I know you can get standalone code readers/clearers but they appear very limited. Is it possible to get a laptop, software and the right cable to attach to a car a clear an airbag light?

The airbag light on my Mitsubishi Colt has come on again and at £60 a pop to clear it, it’s becoming an expensiive 6 monthly affair.

The light indicates a fault, so either you’ve got a fault, or a faulty light / sensor. Do you know which one it is?

Because, call me old fashioned, but I don’t think I’d want to drive round with a faulty airbag. I can’t imagine that it going off whilst in the third lane of the motorway would be a whole barrel o’ yuks.

I’d respectfully suggest you get the fault fixed or, if you don’t want to pay “£60 a time”, just ignore it. Personally I’d be taking it back to whoever “fixed” it last time as they clearly haven’t.

Thinking about it,

I’d sincerely hope that you couldn’t just clear that sort of warning and hide the fault. It’d make buying a used car even more of a minefield.

You can clear the warning, but it’ll come back on if the fault recurs. So you can’t “hide the fault” but if it’s an intermittent fault such as a loose or damp connection, it may be some time before it recurs and triggers the warning again.

As per Cougar, I wouldn’t reset it until I knew what the problem was.

You can’t just ignore it now…it’s an MOT failure.

I guess people are looking at solutions to clear the fault prior to dropping it off for it’s annual MOT.

If you have an Android phone then the Torque Pro app (£2.99) and a bluethooth OBD2 reader from ebay (£15 ish wen I got mine) are all you need to read & clear codes, plus do loads of other stuff.

As above though, the light is indicating a fault. That fault will not go away just by clearing the error code

Also if the air bag light is on it usually means the entire air bag system is disabled.

If you really want to fudge it through the MOT then just take the bulb out – most warning lights have to come on then go out to pass the test but there is no failure code on the MOT system for the air bag light not illuminating in the first place.

If you have an Android phone then the Torque Pro app (£2.99) and a bluethooth OBD2 reader from ebay (£15 ish wen I got mine) are all you need to read & clear codes, plus do loads of other stuff.

Not entirely correct. This will only allow you to read generic codes and not manufacturer specific codes. In this case it won’t find a code for the airbag fault and it won’t allow you to clear the light either.

My car has an intermittent warning that comes on. Once every 3-6 weeks it’ll beep at me but it doesn’t appear to impact the car’s running in the slightest.

I bought a bluetooth ODB2 reader (mentioned by cp above) and either use Torque Free on my phone or MultiECUScan on my laptop to read and clear the code.

Every time it comes up it’s the same code relating to the Cam/Phase position sensor. I’ve replaced the sensor and checked the all the wires/connectors around it and it’s still the same.

I’ve learned to live with it, if I don’t clear the code with the ODB2 reader, it clears itself after a couple of days anyway, so would be just as ‘hidden’ from a potential buyer anyway…

It once came on when being MOTd, but the guy said if he cleared it and it didn’t come straight back on that would be fine.

Long story short… Look on the owners site for your car and see what they advise.

I’ve got a cheapy code reader, it’ll clear most codes but won’t get rid of abs or brakes warning lights. Nanny state gone mad I tell you!

The car will probably have captured more than just a general fault, didn’t the guy who reset it tell you what it was for your £60?

An intermittent cam/phase position error could indicate the cam belt being on its last legs or the cam timing is slightly out.

An intermittent cam/phase position error could indicate the cam belt being on its last legs or the cam timing is slightly out.

The timing had occurred to me but it had had that belt on for a year or 2 when I bought the car and it’s given the warning as long as I’ve had the car (about 2-3 years), so thought I’d live with it.

It’s due a belt change in a couple of months (early end of the recommended change interval), so it’ll be interesting to see if that stops it appearing.

It was visually inspected at the last MOT/Service and was deemed to be fine (not infallible proof I know, but good enough for me).

£60 a time just to clear the light? Wow, we have a specialist Autoelectric place locally that do a diagnostic for fixed price, £45 last time I used it [though I’d confirm that they weren’t just going to tell me the warning code].

£60 a time just to clear the light?

Which is why I bought a Peugeot OBDII reader and bundled software for £70 off of ebay, which reminds me, I should really fire it up and find out which ABS sensors is on the blink/dirty and keeps turning my ABS off.

well don’t tell my mechanic m8, he’s cleared the EGR valve warning light three times for me of late for free (to diagnose the issue without just replacing parts willy-nilly)

In my Toyota you can short two pins out in the OBDII connector and press a sequence of buttons as you start the car, and it clears the codes. Very useful 🙂

So will ANY warning light result in an MOT failure now then or what?

Molgrips, can you let me know the Toyota details please. Mrs’ car has intermittent airbag light on at the moment.

So will ANY warning light result in an MOT failure now then or what?

Nope. My car just went through an MOT with the “ESP (Electronic Skid Protection) System Fault” light on and it wasn’t a problem.

dooosuk, you’d better google for your car – it seems to be common on Toyotas and I guess it’s a standard feature, but shorting pins out could be risky so make sure you find the instructoins for your car!

Only thing I found on the web was to jump pins in the OBDII socket and it would flash the error code out on the dashboard. Haven’t found anything about clearing the light.

I’m talking 2002 Corolla here.

GrahamS, it should have been failed because that light was on – you got lucky (as I’m sure many others will do)!!

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s03000401.htm

Interesting Rockhopper – the garage said it was fine because the ESP was an optional extra and the ABS was unaffected – but that gov document clearly states otherwise 😯

Thanks all. Yes, totally agree about getting it checked out, however each time there’s never been an underlying fault. I triggered it one time by being too aggressive when chipping the 2″ ice of the car 😳 This time it looks like someone has reversed into my car and given the bumper a knock ( very minor damage).

Prius might be different then. I caused the fault code on my Prius forcing the calipers back to change pads. I knew there was no underlying fault, but the car didn’t and it went into a scary failsafe mode, along with severe warnings all over the computer screen. Not only did it disable ESP but it also disabled servo assist AND only the front brakes worked! Scary stuff!

Intermttent ABS related codes can be caused by damaged or dirty wheel speed sensor rings, apparently.

Yeah garage said my ESP thing was caused by a a whell sensor according to the OBD code. But they’ve replaced that and it is still showing even though no cause is now reported ?!

Might try disconnecting the battery overnight and see if that clears it.

Its a long shot, but for the Airbag light coming on check the connection/plug under the front seats,this circuit is linked to the srs system and may have something to do with your problem,

Its a long shot, but for the Airbag light coming on check the connection/plug under the front seats,this circuit is linked to the srs system and may have something to do with your problem,

Will do, thanks.

eah garage said my ESP thing was caused by a a whell sensor according to the OBD code. But they’ve replaced that and it is still showing even though no cause is now reported ?!

Live data at that point is your friend, road test, check out wheel speed readings, through a complete range of speeds, and look for dropouts or a slow reading on one wheel, sometimes the sensor can be fine, depending on the sort, it can be the pickup ring on the cv joint cracked or rotating. Pressure on the brake pedal is also worth a look, common on VAG and BMW start by showing a negative pressure, and never get to the point they show a positive pressure. Also seen a few faults from brake light switches, especially ones with four terminals, one set operates the lights and they are working fine, the other set of contacts go to the abs ecu and that isn’t seeing a brake pedal signal, but see the increase in brake pressure, hence the light.