00590: Passenger Airbag Igniter N132

Circuit fault

What 00590 means

A dual-stage passenger airbag can deploy at two different intensities, and the controller decides which stage to fire based on crash severity and occupant information. Each stage gets its own monitored loop. When the second stage loop measures outside the resistance window, Audi and Volkswagen store 00590 and disable the passenger airbag.

Both stages usually share the same connector and the same run of harness, which is why 00590 sometimes appears next to the first stage code and sometimes appears alone. A fault in one set of terminals inside a shared connector affects one stage only, and that is a useful clue when you are deciding whether the connector or the airbag is at fault.

Common causes

• A single terminal in the shared airbag connector backed out or corroded
• The connector left unlatched after glovebox, radio, or HVAC work
• Water intrusion at the passenger kick panel reaching the harness
• Second-stage igniter failure inside the passenger airbag assembly
• Damage to the dash harness from an accessory install routed through the same area

Crash data or hardware fault?

00590 is a live circuit reading rather than a locked record. The controller measures the second stage loop at each self test, so the code drops out once the resistance is correct. Stored crash data is written when a bag actually fires and stays in the controller until it is reset on a bench, regardless of what is repaired on the car.

Does our reset clear it?

Nothing changes on the second stage loop when the module is reset. The controller checks again and stores 00590 right back while the fault is present. Repair the circuit first. Where our mail-in reset applies is a controller holding deployment data, which is the condition a scan tool cannot touch at all.

Which makes throw it

Both Audi and Volkswagen use 00590 with the N132 designation for the second passenger stage. The meaning stays the same across the two brands.

What to do next

Compare the two stages at the connector, because one stage reading correctly and the other reading out of range narrows the problem to a specific pair of terminals instead of the whole bag. Inspect those terminals for backing out or corrosion before you go further. If both the connector and the harness check out and the second stage still reads wrong, the passenger airbag assembly is the part to replace. Related codes: 00589, 00591, 12-4X.