UK Car Repair: Working on Airbags, airbag warning light, mr brady

Question
Dear Mr Brady

An airbag warning light came on my 2001 Audi A3. I took it to an Audi dealer to get the fault fixed.

The dealer replaced an ignitor - front passenger side. That didn't work.

The dealer then replaced the rear passenger side tensioner. That didn't work.

The third time, when apparently checking for an electrical short circuit/wiring fault, the dealer managed to deploy the airbags. They claim that they were following proper Audi maintenance procedure and that it wasnt their fault that the airbags went off i.e. they want me to foot a really large bill. They blamed it on a non standard stereo and CD system installed in the car.

I spoke to several garages and mechanics and I have been told that if work was being carried out in a proper manner, no way the airbags should have deployed. I have also heard that even if the mechanic was working on the car with a "live" current, he should have used a machine to take the air bag trigger current instead of the airbag system. Any idea what this machine is?

I have written to Audi-UK complaining of this but so far have had no offcial response.

Am I getting a runaround from the Audi dealer? Any advice you can give me will be of great help. Thanks.       


Regards

Fred Aye  

Answer
The dealer should have been using the factory scan tool VAG 501 or VAS 5051 to test the system,  They should not have been checking for shorts any other way unless the battery was disconnected!  That it could be the stereo system is virtually impossible, the stereo installers, had they connected to an airbag wire, would have deployed it, The fact is the wires are bright yellow and everyone knows what they are. They had the car, they deployed it, they are responsible!