Pretensioners. ARRRGHHHHH!

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Is there a need to reset code once you have triggered it?
Is it definitely seat code, you didn't change steering wheel or something else at same time.
 
Lord B said:
[post]355740[/post] Is there a need to reset code once you have triggered it?
I wondered that. Certainly there seems to be a lot of vids on YouToob that discuss how to reset the airbag light on different cars. If the light just cleared once you had fixed whatever the fault was then why would those vids exist? Just a thought.

I don't think the module connects to the ECU and so OBDII will not show error codes...I think that's right.
 
The system SHOULD reset itself once the fault has cleared therefore no user intervention is required to reset the fault.

If the wiring is the same/similar to the Fiesta Mk4/5 (which I suspect it is) the module is independent of the ECU.
I removed the one from my Mk4 Fiesta and it was in no way connected/wired to the ECU.
 
CherryVimto said:
[post]355744[/post] The system SHOULD reset itself once the fault has cleared therefore no user intervention is required to reset the fault.
It was worth a shot. I can't help directly on this problem as I don't have these pre-tensioners on mine, but anything that helps to look at a problem from a different direction is worth trying. Otherwise, you can get stuck in an endless 'It can't be this, it can't be that' loop. :)

So...connector shorting link OK? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2oM5mvEytk

That direction is not a far fetched as it seems, Ford had a MAF and HCV connector problem once with pins being ever so slightly too short and I read that one caused a few needless MAF/HCV changes, so even the default (OEM) stuff can be wrong sometimes.
 
Well, the design on the shorting bar means that the connector itself pulls it out of the way, but that video gives me the info I need to test the pretensioners themselves. Good find!
 
Ugh....

Well I've probed and tested and my conclusion is that me and multimeters are not compatible. I can't get any consistent readings from anything. Sometimes my (brand new) multimeter sits at OC as it should and other times the resistance wanders about like crazy.

As for the car itself, I'm no closer to working out what's wrong now than I was when it first broke and certainly no closer to an MOT.

Can anybody at all think of anything? I am very, very close to stripping it down and selling it off as spares - such a stupid small issue that is rendering it as useless scrap.
 
Hi Lee
I hope this helps. I sometimes make up connectors for my multi tester so I can do one handed testing using electrical crimps eg if you want to test two male pins inside a connector block I would use the smallest female pins I could find and then crimp the opposite end to suit the multi tester probe then there is no danger of shorting out and you get a more reliable connection.
I know it's frustrating but keep at it mate :)
Barry
 
Yes, I think it is not quitting time either! Try to look at it from the bright side: once you HAVE sorted it, you will have found out something new to share with us here :wink:
 
If you can find someone breaking a puma same year, you could always see if they could chop off plugs with 6-12 inches of cable, you can then strip and makes it a lot easier to use multimeter

Not sure if there are any Diodes in circuit, which would make testing polarity conscious. At least once you sort, it will save someone else the same heart ache
 
A friend suggested I just set fire to it.... Promising idea.... Thanks all, I wonder if I have a dodgy meter - even with a good connection, it wasn't giving any sensible readings.
 
I've borrowed another meter this evening and checked all four of my pretensioners. All of them read 2.7 ohms which means they are not the problem. I'll check the wiring again tomorrow as it must be a short or a break somewhere in the loom.
 
My bet is that one of the wires got squashed and it disconnects and reconnects randomly. Probably just few threads were ok but in time they broke as well and now you have the light constant on. If you have been taking out the seat frequently, the wires might have had beem caught by runners once and that was all that was needes actually. I would just try to make a new loom (for the seat in question) using the existing plugs and replace it. Probably easier and faster than chasing the breaking point
 
I've tested the wiring now from the pretensioner connectors to the module multiplug and everything checks out. Each wire has around 0.7 - 1.0 ohms resistence along its length. I've also tested the ground which also checks out.

So basically, the pretensioners are OK, the wiring is OK and the module is OK. All associated components are OK...

The only thing I can think of is that one of the female connectors for the pins is not making contact as it should?

Please tell me that makes sense?!
 
The Arch Bishop said:
[post]355906[/post]
The only thing I can think of is that one of the female connectors for the pins is not making contact as it should?

Please tell me that makes sense?!
Yep, it's possible and is a variation of the connector fault I described in the last para here - http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?p=355745#p355745

Hard to track down, unless you already know such a fault is possible. Jerry rig longer male pins to test and either extend the male pins or, as I do, use 1.5mm stripped copper wire from house wiring - cut bits wide enough for hole and, er, drop them in. You've now decreased the depth of the female hole by 1.5 mm exactly. Caution - cut the little bits of wire too long and there's no going back, as they will jam in those holes.

Jerry rig to test the theory of the solution first.

Disclaimer - I've never actually seen these pre-tensioner connectors, as I don't have these. But, in my experience, one connector is pretty much the same as any other. :)
 
Ok Frank, sounds like a plan. Looking at it, the pins are certainly long enough, but I'm wondering if the female part has spread too much and isn't making contact. I'll try dropping a thin bit of copper wire down length-ways to pack it out. I may even be able to disassemble the connectors themselves and give them a crimp.
 
Right, so this evening, I stripped down the female connectors on both sides. The metal contacts are easy to remove by sliding out the red securing strip, hooking a small screwdriver under the retention tabs above the contacts and then pulling them out of the back of the yellow plastic housing. Then I used a pair of needle nose pliers to slightly oval the female contacts and put them back together again. The result was that the male and female connectors took quite a shove to reconnect, but were clearly making good contact. Once done, the job was jobbed.

TL;DR - loose connection - has taken many months to sort - ridiculous.
 

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