The Airbag light on the1998 Audi A4 T1.8 quattro that I recently bought is on. (The passenger airbar was recently replaced).
I was told that a mechanic inspecting the problem said that the "di-electric grease" is the cause.

a) ever heard of that one?
b) could that in deed be the source of the warning light
c) if so, how much labor/cost shold I figure for the repair?

If NOT "grease", what are likely other causes?

Thanks.

Volker

 

very common because the passenger airbag can be turned off so look at your instructions

 

Scan the car and find out which bag is tripping the light. It's common for the driver's side seat airbag to turn the light on, because it's connector is under the seat. Moving the seat too far back can strain the connector enough to trip the light. The fix is to first determine which bag turned the light on, and if it's a seat bag, use a small zip-tie to secure the connector tightly together, and then use VagCom to turn the light off. Just be careful not to damage any of the wires on the connector under the seat (it's the yellow one) - they're small and could become pinched pretty easily.

 

Ok. Being new to the Audi A4 (even so I had a 100 Avant (2.3l, 5 cyl) and a 1994 100 2.8l V6, I still have to be considered a "freshman".
So: What is the easiest way to figure out which airbag triggers the light?

Volker

 

You have to use a scan tool and scan the car's airbag control section to be told which bag is at fault.

 

How can I rule out that this is not the case?

Volker

 

Oh. ok. The owner actually threw into the deal a simple OBDII scanning tool. Will plug it in and see if it "finds" anything, or if a trip to Autozone is needed.

Volker

 

I don't think an OBDII scanning tool will tell you anything about the airbag. This typically only tells you about the "Check Engine Light".

 

Correct - you need to use VagCom to find out which it is.

 

By the way, so long as we are on this topic, WHICH VagCom should I buy? Can you point me to a link?