As the new MOTs in UK will be including all 'tell-tale' lights, (or so I am informed), it looks like I'm going to have to do something about the driver's airbag light which shows a malfunction, and has done so ever since I bought the car. Otherwise the car has been working faultlessly now for a couple of years or so. With this website's help BTW.
On switching on, the light goes through the same routine, thusly:-
Light comes on for a few seconds.
Then three winks, short pause, three more winks.
Longer pause, then three winks, short pause, three more winks. And so on.
It gives me a total of ten sets of three winks, then stays on all the time.

So far I have checked:-
Fuse #10 in the fuse box to right of driver's foot. (Intact, but has been getting hot). This car is RHD.
Lifted the drivers seat looking for damaged wiring and bad plug/socket connectors as previously it had the auto-seat shifter deployed. Everything looked good. Worked every connector in and out several times to see if it made any difference -- but none.
Cleaned the seatbelt buckle with electronic cleaning solvent, in and out several times. No difference. The seatbelt light works normally, and it's a hall-effect jobbie anyhow.
I wondered if there was a weight sensor in the driver's seat, like the passenger seat, but realized that was illogical. Couldn't find any wiring to the seat back anyhow.
The steering wheel controls work normally, (radio etc.) so that "clock-spring"/cassette module should be working ok -- or is it?
Next I intend removing the seat entirely from the car (it's just laid back ATM) and having a look at the crash pretensioner area, being careful not to set it off accidentally of course.
Then there is something in the windscreen pillar to test I understand.
The passenger SRS light works normally, so does it's weight sensor.
Now I'm running out of ideas, except -- do I have to disconnect the battery for a minute to re-initialize the micro?
Anyone have suggestions before I take it to an indie who has the right diagnostic tools? (I found one in Leeds that only charges £50 per hour).
Be most grateful for any help here...

Car is S-typeD 2006. 128,000M.

Leedsman.

 

these are the airbag codes
the airbag light should come on for six seconds, then go out and stay out. If there's a fault, the light should come on for six seconds, then go out for two seconds, then flash the appropriate number of flashes for the fault, go off again for two seconds, then repeat the whole sequence five times. Finally the light stays on until the ignition is turned off.
Eg; Flash code 16 would be shown as lamp ON for one occurence of 0.5 seconds, then lamp OFF for one second, followed by six occurences of lamp flashing ON/OFF for 0.5 seconds each (1 - 6).
here is the list of codes i.e. the number of flashes that are seen, may help point you in the right direction

13 - Crash data memory full
16 - Pass seat weight sensor CAN fault
17 - Pass spatial sensor CAN fault
18 - Pass airbag deactivate lamp circuit fault
19 - Airbag circuit status fault – driver
21 - Airbag circuit status fault – pass
22 - Side Airbag circuit fault – driver
23 - Side Airbag circuit fault – pass
33 - Seat Belt Pretension fault – driver
34 - Seat Belt Pretension fault – pass
42 - Impact sensor circuit fault – front
43 - Impact sensor circuit fault – driver side
44 - Impact sensor circuit fault – pass side
51 - Seat belt switch circuit fault – driver
52 - Seat belt switch circuit fault – pass
53 - Airbag audible warning circuit fault
54 - RCM configuration failure

so you have a code 33 which is the drivers seat belt pre tensioner

 

Flash codes are in JTIS and the codes PDFs and so as usual have lots of associated data about diagnosis etc - best to follow it I suspect.

 

I agree JTIS shows the codes Barney has listed above, then gives the test procedures needed to track it down.
If you don't hae JTIS you can download it from the how to section at the top of this forum.

 

I don't believe that battery off will clear those kinds of codes. I'm fairly sure they'll self-clear when the problem is fixed (because nothing else makes sense and engineers usually do a good enough job). The ABS is similar in that respect.

 

Thank you Barney for your explanations. As I understand it, three flashes with a short pause before the next three flashes means numerals "33". The long pause means the system is simply repeating the number -- Yes?
This suggests the driver's side seatbelt pre-tensioner has a malfunction, which as it happens was where my logical fault-finding procedure was leading me coincidentally.
I know one has to be careful about measuring the sensor value with an ohmmeter in case the test current sets off the detonator. My "Fluke" DMM uses a tiny current anyhow, but I'll check it with a second meter to be on the safe side. And I'll keep my face out of the way...
Will report back asap.
Leedsman.

 

Yes Leedsman - Code 33 is correct.

 

The only correct/safe way to check the airbags or pretensioners is through the SRS module with SDD/IDS AutoEnginuity, Auto Logic etc.
The use of the datalogger function and using the module will not input any current to the devices to set them off.

It's your car but be aware that it could possibly detonate.

bob gauff

 

Final report for this thread:--

Investigations showed that the driver's pretensioner had activated, although you wouldn't think so to look at it. It is about 1" shorter than the passenger's side. Before and after pix. of these things show around 4" of difference.

"How to" instructions:--

Remove headrest.
Remove seat by four FEMALE headed torqx bolts at back of seat frame, and two MALE headed torqx bolts at front. Use the fore and aft seat motor to facilitate.
Open the back door, that side, lift up the seat off the floor (it's heavy), tilt it through 90*, and stick the backrest out the back door. This affords a good view of the underside of the seat.
Do a full visual examination of all the wiring. Mine was like it just left the factory.
Use this opportunity to vacuum away all the debris you can't get at usually. You will see all the plug/sockets are gold-plated. Exellent.
Identify the contraption in question (as part of the seatbelt buckle). You will see TWO lead pairs coming from it, one is for the hall-effect sensor switch for the seatbelt plunger, the other comes out of the small ally casting containing the squib and detonator. You will see a thin-ish cylinder sticking out, around 3" long. The operating piston is in there. You can't get at the connexions to the squib itself, it's moulded. This lead runs to a socket. But be aware. If you pull out the squib's plug from that socket, the plug SHORTS ITSELF. It un-shorts as soon as you plug it back in. There is a "shorting spring" in the plug that renders any static discharge ineffective and safe.
To test the squib, I used a Fluke digital ohm-meter (actually as part of a digital multimeter) to measure the resistance of the squib's element. It is necessary to cut the lead to do this. I suppose you could leave it plugged in and finagle your test prods down the socket, but that was too fiddly for me.
The contraption read open-circuit. Other investigations indicated it should read 2.2ohm or less.
You can do a live test by wiring a 2R2 resistor across the cut lead (car side). Switch on the ignition and you should get a few seconds of airbag light, which then goes off and stays off. If you use a 2R7 resistor, you will get the winking performance again. So the intitialization routine performed by the car's micro is pretty accurate.
I left the 2R2 resistor in circuit using a small two-way terminal strip while I get hold of a suitable pretensioner.
Caution: These squibs are fired by a fair sized capacitor discharge which is charged up to much more than the 12volt battery power by a dc-dc converter. It's done this way anyhow in case the battery is smashed in the accident. It's the same idea as was used in the old magnesium flash-bulbs. I checked the current passed into the unknown resistor by the Fluke DMM, and it was only 12 MICRO-amps! Since the initialization current will be a lot more than this, I think it's safe to use the DMM to check the squib's resistance. Nonetheless, keep clear of the contraption anyhow when measuring. I wouldn't use an analog meter to do the measuring, as they can pass 100 MILLI-amps into the unknown resistor.
Replace seat and clear up.
Anyone have a left-handed pretensioner for sale?
Leedsman.