light to stay on indefinitely 
('till ignition shut-off) while in some other's (like mine) the light 
extinguishes after about 2 minutes.

I've been told that the VAG 1551 tool is able to "reset" the airbag 
controller so that the light goes back to normal operation--at least 
temporarily. The PO of my car brought the car back in after the 
recall work with a complaint about the light. The dealer claimed they 
could find nothing wrong. I haven't bothered to bring my car in as 
long as the light will go off within a few minutes. I frankly don't 
trust the dealer to not make something worse. I suspect that these 
cars need new spiral springs (pretty pricey) to eliminate the 
problem. I don't know if Audi is under any obligation to do that at 
no charge.

Phil


>Hello Phil,
>
>The airbag light in my 1991 TQW stays on too long.  The prior owner had the
>airbag sensor recall done.
>
>What causes the light to stay on too long after the update?
>
>Regards,
>Steve
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:	200q20v-admin at audifans.com [mailto:200q20v-admin at audifans.com] On
>Behalf Of Phil Rose
>Sent:	Tuesday, February 06, 2001 4:11 PM
>To:	David Priebe; 200q20v at audifans.com
>Subject:	Re: [200q20v] Introduction (long)
>
>At 3:39 PM -0800 2/5/01, David Priebe wrote:
>>
>>I'm taking the car into University VW/Audi to have the airbag sensor recall
>>taken care of there. Is there anything else that I should have them look at
>>that only a dealer would be the appropriate place to have checked?
>
>David,
>Take care to observe how long the airbag's red dashlight will remain
>lighted (when you start the car) after the recall work is done. It's
>not uncommon for the airbag light to begin staying lit for an
>excessive period (much more than the normal 10 seconds) after the
>recall work is done. This should be corrected by your dealer if it
>happens, since the airbag is non-functional while the light remains
>on.
>
>Since your car is not under warrantee, there's probably nothing for
>which the dealer is "the appropriate place to have checked", unless
>you're comfortable with bending waaay over. You'd be well advised to
>find a competent _independent_ Audi shop in your area. I'm sure other
>listers can make suggestions.
>
>Phil
>--
>
>Phil Rose
>Rochester, NY
>mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net
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-- 

Phil Rose
Rochester, NY
mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net