I pulled out my passenger seat over the weekend, and turned on my ignition before putting it back, and now the airbag light is on. The seat is back in and everything is plugged back in. Does the dealer have to reset it, or is there something I can do?

 

I had to take mine to the dealer to reset. Of course mine turned out to be a short in the seatbelt clip. Nonetheless, I didn't have the diagnostic tools to figure it out, but your dealer does. It can probably be done while you wait, if it's a slow day.

Otherwise, ask for a loaner, as it's a safety issue.

Terry of TerrynHelen

 

Airbag light is a known problem, and there are several threads about it here on MCO.

It came on on my MCS and the dealer had to clean the connections between the seat airbag module and one of the connectors. Don't know which one. Others have had to have the entire seat airbag unit replaced...and in fact, that's what my dealer will be doing (they ordered the part) as soon as I get my act together to get it back in for the job. Odds are that you broke the soon-to-be-broken-anyway connector when you pulled out your seat.

The good news is that the airbag job only takes a few hours if they need to replace the whole thing...even less if it's just a sensor or "cleaning" the connector. Let us know what happens.

 

Greetings,
My one and only problem to date: Air Bag Warning Light :evil: :???: I swore off domestics after that van!!
Kind Regards,
Ron
'03 MCS PS/B

 

Just got back from service where I had an appointment for replacing the seat airbag unit. I'd had a previous problem with a bad connection on this unit, and even though service was able to clean the connection and get the fault light to go out, they ordered a new airbag unit to replace mine if the same problem happened again (apparently this has been known to happen).

Well, my airbag light came on again last week (about a month after the previous fix). I naturally assumed that it was the seat airbag unit and thus made an appointment to go in and get the unit replaced. Lo and behold, when service takes a look at it, they discover that the bad connection THIS time is on the PASSENGER side front seat. Further, by wiggling things around, they are able to get a fault from both the seatbelt sensor and where the seat airbag wiring connects to the control module. In other words, it's flakey all around.

The "solution" was to clean all of the connections, replace the passenger side seat belt sensor, re-route a wire to allow for a bit more slack, and to hope for the best. The light is out...for now.

Ugh. While the service guys (MINI of Peabody) were great and clearly want to come up with a long-term/final solution, I have a feeling that this is going to be a problem that will plague my MINI forever. The black electrical tape (over the light) solution is slated for when my warranty expires.

 

I just wanted to post up that I have had the same problem with the airbag light comming on. My dealer serviced it with the cleaning of the contacts, but from what jsun is saying i fear that mine may come back.

jsun - do you have people regurally in your back seat? I do, and was wondering if maby that can contribute to the connection getting bad and eventually open. With all that seat movment, and shoes, and whatever else, it makes sense enough. whats your thoughts, i havent seen the connector, its positioning or setup.

 

>>jsun - do you have people regurally in your back seat? I do, and was wondering if maby that can contribute to the connection getting bad and eventually open. With all that seat movment, and shoes, and whatever else, it makes sense enough. whats your thoughts, i havent seen the connector, its positioning or setup.

I carry one or both of my kids (little guys still in booster seats) back there a couple of times a week. I HAVE noticed that the system has failed always after moving the seat to allow them access. One kid tends to kick the passenger seat back, but not too bad, and I have a hard time imagining that that's the problem. Rather, I think it's perhaps related to simply moving the seat on its tracks. X2board has had this problem too...and I think he also carries kids in his backseat sometimes.

Anyway you cut it though, the connections (on the wire, to the module, to the bag itself, whatever) seem sort of fragile. Obviously are if they can't stand up to normal periodic movement of the seat