Longevity and an Airbag question...

[Dave Defferding]

What about basic longevity of the Airbag assembly itself?  I know Audi 
extended their functional lifetime awhile back from 10 to 15 years I think, 
but at some point don't they need to be replaced??
The clock spring is expensive to replace--our light stays on about 3 minutes 
then goes out and then the airbag becomes functional--this hasn't changed 
over the last couple of years.
Dave D
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Rose" <pjrose at frontiernet.net>
To: "the Spaeth's" <spaeth at gorge.net>
Cc: <200q20v at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 10:00 AM
Subject: Re: Longevity and an Airbag question...


> At 8:59 AM -0800 1/13/06, the Spaeth's wrote:
>>Thanks for all of the input on the longevity question! We have decided to
>>keep the car. There is nothing as nice without spending at least 4 times
>>what we have into this car.
>>
>>On another note our airbag light has been on for quite some time. My
>>mechanic said it was the contact spring that is bad. It is $350 from the
>>dealer. Does anyone have a good lead on a known good spring? Or any good
>>ways around this, short of unplugging the light in the dash.
>
> The airbag light in these cars is notorious for remaining lit--either 
> staying on all the time or for a few minutes duration after every 
> start-up. The symptom commonly arose right after a car had its ('97-'98) 
> airbag-recall "modification"  done by Audi. Typically, there is no need 
> for a physical repair as the problem can be eliminated by a simple reset 
> of the airbag computer using the VAG/COM tool. This service (takes only 
> about 10 minutes) ought to be available from any competent mechanic who is 
> doing much work on Audis. Or perhaps the tool is available from an 
> Audi-enthusiast friend....or last resort--done by the dealer.
>
> If your mechanic already tried doing this and it didn't help, then perhaps 
> there is actually a need to repair the airbag system. However, have the 
> simple "reset" procedure tried before spending much $$ on repairs.
>
> Phil
> -- 
>
> Phil Rose
> Rochester, NY
> mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net
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