Airbag light 987B nightmare MOT tommorw!!

TcS Trippin

TcS Trippin

Member
 Bristol
Been having this very frustrating code come up for the airbag light, it turns off when I clear the code but when I start the car again the airbag light returns. Have looked over the seatbelt tensioner and they dont look compressed like when they are bad, have also tried putting a resistor in the browny orange wires and still no difference, really scratching my head here! Any help would be awesome! And with the MOT tommorw at a loss aha will pull the passenger seat out look at the cables to see if they are healthy after work! Any other tips?
 

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Possibly the belt tensioner wiring or the yellow connector plug.
Failing that, seat fully forward and hand under the carpet. If it's wet at the back then you are lookling at potentially replacing the SBSL.
If your car is the 03 plate in your avatar then you could be up the proverbial creek as it is highly likely to be one of the very rare modules, part number 6933985.
 
If you really absolutely must get the car though its MOT tomorrow and you cannot fix the fault then just take the airbag light bulb out. It'll pass but you'll get an advisory for no SRS light. Some testers will be okay with tape over the warning light.
 
enuff_zed said:
Possibly the belt tensioner wiring or the yellow connector plug.
Failing that, seat fully forward and hand under the carpet. If it's wet at the back then you are lookling at potentially replacing the SBSL.
If your car is the 03 plate in your avatar then you could be up the proverbial creek as it is highly likely to be one of the very rare modules, part number 6933985.
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Yeah will have a look under the seat tonight thank you!
 
Rockhopper said:
If you really absolutely must get the car though its MOT tomorrow and you cannot fix the fault then just take the airbag light bulb out. It'll pass but you'll get an advisory for no SRS light. Some testers will be okay with tape over the warning light.
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If i cant fix by 11pm tonight I think will hahah thanks for the tip
 
TcS Trippin said:
If i cant fix by 11pm tonight I think will hahah thanks for the tip
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To be exact, it's not a bulb you can remove, it's an LED on a circuit board, but with the instrument cluster removed (1 screw at the top) and then separated, you can lift the sheet between the clocks and put a rolled up bit of tape or similar in the recess above the light. If you stick tape on, even from the back, it can show up.
Allegedly, so I'm told. :rolleyes:
 
I thought the test included checking the airbag light comes on and goes off again to show that it works? (Whether all testers are that sharp eyed, I know not.)
 
smorris_12 said:
I thought the test included checking the airbag light comes on and goes off again to show that it works? (Whether all testers are that sharp eyed, I know not.)
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Yes, it does, and if it doesn't go off again it's a fail, but if it doesn't come on in the first place they can only make it an advisory as they cannot prove there is an issue with the airbag system. Daft but useful.

EDIT, having double checked I can no longer find that reference in the .gov MOT info, so possibly it has changed?
 
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Surely if the light doesn't come on at all (from viewing it), it shows a malfunction?
I know that some testers are more 'anal' than others about these things.

My car has no airbags, but it should have. So I have a 'special' light which goes off after 5 seconds no matter what. It's obvious to any MOT tester that the airbags are missing, but they can't fail it as it has a light which goes out.
 
My first Z4 had the light taped over (inside as above). The tester came out and told me about and and just advised it. Maybe they have changed the rules slightly.
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so maybe now no light isn't even an advisory?
 

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Before I got the z4, 5 yrs ish ago we had a Zafira and had one hell of a problem getting an air bag light sorted, even the dealer couldn't find it. Went through the MOT and just had an advisory that the air bag light was on. Sorted in the end but couldn't believe it wasn't failed.
 
Weird. 15+ years ago people would jump through all sorts of hoops to make the light flash initially but it did used to only be an advisory.

Government MOT blog 2014:

"When testing SRS MIL (Malfunction Indicator Light) lamps we are only looking to see if the lamp indicates if there is a fault with the system. If no lamp is present or it doesn’t illuminate then it can’t indicate a system fault, so it can’t be failed."

However that apparently changed in 2018 and from January 2026, they've tightened the rules more. But I can't find anything official to say that a missing SRS bulb is a fail.

SRS light being on is, and always has been, an immediate fail.
 
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