We have a 2012 C250 coupe. A water bottle rolled under the passenger seat and caused the power seat to come off the track....a friend removed the seat and fixed the power seat, but since then we have the airbag light illuminated and a “passenger airbag malfunction” message in the display. It’s been over a year and it’s getting on my nerves. The local shop wants $150+ to reset the light.

Is it possible the seat was hooked back up wrong, or is it normal for the light to remain on after the seat is disconnected (and thus must be reset in a shop)? Is this the only option to make this annoying light go away?

Thanks.

 

I would say the ignition was turned on while the seat was out and its logged a code for the passenger airbag not being connected, you will need a half decent scan tool to clear the code now that the seat is back in, you can buy a cheapy tool off Ebay but check that it can reset the airbag light.
I would also check to make sure the small yellow plug was fitted back when the seat was refitted, if you look under the seat from the front you should see a white connector and a yellow connector right beside it, with the ignition off just un-clip it and re-clip it into place.

A obd 2 scanner like this one is handy to have, it wont do everything but enough to solve minor problems with, buy the unit for $110 and have it for when other codes come up or to use on other cars.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Foxwell-NT6...cAAOSwbERc-W8k

I have one of these it does a lot more but it is a bit expensive if you dont use often
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Autel-MaxiC...kAAOSwXrBa2BAO

 

I do believe anything that is SRS related has to be turned off at a dealership or with a scan tool that can access the airbag module. Those are a bit more pricey.

 

No, you can get the cheaper ones that can do it, of course a $24 Ebay one is not going to do it, it will just clear engine codes, but the one I linked to can, it will read and clear airbag fault codes, all you are doing is clearing a fault code from the airbag side, no different than clearing engine fault codes, you just need that next level to access the air bag side of things, as the original poster has a fault code not a deployment it can be erased with a scan tool, I have done this many of times myself with a cheap scan tool, approx $170AU, I now have a Autel which was about $1000AU, still not the most expensive or comprehensive but it gets the job done.

Now if you have had a deployment of a airbag you will not be able to clear the module with any scan tool as crash data is hard logged in the module, but you can have the module reset at a fraction of the price of a new one, there are people around who can erase the Eprom and re load it with a non deployed copy some even advertise on Ebay, I have also used this service and it works well.