B10121B - Center rear seat belt tensioner igniter Resistance too high

[ewmin3m]

So i've recently started looking into this error that's intermittently appearing. I've noticed it appears after i carry stuff with the car and I have to put the seats down.

Two questions:
1. If I have the airbag light on for the rear seat belt; does this mean that NONE of my airbags work? or just the rear. Got this response from my audi dealer:

"Tough question to answer because there is no definitive answer from Audi on this. And that is likely because this is related to a safety system on the vehicle and no one wants to be held liable. In the years I have had mixed answers from Audi training courses and technicians. I have been told that depending on the issue, it could prevent one or more airbags from deploying. I also have been told that as soon as the airbag light is on, it can deactivate other components in the airbag system to not cause possible consequential damage to another component, due to the component that is causing the malfunction.

In my opinion, must take this like a grain of rice, rear seat belt ignitor likely won't deactivate the front airbags but maybe if there is curtain, knee or seat airbags - it could prevent those from deploying."


2. What's the best way to fix this ? If i switch out the centre rear seat belt lock thing (the thing you put the seat belt in) would that fix this issue?
Are there any other things i could try before i switch out the seat belt lock itself ? Spray some wd in there that kind of thing ?

I hear this is a common issue even with VW; i'm just hoping it won't be too expensive to fix since it's audi...

Thanks in advance for any information

Happy driving

[ewmin3m]

I'm really hoping that Audi was smart and not just disabled ALL the airbags if there was one issue in one section

[King_Tutt]

I very much doubt that it would compromise the whole system when one decides it doesn't work. I would take your seat out and look at the connection maybe it's corroded or broken. If it looks fine then it might need replaced

[ewmin3m]

I very much doubt that it would compromise the whole system when one decides it doesn't work. I would take your seat out and look at the connection maybe it's corroded or broken. If it looks fine then it might need replaced

Thanks, for the suggestion; i think i'll try that asap and take a look at the center latch.

What should i be looking for? you said the connection would be corroded? is that between the latch itself and i'm guessing the electric cable it attaches to in order to provide latch status?
I'll try posting some pics too.

Hopefully i can figure this out and post the solution in this thread so others can find it. Had a hard time finding anything on this error code.

[ewmin3m]

Quick update; i took the rear seat bed off; vacumed the entire rear including the seatbelt latches. Put everything back together, erased the codes and so far so good; the airbag light hasn't come on. If it does come on again i'll probably swap and get new 2x latches for the rear. even though it's quite pricey.

[joshtowe]

Had this exact issue on my Avant when I first bought it. Ended up having to pay $1k to replace the entire center belt assembly to get the light off the dash.

[ewmin3m]

Hopefully I won't have to drop that money for just the damn center belt thing.... That's a tune right there

[Avantly]

Any time you have a high resistance/open circuit error make sure to check the actuator/ignitor/etc in question - If it checks out then you may need to look at the wiring. The C6 rear seat flips down, and therefore the wiring for the squib in that seatbelt has wiring which flexes every time you flip the seat down. The point where that wiring flexes then becomes highly suspect for open circuit/continuity issues when the squib resistance checks out OK.

[ewmin3m]

In the end i took the seats out and did a nice clean; there was loads of dust and crumbs under there. Put everything back together; cleared the code and has yet to come back. Even though i've moved the seats up and down a few times since then.