Jonathan Clayton

My car seems to have a new trick. The past few days the the seat belt warning has appeared on the dash along with the warning bells every few moments while driving. It seems to think there is someone in the passenger seat that needs to buckle in (no items in the seat). I took the short video below to show to my dealer in hopes that it will help track down the problem. The warning goes away briefly if I jiggle the passenger seat belt release button. If I fasten the passenger seat belt it will stop all together until unbuckled.

Video of problem

is it bad that I can already see the dealer report in my mind? "unable to replicate issue, cleaned debris from seat belt area' :-)

spindlewood

Disable it with obdeleven.

rdA4WtQ5

Probably a connector under the seat is acting up. Often just wiggling the connectors can resolve for a while anyway. If it comes back use VCDS to isolate which connector is problematic using live data while wiggling and watching the data change and then clean the contacts in that connector. There are most probably fault codes to help clue you in as well. Or just clean all connectors under there. (Kind of a pain)

Jonathan Clayton

Dealer was unable to replicate so therefore unable to repair. Per dealer, there was only one instance stored in the computer even though it has happened several times. I guess video proof is not evidence enough for these guys.

For those who remember my vent smell issue when using the fresh air intake, I was told that they isolated the problem to the intake being in the engine compartment and what I am smelling is normal engine smells. Proposed solution - only use a/c or recirc.

Jonathan Clayton

Well....the seat belt warning issue originally posted in this thread is back. I found this TSB that looks pretty straight forward. Does anyone know of any other TSBs relating the the seat belt warning system?
Since I originally took the car in for this issue at 47k miles and have video proof, I would like for Audi to take care of it for me even though I am out of warranty. I'll call Monday to ask, but assume the answer will be no. If so, I might try the zip ties myself and see if it helps.

Scotty (UK)

I always code out the seat belt check. It makes life a lot easier all around. I don't need the car to tell me to belt up and if I want to move my car back and forth with auto brake release etc it does so.

Jonathan Clayton

Not a bad idea and I do have the OBDEleven. Do you happen to remember where I can find the coding? My biggest concern is that it is also turning off the passenger airbag when this happens. In the case of an accident, should the passenger airbag still work if I code out the seat belt check?

kunteper007

Jonathan,
I used a canister of electronics duster by staples (a.k.a canned air ) Thanks to your inspirational last line.
There was debris inside the buckle on the passenger side. It went away right away.
It won't hurt to try it out.

Jonathan Clayton

Thanks for the update! My car just started doing this again after stopping for some time. I'll give the compressed air a shot.

1sato

Started with me for the first time yesterday! I'll try air compressor trick.