Grrr Airbag warning light - again

Had the dreaded B0100 failure last week. Sent the Airback controller off the crashdata.co.uk to get it reset. It came back with the report saying that the max battery voltage report of 14.1v was a bit high. Had the motorhome sat on the drive as we have had problems with the leisure battery losing charge, I have now replaced the leisure battery (and fitted a battery monitor so that I can see how it is coping over night). Went to move the motorhome off the drive and now I have the airbag warning light back on.  

I suspect that it will be an over voltage condition again. Looking at the voltage being reported on the EC328 control panel, on this fine sunny day, I see that the leisure battery is at 13.3-13.8v ish and the cab battery is at 13.3-13.8v occasionally peaking up to 14.1 volts. I wonder if the solar controller is doing something odd. So far the correlation between ten days ago and today is the bright sunny day.

I will try to get a replacement unit and then get a breaker fitted on the solar panel feed, so that I can isolate it an kill the solar charging before putting the key in and turning the ignition key. The other option is low voltage as the starter motor cranks, hopefully another battery monitor will be able to spot this, once I fit it.

:( Chris.

Hi Chris any chance with removing the fault code with a OBD code reader? A few months ago my airbag warning light came on the dash. Checked all the electrical connections etc to the airbag, seemed ok, then had the warning light code cancelled at a local garage. Soon after it reappeared. I was fairly certain then the fault was with the ECB [airbag module] and was preparing to send it to crashdata. But first I gave it one more go with the OBD reader and again had the fault code removed with the assistance of an auto-electrician. Since then it has not returned-touch wood. Similar to you I suspect the airbag fault is related to the level of charge, behaviour and activity of the battery. Your consideration of isolating the solar charge, prior to turning on the ignition, to reduce over voltage conditions, seems a good chance of working to me. I have a breaker on my solar panel feed and might just take up your thoughtful idea.

Check your manual the sargent bulk charge voltage could be as high 14.4 . I have heard of ecu fail after a flat battery.

The first time it happened, 10 days ago, I had the fault code read by a garage local to the storage site. The B0100 then lead me to send the Airbag ECU off to be reset, since the fault inside that unit is what leads to the B0100. I had had the motorhome charging as I had changed the hab battery and wanted to make sure it was really really full. However I was careful to make sure that the power was off, the cable disconnected and time had passed  before going near the ignition.

The isolation switch for the solar panel feed seems sensible and whilst that is happening also fitting a hab battery isolation switch, so that I don't have to keep taking the terminal off.

Having read around a bit the common consensus is that the van variant of the chassis doesn't have issues. The big difference between van and motorhome has got to be the onboard charger, from mains or solar. If I can rule these out of the picture, by procedure and switching then I may be able to avoid the problem again.

I shall ask, when I get the airbag ECU replaced, to get one of the newer variants and the year's warantee will make me feel more relaxed.

Molly3 wrote:Check your manual the sargent bulk charge voltage could be as high 14.4 . I have heard of ecu fail after a flat battery.

When it first happened I brought the battery home and did put it on charge - it seemed absolutely fine. I have a BM6 battery monitor arriving today that I shall put on. The one I fitted to the new hab battery is producing useful data. I spent a while chasing parasitic idle loads, before deciding to replace the hab battery.

From what I have read the Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen base has this achilles heal for motorhomes. I'd rather have this than the injector fun that adblue Ford motorhomes appear to be having.

:) Chris.

gbrchill wrote:Booked in at the local Peugeot dealer later this month.

Initial diagostics, by the dealer, indicated that a new airbag ECU is needed. Taking it back in again tomorrow for the replacement to be fitted. Wallet will be made suitably lighter, but at least I shall get the 1 year guarantee.

gbrchill wrote:
Initial diagostics, by the dealer, indicated that a new airbag ECU is needed. Taking it back in again tomorrow for the replacement to be fitted. Wallet will be made suitably lighter, but at least I shall get the 1 year guarantee.

Cost me around the £460 mark last year, worth knowing the airbags will work once the new unit is fitted, I didn't have the time to send unit to crash data ,as I was heading out on tour..
Hope alls well .
Boaby

All done and the most painful part was paying. The red light has gone out and I hope never to be testing the airbags.