# need help for 00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (N95) :banghead:



## sebich1 (Dec 10, 2007)

hi Guys
i need your advices concerning my little story with that :
VCDS Version: Release 805.1
Address 15: Airbags
Control Module Part Number: 6Q0 909 605 A
Component and/or Version: 09 AIRBAG VW5 0003
Software Coding: 12345
Work Shop Code: WSC 00066
1 Fault Found:
00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (N95) 
33-10 - Resistance too Low - Intermittent
once upon a time.....by a very cold morning of january, my airbag light didn t want to turn off. i asked to a friend to scan the car and he found the code above 00588 related to the igniter of the driver side airbag. he cleared the code and by another cold morning of febuary, the light came back again which the same code.
so, i searched a lot on VWvortex and on the web an found that :
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/index.php/00588
and that:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3943845
i removed the airbag, cleaned very well all the contacts of the wire harness and after i tried to understand the connection between the airbag and the clock spring.
you have 4 wires in the housing of the airbag which is plugged in the clock spring:
2 wires are going from the clock spring to the air bag ( 1 brown and 1 blue)
1 wire is going from the airbag to a metal part of the steering wheel (black): horn ???
1 wire is going fron the housing of the airbag to a metal part of the steering wheel ( brown) : ground
i noticed that a shunt is present just above the 2 wires of the airbag (brown and blue) and this shunt comes in contact with this 2 pins when the airbag is unplugged . mine was bent.
from what i have read :
"The shunt, by design, is suppose to short the wiring harness of the airbag when it is unplugged so that there can't be a static build up in the wiring that might cause the airbag to deploy when plugged up"
but for some people this shunt can also come in contact with the 2 wires of the airbag when it s PLUGGED...
so i decided to remove this shunt and put the airbag back in place.
i cleared the code and no more light neither code for 2 weeks.
i said YES i found and fix the problem ...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but this morning ,





















, pretty cold morning in DC , the light is again on!!!!!!!!
before changing the airbag it self which is more than 700$ or the clock spring (300$) ...i think i will order a new wire harness between the airbag and the clock spring.
i found a technical bulletin of VW demonstrating that in the majority of the cases this wire harness is the faulty part... problem of design ...
also i really think that this is a problem of contact between pins and housing because it happened only when the temperature is below 25F...which means that you have a relation with the expansion and the contraction of the plastic and the temperature ....
what do you think ?
someone has the part number for this wire harness?
could it be another wire harness ???

thanks a lot for your help 






















seb
PS: i tried to write to Theresias directly but i couldn t find his email ...


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## penclnck (Jan 27, 2003)

*Re: need help for 00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (N95) :banghead: (sebich1)*

First off, I have doubts that the airbag itself is bad. As noted in one of the links you found, a dude purchased an airbag that wasn't needed. I warned him.... remember, I'm smart and hell to deal with over the phone.








At any rate, when an airbag itself goes bad, the fault doesn't clear out, or comes back right away, not a 2 week. Or as least this is what I've noticed with the few bad airbags I've run into over the years.
I don't know the part number of the pigtail harness that plugs right up to the airbag itself, but I think it will be something like 1J0 971 584 K but your local VW parts dept will know for sure.
The idea of having that shunt pulled out of the terminal housing doesn't sit well with me. That shunt is in there for a reason, to help make sure the airbag doesn't deploy when performing work on the car that requires that terminal housing to be unplugged from the clock spring... plug you still have the old style terminal housing anyway. I would see about installing the updated terminal housing, part number 6E0 971 582C.
Hope this info is of use.


