Warning light - please help me pass my MOT!

Chickabiddybex

Hi, I have a 1998 1.3 Fiesta and the seatbelt warning light is on. It used to flash 4 times but recently it just stays on constantly.
I tried unplugging the yellow plugs and plugging them back in again (the ones by the side of the seats) but it hasn't changed anything.

I've seen online someone suggest that if I disconnect the battery for a whole hour then this will "reset" it and the light will go off. Is that true? If so how do I do that? It's difficult to find instructions.

My MOT is booked for 16th Jan (AAAAARGH!) so I need to try to fix it ASAP!

Further info: it has an aftermarket stereo I don't know if this could be faffing with the electronics.

Lum

Is this the light that is supposed to tell you that your passenger doesn't have a seatbelt on? If so, I don't think that one is part of the MOT test.

Chickabiddybex

I think my car is too old for that.

I think it's the light that tells you about the airbags and the pretensionsers depending on how many times it flashes. It's a picture of a person with a seatbelt on.

Chickabiddybex

I just looked in the instructions, it is the: Air bag/seat belt pretensioner control light

It has a person with a seat belt and an air bag. It illuminates constantly but illuminates brighter in bursts of four.

I have tried unplugging the yellow things to the side of the front seats and plugging them back in but it hasn't fixed it.

mrmot

An illuminated airbag light indicating a fault is a MOT fail, however an airbag light that doesn't illuminate at all is an advisory. It's your choice, either get it fixed properly or disable/blank out the light to get it through the MOT.

Chickabiddybex

How do I disable it? Take out the fuse? Leave the wires undone?

Also can you back up that claim? Everywhere I look online suggests the non lit light will still be a fail.

mrmechanic

If the airbag light doesn't illuminate, it doesn.t fail
Only advisory as light inoperative.

If it is on, it indicates a fault in the system and is definately a fail.

spacey2012

Unplug the wires under the seats and clean the connectors both sides with a dry toothbrush.

ice_babe

Taking out the fuse or unpluging light wont work i'm afraid. My last car failed mot on luminated air bag light and they actually check that the light comes on with ignition then goes out.

We checked all the wires under the seat ect (most common fault). In the end we took it to a Renault specialist who diagnosed a faulty seat belt pretensioner, which is a optional extra in the car I had. He unpluged the pretensioners and reprogrammed the car the think that that it didn't have them Cost me £25 in total :beer:

Joe_Horner

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

Also can you back up that claim? Everywhere I look online suggests the non lit light will still be a fail.

Here ya go, from the official VOSA online version of the test manual:

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s05000401.htm

The page title gives the item in question (in this case the Supplementary Restraint System), the "Method of Inspection" column is what they look for, and the "reason for Rejection" column is what they can fail it for.

The golden rule for MOTs is, if it ain't in the book it can't fail


eta for clarity: the only fail abailable for the SRS lamp is if it indicates a fault with the SRS system, so a non-working lamp can't fail (by definition, it can't indicate anything!)

forgotmyname

Get the fault codes read and you will know exactly which sensor is at fault.

Front mounted crash sensors are the usual problem, The wires corrode. Sometimes its the drivers side airbags as the wiring gets used more.

Pulling fuses etc wont help it pass. The light must do what its meant to. No light and no pass.