Airbag light....Vag Com

[mark_gober]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to see if anyone had any insight/experience with an issue I'm having on my niece's 2000 Beetle. (2.0)

Her blend door needed to be fixed (common issue on these cars) and so I tore the dash out and repaired the blend doors. Upon reassembly, I had an airbag light. I googled it and remembered that when I had the driver's side seat out that there were two wires coming from the seatbelt latch and one of them was broken. (also, common on these cars). I took the seat out, repaired the wire with solder/heat shrink, tested it for proper open/short indications with the seatbelt in/out and started the car again. I still have an airbag light.

I've disconnected the battery for several minutes and reconnected and I still get it. I never messed with the pass. side airbag and the driver's side looks fine. The small yellow connector cable tests out fine (ohm-wise). I've read that the airbag light may HAVE to be reset, but I'm not sure if that's the case. In other words, disconnecting the battery is not enough...it's got to be properly reset. Can anyone verify that?

Also, I've read about these Vag-Com cables, but I'm not sure exactly what capabilities that they'll give me. They can be had for very cheap ($12 on amazon) Is the software free? Does the Vag Com cable and software give me super in-depth OBD information (for instance, what exactly is causing the airbag fault).

I look forward to any assistance you guys can offer.

Sincerely,

Mark Gober

[nitroman]

The VAG-COM software is not free. You can either buy the full version + cable and everything from Ross-Tech themselves (it's called VCDS).

Otherwise, if you buy one of those cheap cables from Amazon or Ebay you have an option of:
1) Using the supplied software (which is not VAG-COM specifically but probably some other ODB software). I don't know how in-depth those software will be.
2) Purchase the VCDS-Lite software from Ross-Tech for $99. This will give you ALL the details for your car, it is very specific and in-depth. It even told me that my side mirror's heating elements are faulty (which those do not throw any OBD codes so a generic scantool will not get those).

If you choose option #2, before you purchase you can download a trial version of VCDS-Lite and try it out to make sure your cable works (since Ross-Tech doesn't do refunds), check if your laptop compatible, etc etc etc. The trial version only lets you do limited things only a certain amount of times, so it's just for you to test the setup. Here's a FAQ from their site regarding testing:

Ross-Tech: FAQ Page 4

[Valkylrie]

VCDS-Lite the free version, with an 3rd party cable will read and reset airbag codes. I know because that is what I used to do mine.

I used the same setup today to reset a check engine light, after I forgot to reconnect the plug at the MAF sensor.

[geniushanbiao]

Originally Posted by Valkylrie

VCDS-Lite the free version, with an 3rd party cable will read and reset airbag codes. I know because that is what I used to do mine.

I used the same setup today to reset a check engine light, after I forgot to reconnect the plug at the MAF sensor.

VCDS-Lite is not free. It's $99 a copy. You may get a cracked one from the internet but it's ILLEGAL. I'm now using VCDS-Lite too.

[IndyTom]

I wish I could get one of these E-Bay cables to work on one of my laptops. I have 2 of them and neither one of them worked with Vista 64bit or Windows 7 64bit on either one of my laptops. I don't mind spending 99 bucks on the VCDS lite if I can get a cable that works with it.
$349 bucks for the Ross Tech cable is just a bit steep for me right now.

[nitroman]

Originally Posted by Valkylrie

VCDS-Lite the free version, with an 3rd party cable will read and reset airbag codes. I know because that is what I used to do mine.

I used the same setup today to reset a check engine light, after I forgot to reconnect the plug at the MAF sensor.

VCDS-Lite is not free exactly, however, if you download the trial version and don't pay/register, it still has some limited functionality. One of which is the ability to clear fault codes. So if all you're doing is clearing codes (and other basic diagnostics), then yes it can be "free" for you. Here's a list of the functionality of VCDS-Lite and which ones need registration:

Ross-Tech: VCDS: Function Table

[nitroman]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

I wish I could get one of these E-Bay cables to work on one of my laptops. I have 2 of them and neither one of them worked with Vista 64bit or Windows 7 64bit on either one of my laptops. I don't mind spending 99 bucks on the VCDS lite if I can get a cable that works with it.
$349 bucks for the Ross Tech cable is just a bit steep for me right now.

Did you go to the settings of VCDS-Lite and set the proper COM port for the cable?

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by nitroman

Did you go to the settings of VCDS-Lite and set the proper COM port for the cable?

Yup, I tried pretty much everything I can think of. Tried setting different Com ports etc. but I am getting the same msg.
Seems the Com port is recognized but not the Interface.
I E-Mailed these people that sell these cheap Chinese made cables and they replied that I should try it on a Windows XP machine. I told them I don't have a Windows XP computer and they just told me I am sorry. They are sure it will work on a XP machine but not on a Vista or Windows 7 machine.
I guess I am just SOL.