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## sebich1 (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: need help for 00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (penclnck)*

thanks a lot penclnck !!! very helpful..
for me too, i dont think that the airbag is bad ...i really hope not ..
that s why i ordered a new wire harness at 1stvwparts.com.
but i am a bit confused because he gave me the part number 1J0 971 584 H..which corresponds to the part number of the 4 spoke wheel..this part was superseded by the version J....and the price is 40.51 $
but on my car i have 3 spoke wheel ....which is 1J0 971 584 K !! so you are right ... but all these parts have exactly the same price ....40.51 $..
so i presumed it is the same wire harness !!! am i right ???
also, VgRt6 cleared the code for me when the light was on. 
but the air bag light reappeared each time the temperature is below 25F....so it s related to the temperature ...bad contacts








also the other harness ( 6E0 971 582C) is behind the clock spring ???behind the steering wheel??
because right now i ordered the wire harnes between the air bag and the clock spring ....but i didnt know that another harness behind the clock spring could be also faulty ....






















so you mean that i didnt order the right part ??







and i have to change also this one ????
do you have a picture of this wires harnesses for the driver side air bag ??
thanks man for helping me ...







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by sebich1 at 6:03 PM 2-28-2009_


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## penclnck (Jan 27, 2003)

*Re: need help for 00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (sebich1)*

The pigtail that goes to the airbag itself also has 2 wires for the horn contacts, and the terminals for that can be a little different, but the airbag plug is pretty standard. I honestly don't know the correct part number for your application, so see what you get and go from there....
That other part number I listed, 6E0 971 582C is a pigtail harness that does go to the back side off the clock spring. It is the terminal housing (the yellow plastic plug) with 4 wires coming out of it, about 4 inches long. You cut the old plug out and crimp in this new harness bit. The correct part number for the butt connectors to crimp this updated plug is 000 979 940. I'll drop a shameless plug on this since I do sell these butt connectors:
SHAMELES PLUG FOR BUTT CONNECTORS
I would see about installing the updated pigtail since that addresses the known issue of cold weather resistance too small fault.


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## sebich1 (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: need help for 00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (penclnck)*

all right i understand really well now ...so basically i have to change the plug with the wires ( pigtail right ?) because it doesnt fit well in the connector on the back of the clock spring ....then i have to link the 4 wires of the new plug with the 4 wires that i will cut then use butt connectors.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
so definitively, i didn t order the right wire harness..i believed when i saw the technical bulletin that the problem was between the airbag and the clockspring... not behind the clock spring ...!!








i IM you man 
thanks a lot !!!


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## headache56 (Sep 27, 2007)

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4205216


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## sebich1 (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: (headache56)*

man it s cool !!! a lot of info!!!
you mean that 00588 Airbag Igniter: Driver Side (N95) could be the connector under the seat too ????
anycase this week end i will take a look behind the clock spring and under the driver seat and if i have some butt connectors i will redo all the connections !!!!
if i dont spend again 50 $ for a new connector and i can just fix the problem in redoing the splicing ..it will be great !!!


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## mechsoldier (Aug 14, 2004)

*Re: (sebich1)*

Actually the N95 part of that code is the component identifier stating that it is the one on the steering wheel so don't mess around under the seat.


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## sebich1 (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: (mechsoldier)*

ok...so i think i will have to order the housing behind the steering wheel...and butt connectors....















another 60$ easy !!!
but Headache5678 had the same code right ??? so what is the difference ???



_Modified by sebich1 at 1:11 PM 3-4-2009_


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## VlaD2803 (Jul 15, 2021)

2021
My passat b5.5 has same issue.

I solved 00588 N95 Resistance too high after I removed the yellow connector and I connected the cables between them. I removed the yellow connector from picture attached.
It is under the driver seat.
I used a vag-com scanner and I cleared the error and the airbag light has gone.


Regards!

*thank you @*Fixxxer !



Later Edit on August 13, 2021: *

The light came back to my panel board, although hoping I fixed the issue removing the yellow connector under seat driver side but this is not a solution. I think have a problem in my steering wheel because as I tried first, I removed the airbag from it and I sprayed with an Electric Connectors Spray and after that I've successfully removed the error using a VCDS VAG Com interface. But this is not a long term solution because I am writing now after about one month and the error came back. I think there is an error with the clock spring or there is a weak imperfect contacts under my airbag. I think next time when the error came back I will try to fix the cables of yellow connector for Airbag.

I will update you once I have news.


***Do not remove the yellow connector under driver side and first try to spray with an Electric contact spray under steering wheel airbag and after that try to delete the error 0588 Resitance too High (Airbag Igniter Driver Side).* 

Regards!!


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