Every car that has an airbag system (which is nearly every car since the year 2000) has a small airbag symbol, or an airbag light as its called in the dashboard/speedometer/clock area. When you turn your ignition switch on this light should illuminate for 5 seconds only, before going out, along with your other ignition lights (oil, engine etc). This means your airbag system is armed should you have an accident and be in need of your airbags. Basically they will inflate as required, and your seatbelts (which are linked into your airbag system) will tighten up holding you in your seat stopping you from flying forward through the windscreen.
If your airbag light is either on permanently or doesnt come on at all, it means there is one or more faults in your airbag system. No matter how hard your car is hit, your airbags will simply not blow - as I tell people, even if its hit by a jumbo jet they still won't blow. Its a bit like trying to turn your TV on with no fuse in the plug. Too many people have dismissed this light staying on as of no importance. It's only now that NCT laws have changed (since 2009) causing your vehicle to fail its test if this light either doesnt come on at all or stays on, that people are starting to investigate whats wrong.
In some cases with a second hand car when the light does not come at all they find that it has been permanently blocked off e.g a blob of black paint or some black insulating tape has been put between the perspex screen and the actual light so you don't see that its permanently lit. This was a common trick used by rogue vehicle repair people to allow them to cut corners, and keep the overall cost of repairing a vehicle for sale down. In most cases this may simply have been because the second hand airbag kit they purchased came with the wrong airbag module (the brains or control house of the airbag system). Over the years the prices of these have gone up and down and today you can still pay up to €600 for one e.g for a Kia, Hyundai or Honda. Or they may simply not have wanted to replace the airbags at all and will have done a patch up job.
The reason the light would be on in the first place in any vehicle is due to some sort of impact - this can vary from a severe road accident where the airbags and seatbelts have blown, to simply hitting a pothole or kerb hard. You may not even realise you have blown your seatbelts as they may work mechanically, i.e they will roll in and out, but if the light is on chances are they have blown electronically and this effectively breaks the circuit of the airbag system, so the light is your warning that your airbags will not blow up when needed until you get this problem sorted. In many ways your airbag system is a bit like old fashioned Christmas tree lights where when one blows the whole set won't light. If any single component of your airbag system is blown, the rest may as well be as they will not function. So assuming you only have a problem if your actual airbags have blown is a common misconception .
If your light comes on you will need to know what is damaged and what needs to be replaced. Your best bet is to go to your main dealer as they will have the diagnostic equipment, the software to read the faults and the experience to know how to troubleshoot any issues. You may see people advertising that they can offer a diagnostic on your airbag system, and every other joe soap seems to have diagnostic equipment in their garage or shed, but I would recommend you only go to a reputable garage for this service - e.g if you are in the Ballina area we can recommend Luke Donnellan - one of the best in the country. There are others and if you contact us we may be able to direct you to someone reputable in your own location. If you are not sure then your main dealer is still your best bet. You will get a diagnostic report which they can interpret and which will indicate which airbags and/or seatbelts may need replacing. Then you need to go to an airbag specialist to get replacement airbag components which can include your driver and passenger airbags, seat bags, roof bags, knee bags, seatbelts, and even a new airbag module. In some cases your own airbag module can be repaired (reprogrammed) - the crash data or the cause of the light going on will be stored on it and reprogramming removes the stored data and puts it back to how it was before at a fraction of the cost of a new one.
Airbags Specialist
Replacement car parts - new and remanufactured
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