Airbags / Airbag light

[MINTY]

Cheers Lee, just read that guide and one thing I can't work it is whether you disabled all of the airbags or just the seat airbags?

[lil.smartie]

Originally Posted by RacingSnake

Rich had the ISOfix kit in his car not a resistor (and afaik it's not disabled)!! he's unsure if it also needs to be enabled at the SAM. we know the resistances for the on/off just not the details on the sam unit - this is why we haven't published it yet

When the Smart kit is fitted the car needs to be told it is there via STAR Diagnostic, just like a rev counter, it's not a TAN just activation.

Kate

[punkeyfunky]

Originally Posted by MINTY

Cheers Lee, just read that guide and one thing I can't work it is whether you disabled all of the airbags or just the seat airbags?

Just the side airbags; a later loose connection showed up the airbag light again (soon fixed by the dealer[1]). I refused to believe the dealer when I was told it wasn't possible to disable the airbags; my persistence with BMW soon paid off when the code/instructions the dealer (in London) needed was provided from Germany.

-Lee

[1] On a 2003 MINI, you got to know your dealer on first name terms, such was the frequency of visits... The cars were essentially unfinished and the dealer network were fixing up niggles and faults rather than having the production line stopped.

[RichG]

Originally Posted by RacingSnake

Rich had the ISOfix kit in his car not a resistor (and afaik it's not disabled)!! he's unsure if it also needs to be enabled at the SAM. we know the resistances for the on/off just not the details on the sam unit - this is why we haven't published it yet

Correct, I've got a resistor plug in to stop me having a warning light as I no longer have the switch. If we can trace the loom then we can also disable the passenger bag with a different resistor plug

Originally Posted by MINTY

Let me know if you want to borrow me and my car for a day to experiment.

Happy to have a compare session Phil, but the carpet has to come out, so it'll have to be a dry day guaranteed!

[RichG]

Originally Posted by lil.smartie

When the Smart kit is fitted the car needs to be told it is there via STAR Diagnostic, just like a rev counter, it's not a TAN just activation.

Kate

That bit is true too

[davidclayton]

just doing some research and digging up old threads...

Originally Posted by lil.smartie

The car knows which airbag is faulty/not plugged in.... so I THINK (Not 100%) that only the faulty/missing airbag wouldn't be triggered in the event of an accident.

anyone find out if this is true?

Originally Posted by RichG

Correct, I've got a resistor plug in to stop me having a warning light as I no longer have the switch. If we can trace the loom then we can also disable the passenger bag with a different resistor plug

what do you mean by a resistor plug? and where did you connect it?
do you think the same could be done to disable the seat airbags?

[kimrennin]

The bag itself is made of a thin, nylon fabric, which is folded into the steering wheel or dashboard or, more recently, the seat or door.The sensor is the device that tells the bag to inflate. Inflation happens when there is a collision force equal to running into a brick wall at 10 to 15 miles per hour . A mechanical switch is flipped when there is a mass shift that closes an electrical contact, telling the sensors that a crash has occurred. The sensors receive information from an accelerometer built into a microchip.
-----------------
kimrennin
New Cars

[davidclayton]

mmmm... ok....
but if 2 of the sensors detect that an airbag is missing,
will the SAM/airbag module still send the signal to inflate the remaining 2 airbags?
or does it think that there is a fault, and not send the signal anywhere?

[sbroadie]

The SAM doesn't know anything about it (until the airbags are triggered which sends a "crash" signal via either CAN or a hardwired input (not sure how Smart do it) - this is a slight misrepresentation as the SRS system is continually sending a "system healthy" signal). It's the "crash" signal that shuts off the fuel pump, unlocks the doors & flashes the hazards. The SRS ECU continually pulses the airbag modules when the system is active (ign on) & looks for a certain voltage rise. If the rise it sees is outside the acceptable range (low = short to gnd, high = disconnected) it will flag a warning light, store a DTC and deactivate the system (as it cannot ascertain what the status of the airbags are). By fitting a resistor of a suitable value then the SRS ECU thinks the airbag is stil there & doesn't flag the warning.

What I need to know is where the SRS (Airbag) ECU lives on the roadster - I'm guessing bolted to the floor / bulkhead behind the centre console stack?? Anybody know??

Stew

[BBE]

Originally Posted by sbroadie

What I need to know is where the SRS (Airbag) ECU lives on the roadster - I'm guessing bolted to the floor / bulkhead behind the centre console stack?? Anybody know??
Stew

It lives in the middle of the dash, connected to the large aluminium crossmember that goes all across the car.
Bjorn