Astra seatbelt pretensioner

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Mon 4 Aug 2003 13:49
Astra seatbelt pretensioner - 3kidsandamortgage
Hi,
The airbag/pretensioner warning light on my Astra came on shortly after sliding the passenger seat all the way forward and tilting the seatback all the way back (to carry a big load before anyone starts getting other thoughts).
My local Vauxhall dealer diagnosed a pretensioner fault and want £200 to replace it. This seemed a bit steep for what I suspect was just a wiring fault. So I took the car back and I have had the seat out and checked all of the connections.

My question is, will light go out automatically when the fault is rectified or does it need the dealer to reset it?

I phoned another Vauxhall dealer who said it should go out by itself but this seems to conflict with answers to other similar questions in this forum.

My local Vauxhall Spares/Breakers have quoted £55 for second hand pretensioner but I don't want to buy this unless there really is a fault and there doesn't seem to be any way of finding out without paying a dealer to run the diagnostic and the second dealer has quoted £60-£80 to do that!
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Mon 4 Aug 2003 22:06
Astra seatbelt pretensioner - IanT
It's certainly likely that the cable under the passenger seat has been snagged, though there are other possibilities. If you want a sleepless night have a look at www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=89...5

Anyway, sticking to what's likely, the conventional procedure is that the system checks the airbag/pretensioner circuit when the ignition is turned on - if all is OK, the light goes out - not OK, the light stays on. So fix the fault and the light goes out.

Of course, yours could be the exception!

Make sure the ignition is off before fiddling with the wiring, and if you are considering fitting a new pretensioner, it might be a good idea to disconnect the battery and wait 10 minutes before proceeding (standard recommendation for working on airbags).

Ian
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Tue 12 Aug 2003 22:54
Astra seatbelt pretensioner - Sooty Tailpipes
I don't know what year it is, but on the buckle anchorage of a Vauxxhall with pretensioners, there is usually a slot on the side, from which a orange plastic 'alert' tag pops out about 4cm if the pretensioner has deployed (the tag is not visible if not deployed) if not deployed, the fault is more likely to be a wire or something.

I can email you pics of a deployed and undeployed buckle if you like, just msh me at krustycola@yahoo.com
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