B1000 airbag fault - what would you do?

[James24]

The airbag fault came on yesterday and has been read with a Tech2 as B1000 - see below.

B1000 replace the control unit - EEPROM errors C-002
B1000 replace the control unit - hardware errors C-002
B1000 replace the control unit - hardware errors C-002
B1000 control device to replace C-002
B1000 control device malfunction C-002

The guy who read the code said this could be the airbag control module or the CIM. Does anyone know if this is the case or if it is definitely the airbag controller?

Also, who would you trust do get it fixed? Dealers want £580 for a new airbag controller (if that's what it is). I have seen places that will repair the existing module for under £100 which is very tempting butI'm not sure if I'd trust them to get it 100% right. Perhaps the price seems a bit too cheap for repairing a box of electronics, especially one that could save your life.

[Keithy]

you just answered that yourself mate. when it comes to something like that which might save you life one day, i'd trust the dealer and no one else

[ed taylor]

Do you move your driver,s seat back and forth offten, as that daft as it may sound can make the airbag light come on. It sounds like it might just need resetting, as there may not be an actual fault with it.

[James24]

Do you move your driver,s seat back and forth offten, as that daft as it may sound can make the airbag light come on. It sounds like it might just need resetting, as there may not be an actual fault with it.

Thanks. I don't move the seats much, but the garage checked just in case one of the connectors had come loose and also tried clearing the code - but it is one that you can't clear.

There are different fault codes for sensor and airbag errors and also for if the airbag controller has trouble communicating with any of them (cabling issues as you suggest). Unfortunately, B1000 relates specifically to a hardware fault within the controller itself.

Someone said it could also be the CIM and I hope someone can confirm if that is the case or not...

[James24]

The second garage (full dealer this time) confirmed the B1000 fault code means a new airbag ECU.

I have been quoted £540 and the car is booked in on Monday morning because I've got no airbags until it's fixed.

I am hoping to get the quote down to nearer £500 because I have stripped out all the centre console and will also put it back in myself. The dealers system gives 1 & 1/2 hours for the job and I'm sure that over 1/2 an hour of this is to remove and refit the centre console.

[sharper]

had northern autotech swap my data in to another ecu got it back today and light still came on , when I spoke to him he said it could be the CIM any ideas fellas getting realy pd off with this car now has anyone had this code and it turned out to be the CIM dont want to spend £800 on a car thats worth £1500

[James24]

There are quite a few airbag fault codes but I think that the ECU turns the light out when the disappear, with the exception of an airbag activation which causes the light to stay on until the ECU is replaced or re-set (depends on the model of ECU and who does it).

Code B1000 relates specifically to an internal fault with the airbag ECU so if B1000 is still the code you have then the issue is most likely to be with the ECU.

Maybe this means that the previous fault (or a new one) is present or there are (still) issues with the ECU, so perhaps a fault code read would be a good idea so you know what you are aiming for unless you have already done this.

Was the new ECU programmed with the correct specific code and also set the match the number of airbags and seatbelt pretensioners in your car?

[plasma]

Sometimes when an ECU comes back from repair/reset it will still need the generic airbag codes clearing.... Was the same with mine. Had mine sent away for repair, came back and just had to clear the fault codes. Then it was all hunky dory

[James24]

Sometimes when an ECU comes back from repair/reset it will still need the generic airbag codes clearing.... Was the same with mine. Had mine sent away for repair, came back and just had to clear the fault codes. Then it was all hunky dory

What model of airbag ECU do you have? Shaper and me both have early Vectra C's and so both have the original airbag ECU. I think the original model was not re-settable via a fault code reader but later ones were.

[plasma]

it was on a 54plate full can car.. I wasnt talking about clearing 'crash' codes, just normal codes like pretentioner open circuit, or quib high resistance.. Had a couple of these type of codes on mine.