I have a 2002 MK4 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Ghia and am trying to get it through its next MOT. Recently on a very cold morning, I started the engine and the airbag warning light came up on the dashboard. It has been on ever since, and I have tried unplugging and reconnecting the yellow connectors found under the driver's and passenger seat, but this has not changed anything.

When I turn the key in the ignition, the light goes away for 2 seconds, and then comes back on. I've also checked the fuse and this is not the issue.

What is my next best port of call for diagnosing and fixing this? Should I replace the clock spring assembly? Any advice would be really appreciated 🙂

Best thing to do would be get some specific Ford diagnostics on it.  Generic OBD won't pick up airbag faults.  I'm not sure if Forscan works on a Mk4 Fiesta but that's the cheapest option.

 

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Best thing to do would be get some specific Ford diagnostics on it.  Generic OBD won't pick up airbag faults.  I'm not sure if Forscan works on a Mk4 Fiesta but that's the cheapest option.

 

Thanks but I've read on other forum posts that the Forscan or ELM327 won't work on this model of Fiesta unfortunately. I'm taking it to a garage tomorrow for other unrelated repairs, so I will ask them if they could try to read the fault.

According to this https://www.carscanner.info/compatibility/. a 2002 petrol car made for European market should support obd2 scanner. But your car might have been old stock I suppose.   Ford etis should show date of manufacture of your car.  There’s only one way to tell for sure. A scanner like the ones from tunnelrat electronics with the extra switch are useful and work on other makes of car not just Ford so it’s not like a total waste of money if it does not work on your 2002 fiesta. Forscan software is free for a windows laptop.

I appreciate all the advice, but I had a garage use their diagnostics tools on it today and not even they could read a fault. I think it's just the combination of an oldish car (2004) and a rare model (MK4 1.6 Zetec Ghia). 

Assuming I cannot diagnose the fault code, what is my next best step in diagnosing and fixing this? Again, I have checked the fuse and sprayed WD40 in the contacts of the yellow connectors under the seats, for the seatbelt pre-tensioners. 

Tomorrow I plan to remove the steering wheel cowlings and to disconnect/reconnect all airbag related connectors I can find under there (I believe these are always yellow?). I think if that fails, I will replace the clock spring / squib sensor using this (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Ford-Fiesta-Mk4-Squib-Ring-Air-Bag-Slip-Ring-Brand-New-/153554146330?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=Cj0KCQiAtJeNBhCVARIsANJUJ2E67JKgU5l5FcHIxoe6957Z62vXIRZAu06nn8BcUJ_xjI7JblYTZy0aAmBIEALw_wcB).

If that fails, I will be quite stuck and am not sure what the next best action is without taking it to an electrician and potentially paying lots of money. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

43 minutes ago, Fez100 said:

but I had a garage use their diagnostics tools on it today

Unless it was a Ford main dealer, you would just be wasting your time. Generic code readers as used by independent garages are very unlikely to pick up the DTC on a Ford specific trouble code.

You can start swapping bits at random and you may hit lucky but the odds are very much against you. One thing that is sure you will have spent a lot of money and time and still have a problem.

Have you tried to use FORScan on your car ?

21 hours ago, unofix said:

Unless it was a Ford main dealer, you would just be wasting your time. Generic code readers as used by independent garages are very unlikely to pick up the DTC on a Ford specific trouble code.

You can start swapping bits at random and you may hit lucky but the odds are very much against you. One thing that is sure you will have spent a lot of money and time and still have a problem.

Have you tried to use FORScan on your car ?

Good point - it was a generic back street garage and so I doubt they had any Ford specific fault readers.

I've just ordered one (FORScan ELM327 V1.5 USB Modified OBD2 Code Scanner HS-CAN MS-CAN Ford ELMConfig) from ebay, so hopefully I will get a reading from that! 

That's a good start. Just hope the ELM327 lead from eBay is the real deal and not a Chinese clone.

Mostly people on the forum buy the leads from TunnelRat Electronics £18.95 which might be a little more than eBay but at least we know they fully work with FORScan.

https://tunnelrat-electronics.fwscart.com/USB_Modified_with_switch_ELM327/p4541936_17045457.aspx

 

Good news (depending on how you look at it) - the reader was delivered today and I've just ran FORscan on it, and the result was the following fault code:

B1342 - ECU internal fault

Module: Electronic Crash Sensor

Now at first glance from what I've read online this looks like it can be complicated to pinpoint exactly...I'm assuming I can try to replace the crash sensor with something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363607983234?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338343596&toolid=10001&customid=eb%3Ag%3Avms%3Aeb%3Ap%3A363607983234%3BCjwKCAiAwKyNBhBfEiwA_mrUMlIykSRsWAjI8jk-W71vFZsnNaEhoCDwyqeAigMPS3tIfw-EEKLIIRoCGygQAvD_BwE&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A18zSBqnlFQ4OdGYBaVYYKSg38&gclid=CjwKCAiAwKyNBhBfEiwA_mrUMlIykSRsWAjI8jk-W71vFZsnNaEhoCDwyqeAigMPS3tIfw-EEKLIIRoCGygQAvD_BwE

 

Please let me know if you've seen anything similar before and what you think my best action is. Thanks again, I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and advice 🙂

Also I've looked at every page in the Haynes manual and I can only find information on the airbag control unit location and a wiring diagram for the module; I can't actually see any info on where the airbag crash sensor is located. I assume it will be somewhere behind the bumber in the middle, however I'm not sure exactly where after just having a look with a torch. 

Does anybody know exactly where the airbag crash sensor is located on a Fiesta MK4?

If I remember correctly the crash sensor is located next to the bonnet latch.