Airbag warning diagnosis

Good day.

I have a Subaru outback 2010 model with the EE20 diesel and 6 speed manual gearbox. Right hand drive. the nearest agent is 400km away, so i cannot ask them to diagnose the problem.

the airbag warning light came on, stayed on for a couple of days, then went away. Then a while later it came on again and went away again.
it is on permanently now.

I took it to a friend with a scanned and the code said it was the driver seat airbag. We played around with the plugs and it had no effect.
then one day the light was off, and when I loaded a passenger the light came on again.

I read on this forum that another right hand drive car had a similar error code and it turned out to be the passenger side airbag( left hand side)
can this be?

Then I want to know how I can fool the system into thinking the airbag is working?
Once again I read on the forum that a 2.2 ohm resistor will let the computer think there is a working bag installed. The aim is that I unplug the bags one by one until I find the one that extinguishes the warning. That will then tell me which one needs replacing. Do i just insert the resistor into the plug to bridge the 2 wires?

Thank you.

I would highly advise against trying to fool it

Just wait it out till you can get by a dealer and leave it to someone who knows airbags correctly.

Also any capable shop even non dealers should be capable of properly diagnosing, repairing this fault code.

You could have something as simple as a pin fittment issue but it takes proper knowledge. IF you don't know what you're doing you could injure, maim or kill yourself or quite possibly a family member

I personally wouldn't want that hanging over my head

Best thing to do is leave the light on and the airbags just won't deploy as that's the way they're designed by default

BE safe!

Thank you for the concern and advice.

The situation is such that I need to know whether a 2ohm resistor bridging the plug will simulate a working airbag?
Then I also need to know whether the driver seat airbag error code is swapped between left and right hand drive cars. Am I tracing an problem on the wrong side of the car because of a programmer in the factory?

Visiting the dealer can only happen after the fault is traced and I can purchase the part for them to install.

Risks, skills and ability is my responsibility.

I 100% agree with Dale. I had virtualy the same response typed out days ago and deleted it because I don't want to discourage DIY auto repair, but this is not a check engine light or power window that doesn't work.
You don't even for sure know what code is setting. Any number of components or circuit faults can turn on the air bag warning light and stuffing resistors in connectors until the light goes out is not how any qualified technician would go about the diagnosis. You will end up doing more harm than good. Bring this one to a shop if you are not properly tooled or trained to troubleshoot the issue. No hate, no one here was born with a Verus and access to Mitchell.
"Visiting the dealer can only happen after the fault is traced and I can purchase the part for them to install."
Why not do it the other way around? Let a repair shop diagnose the problem, then buy the part and install it yourself.
Then you can still have the satisfaction of fixing it yourself without paying the repair labor.

Thanks. I understand the sentiment behing your reply, I dont consider it in a negative way.

Its just the 8 hour thrip to the dealer that is not acheivable.

I will live with the light. Maybe if I get transferred to a more civilised part of the country I can make a plan. I am litterally in the middle of nowhere. I have a full aircraft and avionics workshop where I spend all day, but a glass cockpit and car ECU are wildly different animals.

Cheers.

alexvanwyk wrote:

I read on this forum that another right hand drive car had a similar error code and it turned out to be the passenger side airbag( left hand side)
can this be?

It's certainly possible. And more likely if you're using an aftermarket scan tool and code definition. Would be nice to have market specific O.E.M. service information if you can get it. And if things are crossed up in the O.E.M. tool and documentation there'll probably be TSBs on the issue.

One thing you could try is unplugging the drivers air bag to see if it sets a different code.

Regards testing with jumper resistors just bear in mind that this is an intermittent. Could be a wiring fault rather than a bag.