Driver's Side Seat Airbag Deployment

BTITANS

MEMBER
VOLKSWAGEN

My daughter scapped a concrete barrier with my 2000 VW Passat 2.8 V6 ATQ engine. The only damage to the car was a scapped rim besides the drivers side seat airbag being deployed.

I've been told from one shop all components have to be replaced (controller, sensor for the driver's seat
and the airbag that was deployed)

Another one told me only the airbag needs to be replaced.

My question is if the airbag is replaced first won't the on-board diagnostics run their self check upon power up to see if the remaining componets are functional?

And if they are not operating correctly won't it keep the airbag lite even after a reset?

I will gladly donate to this site for a honest and upfront answer.

Thanks in Advance.

1 Reply

DPWD23

MECHANIC
136 POSTS

SRS airbag modules MUST be replaced after a crash. They are designed to operate only once. Dealerships can clear fault codes like if a sensor or airbag came unpluged, but a crash code being set, requires the module to be replaced.
I am not 100% sure about the actual sensor (basically an accelerometer) in a VW, but what ever sensor was tripped causing deployment sould probably be replaced also. The actual sensor may be built into your module for the seat air bag.

If you want the air bag system to operate correctly in the future, it's best to have the dealer or mechanic who does these kind of repairs do it for you, and do it the right way. They will also run the specific scan tool for the car, to make sure all of the other air bag components are healthy.