my airbag light is still staying off. If I fasten the seat belt and then turn the key, no seat belt light or chime. If I have the belt unfastened and turn the key, I get the warning for 6 seconds, then the light and chime go off. Life is good

 

Final chapter;
I should follow up here and make an admission. My bravado was premature, the seat wiring was a red herring I had been chasing.
While I could sort of correlate the SRS light being on to the seat wiring I NEVER found any hard evidence of a fault. Only the assumption that the shorting bridge in one of the connectors was somehow doing it's job while the connector was together. Which doesn't make much sense once you observe how it fits together. It was coincidental that the light was off after fooling around there.
The fact that I was able to extinguish the light by substituting a resistor to fool the SRS computer into thinking the seat airbag circuit was complete was also merely coincidental.
My light returned a day later and I was about fit to be tied. Still unable to scan for codes to have a starting point I once again dove into the driver's seat checking the connector AT the airbag as it was posted this was temperature sensitive and it remained off one cool morning. All looked okay, the wires were manipulated and no visible faults could be found. I cleaned connections and re-assembled the seat. Then removed both seats and inspected wiring again, nothing found, continuity everywhere. Probed from the srs module(there is a shorting bridge in that connector too) beneath the radio and got correct readings.
While re-installing the driver's seat I had the Ah-Ha moment. Moving the steering wheel to it's highest and shallowest position to clear the seat it occurred to me that the harness in the column must also flex. Sure enough. After dismantling the steering column covers and probing the driver's airbag circuit I was able to manipulate the wiring and provoke an open circuit. One of the wires leading to the "clock spring" had an internal break, bending it would make or break contact. stripping the insulation confirmed this. The other conductor in the same spot was nearly broken through as well. I removed the effected portion and soldered in a three inch or so section for the repair.
The manner in which the harness was zip tied inside the column caused a pretty severe bend about two inches outside of the back of the clock spring, this is where the breaks occurred. There was NO outward sign of this, only manipulating the wire while checking for continuity revealed the break(s).
Sooo, it wasn't the clock spring per se but the leads to it.
The memory function causes steering column movement concurrent with the seat. This, combined with the reported common seat wiring issue had me chasing my tail when all the while it was nowhere near where I was looking.
As usual in cases like this it was a ten minute fix once found.
A proper scanning tool would have had me pointed in the right direction straight away. I service enough cars and have had enough rough diagnosis like this that I'll be forking over a grand or so for a second hand pro scanner soon. At minimum wage I'd have half paid for it in time wasted on this job.
You guys have been great, thanks to all that contributed to this thread. Hopefully my experience shared here will help another faced with this.

 

Well found Ross, it's a nice feeling to sort a real headache fault. I suspect you could pick up a Rotunda Jag/Ford scan tool fairly cheaply, then you have factory diagnostics.

 

My light came back on! I wiggled the yellow connector in the middle of the seat base and was able to have it go out for 100 miles. I will pull the seat out AGAIN and see how to make the connection more secure. Oh well. More to follow.

 

Ross, you are my hero! Should you ever be in the Vancouver area, I will buy you a steak dinner. After chasing my airbag light for a year, today I followed your lead and found a kinked wire right by the connector at the bottom of the steering column. By removing the airbag, I could put a meter on the wire and confirm the break.

For the first time since I bought the car, that damned light is out!

 

Glad you got it, Rob. I would destroy you at a steak house.
Lear, be sure you aren't chasing the same ghost I was. I was CONVINCED the seat wiring was the issue. The column wires are easy to access. You can probe through the insulation right at the clock spring and check continuity to the plug.

 

I am trying too to track an airbag light and need some advice, please. So, putting the probes on the two legs of a connector, what value will be for a good wire? Moving the wire will make the figure going to 0 if it is broken? The wire on my steering column is not inside but outside of it. If I put the meter on the airbag connector, or on the wires down the steering column is it any chance to blow it?
When I put the ignition on,the light is off for 2 seconds and then on.

 

Be advised there is shorting bridge in each connector that leads to an airbag, even the one at the module. Simply checking at the connector will always give you a dead short (0 ohms) because of this. With the bridge removed the airbags should read only a few ohms, 2.5 or so is my experience. Use only a digital meter as analog ones, I'm told, may have enough current to activate the airbag. A break will give an infinite reading, you may have to manipulate the wires to provoke an intermittant break. Mine was not apparent on visual inspection and even after knowing it was there still didn't look it would be a problem.
I've not read anywhere of a faulty airbag so what you are looking for is continuity in the wiring to them. Look at places where the wires flex, under the seats, the wire inside the seat to the side bolster bag and the ones in the steering column.
Having codes read will give you a starting place.

 

Thank you for that! I checked today and I found 3,4 ohms down the column, without any change while shacking the cable and moving the wheel. I would need a way to see what info is receiving the airbag ECU, what circuit is affected. I heard that sometimes the crash sensors from the B pillars may be bad, I also checked the connections a week ago, also on the seat belt case and no change(no measurement).

 

Hhhhhhh….. This has been the most exhausting problem. Since last posting, I've:
- taken the driver's seat out twice, visually inspecting, cleaning, and reseating all connections.
- replaced the driver's seatbelt receiver (shot in the dark…)
- replaced the clock spring with a NEW unit. (Don't ask me how much that part cost nor the amount of fiddling I had to do due to an apparent update of the part and the plastic harness it sits in.)

The fault remains with no change. No codes. Light sometimes off. Always off at start up. Comes on mostly when the ambient temperature is warm. Coming on a lot less with the cooler weather. I have not begun to measure wires with a voltmeter, because, quite honestly, I have no idea what I'd be doing and all of the wires underneath that seat look brand new. Apart from that, I believe I have exhausted every possibility.

I guess I'm just venting, unless, of course, anybody has any remaining suggestions. I'm open to that.

Cheers, I guess…

Scott

 

My trouble turned out to be the wire lead coming off the clock spring which you have already addressed.
I understand that a similar failure of the actual wiring under the seat is common. My clock spring wires showed ZERO outward sign the wire inside was broken, a visual inspection won't do. Check continuity while manipulating the wires. I'd bet a dime against a donut this is it.

 

my air bag light fault code is U2017 according to jaguar, they say it does not Identify fault location, it would have to go in to the shop for them to explore which sounds like a big bill every time a shop tells you this, £70 just to get diagnostics to tell me that, I was disgusted.
Anyway anyone had this code/problem with a sound solution.