This FAQ looks at (very common!!) problems with the p2\3 306 airbags and how to fix them.

Typical behaviour when you have an airbag issue: upon starting the car orange 'airbag' light flashes before going on solid after about 5 mins.

I believe the pretensioner light (picture of seatbelts) also is supposed to behave in the same way, but when i had problems it would come on solid part way through a journey!!

In a lot of cases the problem lies with the 2 orange connectors under each of the 2 front seats. You can sometimes confirm this by wiggling the connectors with the engine off and bringing a short term fix to the problem. It becomes especially bad if you move the seats a lot for different drivers or back seat passengers. To fix this you need to replace the connectors.

IMPORTANT:

Before doing any work on the airbag system disconnect the battery and tie the cable out of the way! Dont touch any of the airbag circuits for 10mins. Disconnecting the battery should also mean airbag faults will be cleared (always has for me when the prob has been fixed) when reconnected.

The process is the same for both front seats altho you must remember to raise the drivers to max.

Using a torx socket undo the 2 bolts holding the rear of the seat, then slide the seat forward and do the 2 at the front.

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Cut the connectors out and replace them with something reasonable. Be methodical and use labels (bits of tape) to make sure you know which wires to join.
Put everything back together.

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Remove the 2 screws, 1 either side in the console in the footwell.

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Now is a fun bit

* The centre console comes out in 2 sections.
Rear section first:
* Handbrake fully on.
* Try to slide out over handbrake handle, if it wont go you will have to pull the handle off the handbrake.
* Angle the gaitor to get it thru its hole.

Remove rear section:
* Handbrake fully off.
* Push console sideways and up around handbrake.
* Unplug ash tray light connector (pic)
*Remove front section.

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Cut out the connectors and replace them as you did before. This time wrap the wires in tape to protect them from chaffing and fasten them down to their original mounting points. Put everything back together.

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Undo the 2 torx bolts found in recesses in the back of the steering wheel and unplug and withdraw the airbag unit carefully and put it out of the way somewhere.

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Remove the steering wheel to reveal the rotary switch!! Undo the 3 torx screws.

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The new switch has a paper seal to prevent it spinning, dont unpick this just fit it to the car fully intact. The airbag connector should be at the '9 OClock' position and so the space in the back of the steering wheel should fit back over it. Refit the wheel according to your marks. Put everything back together.

I would expect that addressing the above areas will fix the majority of airbag system faults and are a good starting point.

If you still have problems then you could try checking the continuity in the wires between airbag ecu and seats\wheel. Never connect a test meter to the airbags or the airbag ecu but you can test wires not connected to any components as long as you are sure this is the case. I would like to know how you test the airbags\pretensioners!!

You may have to admit defeat and take the car to a main dealer for diagnosis.