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Alfa Romeo Airbag Help

Please click here for general help & information on how to diagnose & fix airbag problems

Many Alfa Romeo models will illuminate the airbag light following a flat battery.

A common problem is the vehicle develops an electrical drain and eventually the battery is discharged. The airbag problem occurs when you try to crank the engine when the battery is low or you boost start the car either with jump leads but mainly when a boost pack is used. This creates a voltage spike in the airbag module and corrupts the programming data contained within it. In many cases when you connect a diagnostic computer to try to clear the airbag fault codes, the airbag module will not communicate with the computer or it reads a 'defective ecu' fault code which will not clear.

The battery drain is normally caused by a bad earth and it commonly affects the 147 & 156 models. The bad earth causes the rev counter 'bulb check circuit' to fail & you will find you have a rear light constantly glowing dimly. Over time this drains the battery and then when you boost start the car it spikes the airbag module and locks it out.

To repair this fault you have to:

Locate and repair the bad earth -

This is usually the main battery earth lead & poor earths to the engine & gearbox. Many people tend to concentrate on looking at the rear lamps but this is not always correct. To be sure you should check & clean all earth points, so battery, engine, gearbox, chassis legs & rear lamps. Replace any earth leads that are corroded or broken.

Replace the rev counter.

Replace any blown bulbs.

Recharge the battery.

Remove the airbag module and send to us for repair.

We can repair this fault on these airbag modules for just £25 (UK Orders). We repair & post modules the same day that we receive them providing we have no technical issues. Once you receive the module it's simply a case of disconnecting the battery earth lead, refit the module, refit the earth lead, start the vehicle and the airbag light will be out.

Our work is fully guaranteed so if you find the repair hasn't worked then you are fully entitled to a refund provided you can return the module to us so that we can undo our work and return the module to you in it's locked state.

To proceed with the repair order please click here and follow the check out instructions