9 replies to this topic

[Colin cooper]

Hi all.
When i bought my 1998 cooper a while ago, the SRS red warning light was on. Before i picked it the garage gave it an MOT serveice etc and did a few bit n bobs i wanted done. They also said they would check the air bag and get the light turned off. When i picked the car up, the red lighht was still on, the bloke said that he had the airbag checked, and that it was ok. But the electrician was on holiday at the time, so he would get him to come to my house with the bit of kit to plug in under the dash, to turn the light off. I was bit spectical, but he assured me that the airbag was ok....so i trusted him.
Its been over a month now, i rang the garage and he said that he is also trying to contact thie electrician but cant get hold of him.

The guy in the garage also said that the red light came on because they disconnected the battery for some work and thats why the light came on. Now i'm starting to think that the garage fobbed me off with some bull****.
What do you guys think? Whould the SRS warning light come on if the battery was diconnected? If the garage did get the airbag checked, couldn't they of turned the light off then? Is there a way to do it myself without the proper kit or just by taking the bulb out?

cheers
Joe

[Bungle]

if the light is on then there is a fault

i would phone the garage and tell them if it's not sorted by ...... date you will get trading standards involved

i'm not sure it should pass a MOT with the light on, i know a mate with another car failed his MOT because the light was on

[L400RAS]

The SRS light coming on could indicate a problem with the seatbelt pre-tensioners as well as the airbag. Usually this problem is fixed by disconnecting hte battery, removing all plugs for the airbag and pre tensioners, spraying with contact spray, then re assembling.

If this doesnt work, I would remove the bulb. - notice the word "I" - whatever you decide is up to you, but hte car is 12 years old and Rover says/said it "should" have a new airbag every 10 years...

Ryan

Edited by L400RAS, 23 March 2010 - 07:00 PM.

[L400RAS]

Also, just seen Bungles comment regarding MOT - the SRS light is not subject to any part of the MOT. The only warning light ‘fault’ that would result in an MOT failure is that connected with an ABS system. Your friends car should not have failed purely on the SRS light.

[Bungle]

i wouldn't remove the bulb

you bought this car from a garage it's up to them to fix it

[Colin cooper]

oh yes that does sound right to me. i think i'm going to have to get a bit more serious with them. i gave them the benefit of the dout but it been ages now. cheers

[nice sig by the way. Zippy likes bungles plucking instrument! ]

[Colin cooper]

finaly got it sorted. the garage took it to there rover mechanic place in the end.

[icklemini]

... who took the bulb out... lol...

[Dan]

Incidentally, any garage who told you that an airbag in any Mini is OK probably haven't looked into it too closely. Airbags have a shelf life of 10 years, after which time the explosives in them have probably denatured to the point they will soon become unreliable. Airbags need to be replaced at 10 year services. All Minis are now over 10 years old, very few people replace airbags because they cost a lot.

[Colin cooper]

... who took the bulb out... lol...

Incidentally, any garage who told you that an airbag in any Mini is OK probably haven't looked into it too closely. Airbags have a shelf life of 10 years, after which time the explosives in them have probably denatured to the point they will soon become unreliable. Airbags need to be replaced at 10 year services. All Minis are now over 10 years old, very few people replace airbags because they cost a lot.

'icklemini'
yes, i half espected them to just take the bulb out to be honest. But the bulb is in there still because the light comes on when i turn the ignition, then it turns off after a second or two (like most warning lights in cars do)

Dan
oh ok, I didn't know that. Maybe they just stoped the light coming on, rather than actually fixing the airbag then. Kind of explains why they didn't really want to sort it out for me untill i got arsey with them. As long as the airbag doesn't deploy when i'm driving along...