Airbag light issue (MoT failure)

[AdamW]

Hi all

I've got an 06 S60 which sat laid up for nearly 2 years following my dad's sudden passing. I shouldn't have left it to stand but was in a bit of a bad way.

Anyway, I took it for an MoT earlier this year and it failed on only one issue, airbag light on the dash.

As I'm short of money, I've asked a couple of mechanics to look at it who are family friends (and they are good mechanics). They've found it is a CAN communication issue, but haven't been able to do anything to fix it. Things that have been tried including getting replacement airbag module and cloning over the data from the old one.

Anyway my question is this, is there anything or anyone I can try before I give up on the car and sell it as a MoT failure? I have thought about taking it to a main dealer as they'll have all the right diagnostic equipment, even if they might sting in me in the process. Car is Herne Bay Kent.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

[reggit]

If you’ve got Vida/dice, post the error codes on here so we can see what it’s reporting.

[davebb]

Remove the LED from the DIM pcb,
Dave

[reggit]

Originally Posted by davebb

Remove the LED from the DIM pcb,
Dave

It'll fail if you do as it's supposed to illuminate for a few seconds then go out. I'd of course never suggest a timer circuit.....

[ma70]

Originally Posted by reggit

It'll fail if you do as it's supposed to illuminate for a few seconds then go out. I'd of course never suggest a timer circuit.....

Neither would I, and I certainly don't have a cheap 12v adjustable timer circuit in my draw that I bought as a last resort for our white Xantia

(I fixed that in the end, with just a multimeter and patience. it was one of the passenger side airbag/pretensioner wires).

I suppose it's an option if you're just after buying time to evaluate the rest of the car before deciding if its worth spending the money to repair properly, but its definitely illegal to do so and would be highly immoral to let anyone else drive it in this state.

I wonder if it just needs resetting in Vida though, as it's been sat a while it may have got confused. Ideally someone locally will be able to offer assistance with a code reading/reset.

[Brendan W]

I had module communication problems. Got one on ebay for a tenner, exact match of part number, fitted, cleared light with VIDA and that was that.
Really need to get the codes read to be sure. A lot of things can put that light on. Not casting doubt on their ability but ............... what error codes did they come up with. Attempting to clone sounds like they are not aware of how simply this can be done.
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=276811

[AdamW]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. A Volve dealer said it would be £87 to run a diagnostic, so am going to follow suggestions of getting a VIDA on there.

Will update in a few days when I have tracked one down.

[barrybritcher]

you can borrow my tool if you want, paypal me £35 as a deposit and when i get it back ill send you £30

[Geoff moore]

If the warning lamp does not illuminate at the time of the mot it is a pass and advise if it stays on its a fail however you should fix it as it is a safety aspect

[petey]

At the risk of sounding all nanny-state, although I have zero data for this sweeping statement, it is my estimation that very few, in fact statistically none of the people who’s airbag went off today or any other day planned for it to happen and a similar number had more than a couple of seconds’ warning.

I would guess that very close to none of the people who’s airbag went off today suffered more than they were saved. Yes, there was some disorientation, flash burns and maybe friction burns to the inside of the wrists, but in almost each case, injuries were lesser than if there’d been no airbag. Worldwide, many will still have succumbed to injuries I’m sure, but not too many were genuinely worse off.

You are fortunate to have a system, developed by killing hundreds of crash test dummies and scribbling literally millions of dollar pounds in vehicles, all to protect you when attention or friction cannot. Please don’t be looking for ways to circumvent this device that may well be the difference between you needing a dental brace and some burn cream for a couple of weeks, and you being branded with a Volvo logo in for your forehead which is now 3 inches closer to the back of your head.