[nitroman]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

Yup, I tried pretty much everything I can think of. Tried setting different Com ports etc. but I am getting the same msg.
Seems the Com port is recognized but not the Interface.
I E-Mailed these people that sell these cheap Chinese made cables and they replied that I should try it on a Windows XP machine. I told them I don't have a Windows XP computer and they just told me I am sorry. They are sure it will work on a XP machine but not on a Vista or Windows 7 machine.
I guess I am just SOL.

That sux. A couple other things you could still try are:

1) Find someone else nearby with a working VCDS-Lite and tell him/her to test out your cables with their laptop. You can also do the same and try out their working cable with your laptop. Then you can see if the cable is bad, and if so contact the Ebay seller.

2) If you don't have an XP Machine but still have the XP installation CD, you can setup a virtual machine using something like VMWare or VirtualBox. I just did that for an old DV Camcorder that only had drivers for XP

3) You could setup Windows 7's XP Mode (which is basically the same as 2) except this is Micro$oft's solution). I personally found option 2) using VirtualBox to be simpler but that's just me. The Bentley DVD only works on XP so they have some instructions for this on their website:
https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...p+Instructions

But I still suspect it must be either a bad cable or some settings on your laptop, it should work on Windows 7.

[geniushanbiao]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

I wish I could get one of these E-Bay cables to work on one of my laptops. I have 2 of them and neither one of them worked with Vista 64bit or Windows 7 64bit on either one of my laptops. I don't mind spending 99 bucks on the VCDS lite if I can get a cable that works with it.
$349 bucks for the Ross Tech cable is just a bit steep for me right now.

I think I told you about which cable I bought and how it works. I think there are something I have to mention. First the test port function only works when the OBD2 port is plugged into your car and you car ignition is at ON. Also when you use that cable it presents 2 COM ports in your computer but only one of them actually works. And VCDS-Lite only supports from COM1 to COM8 so if it presents COM9 it won't work. You can change the port number in device manager. Also when I did the test port on my computer 2 ports tested fine but only one of them was the cable's. .. After that every time you enter a module you have to wait with patience...some modules cost as long as 1 minute to enter.

[Valkylrie]

http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds-lite/download/index.html

VCDS-Lite for all 3rd party and "Dumb" Interfaces

Copyright Notice:

VCDS-Lite is Copyright © 2010 by Uwe M. Ross. All rights are reserved. All rights are reserved. De-compilation, disassembly, reverse-engineering, alteration, use as a reference tool for the purpose of developing a product with similar functionality, and re-distribution in any form without the prior written consent of the author is prohibited. The unregistered shareware version of VCDS-Lite is free for non-commercial use, but no support of any kind is available. Use in a commercial environment requires registration.


"Free for Non-commercial use"

It may have limited functions, but so far it works fine for me.

[geniushanbiao]

Originally Posted by Valkylrie

Ross-Tech: VCDS-Lite: Download

VCDS-Lite for all 3rd party and "Dumb" Interfaces

Copyright Notice:

VCDS-Lite is Copyright © 2010 by Uwe M. Ross. All rights are reserved. All rights are reserved. De-compilation, disassembly, reverse-engineering, alteration, use as a reference tool for the purpose of developing a product with similar functionality, and re-distribution in any form without the prior written consent of the author is prohibited. The unregistered shareware version of VCDS-Lite is free for non-commercial use, but no support of any kind is available. Use in a commercial environment requires registration.


"Free for Non-commercial use"

It may have limited functions, but so far it works fine for me.

If you ever used that you'll find it useless without registration. There are so many restrictions.

[Valkylrie]

Originally Posted by geniushanbiao

If you ever used that you'll find it useless without registration. There are so many restrictions.

I may at some point need to upgrade, but I just used it, when I changed my transmission fluid and filter last night (watched trans fluid get to proper temp to check level), and to reset a CEL, because I had left a connection on the MAP sensor loose, ... and some months ago to diagnose and reset Airbag lights from faulty seat belt buckles.

By no means do I say it will do everything, and when I come across something it won’t do without an upgrade to additional functionality I will upgrade. I am only stating that so far it has served me well.

I am just giving the OP more information, as we all have regarding what it will and won’t do. For his posted problem it will meet his needs, in my opinion.

[h_2_o]

one thing not mentioned in this thread is that there were some issues with the airbag controller on certain year vw's. This is noted at ross-tech's web site. You actually need to look at the serial on your controller and if it falls within certain parameters do not use the vag-com to scan them.