When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Restraint System Malfunction due to water, but now it is gone?
Howdy, I have a 2015 Coupe S and accidently left my windows open a crack (1") as a big storm came through, silly me. I got out to the car while it was raining and closed the windows. The seats, doors, and floor were pretty wet. I used a towel to wipe everything down and started the car.
Up comes a "Restraint System Malfunction" error as shown in the picture. I didn't have a passenger at the time so I wasn't worried and drove home about 30 mins. I get home and in the garage I go to inspect the passenger seat just to see if anything is noticeable. After sliding the seat forward and tilling the back forward I see that between the back and bottom seat it is still wet a bit. Along with that I see a single small puff of smoke rising from the back center of the seat bottom. The car had been off 2-3 mins at this point. Working with electronics as my profession I next performed the "sniff test" to see if can smell any burnt electronics and smell nothing unusual after getting my head down there. I stick my hand between the bottom and back and in the center I felt a very hot hard piece under the leather. I assume this is the part that smoked as the same place on the driver's seat wasn't nearly as warm. I figured the water fried the electronics so it would need to be replaced. I leave the windows down and let the car sit so it can properly dry out.
Flash forward to the car sitting for several hours and it appears pretty dry inside. I start the car normally and ... nothing.. no errors/warning alarms, no warning lights, nothing on the center screen, no display errors on the steering column, and the Air Bag disabled light overhead is off. Everything seems to function as normal. I have a passenger get in and put on the seat belt and everything seems fine. If I hadn't seen the smoke I would have likely just moved on assuming the water caused a temp error but it was resolved when everything dried out.
Here is the question: Do I take the seat out and look more into the problem or do I only address it if the error returns? I have never messed with the electronics under the seat I don't know what that might be at the back center of the seat (directly under the back) so I don't know what all that controls. I assume it controls the occupancy sensor, seat belt latched indicator, and something with the airbag, but not sure on what else.