SL500 SRS airbag fault solved

[cardiffrob]

2002 SL500. It had a habit of getting the SRS light come on and stay. It gave a fault code of Passenger Seat pretensioner (or something similar) but no fault could be traced. Eventually, the drivers' side seat got lifted out and it became obvious that someone had butchered the yellow plug for the airbag wiring under the seat and had made a poor splice using a heat-crimp that hadn't been fully heated. Every time you went over a big enough bump it would shake the crimp enough to get a momentary dead connection. It took nearly 6 months and 4 visits to the stealers to get it solved, but I haven't had to pay a penny!

So, the tip is.....don't assume that the car knows which side the passenger sits on!



At last...a victory in the battle against Merc quality control.

 

[miro]

Failing SRS seat connectors are a common fault. The poor quality workmanship is something all together different. The previous repair had gone bad and that has nothing to do with the car itself.

I personally dont find it a problem that these connectors fail. I prefer to use proper crimps but the factory says use a solder method.