SRS light occasionally flashes during start up

[unity]

I am noticing that about once every two or three days my SRS light flashes for a fraction of a second then goes off when I start my car. I have got it booked in at the dealer for next week. Just wanted to know if I should be concerned by this and is it a real fault considering the SRS light is not actually staying on?

[yfin]

it happens when you turn key to "ignition" and then turn the key? Not sure what you are concerned about.

[DC5.Raven]

im pretty sure they all do that. srs light briefly turns on for a second or two once u switch on the ignition then turns off.

in fact u shud be worried if the SRS light stays on.

[unity]

it happens when you turn key to "ignition" and then turn the key? Not sure what you are concerned about.

No. When I turn the key to ON then all the lights come on then go off as they should when they have done their check. The SRS light comes on then when I turn the key to start. It makes a beep to indicate a fault and it also flashes up on the multi-information display for a fraction of a second.

I quote from the manual : "This indicator comes on briefly when you turn the ignition switch to the ON (II) position. If it comes on at any other time, it indicates a potential problem..."

So the fact that if appears at all (even for a split second) once the car has started has me concerned. After all it's a safety issue and I'd hate to think something could possibly be wrong if I were to be in an accident before the dealer investigates.

[unity]

Here is a video taken from my phone. The quality is not that good but you can see exactly what i'm talking about.

http://s635.photobucket.com/albums/uu71/unity_aus/album1/?action=view&current=V300309_0851.flv

[yfin]

yeah that is not normal. Unlikely to be a safety issue though as the light does not stay on.

[tron07]

go claim warranty and get the dealers to fix it

[unity]

It is booked in with the dealer next week. I will report back with the outcome. I feel it may be the buckle of the belt or something like that. The red press release button does not feel as smooth and springy as it did before. Although the buckle clicks into place the red button may not be returning fully to its normal position.

[Darkii_]

lol i watched the video and kept pausing it to see if i could see the dash warning. Looks like the trip screen shows an airbag warning picture?

[Crapdaz]

SRS is the airbag :)

[unity]

Yes it happens so quick that if you blinked at the wrong time you wouldn't see anything. It's the beep that alerted me to the problem first then I kept a close eye on the dash to see exactly what was registering. Then I observed it was the SRS warning light.

[by-life]

I can't help you to solve the problem, waiting to hear the outcome of finishing service with dealer~

[unity]

I had this problem investigated at Honda service today and their findings were that everything shows to be operating within Honda specifications, and that they were unable to identify anything abnormal.

I was wondering If I should just be happy with this explanation and move on or should I try to pursue matters further. At the end of the day they are saying all is ok but I still get that warning light temporarily and occasionally when I start my car.

[aaronng]

Have you ever ran your audio or sat nav without the engine running for over 10 minutes? It could be that the battery drain during the engine start up is causing the SRS system to turn off and on again in that split second.

[unity]

Have you ever ran your audio or sat nav without the engine running for over 10 minutes? It could be that the battery drain during the engine start up is causing the SRS system to turn off and on again in that split second.

Yes, recently I have been running my radio for 15-20 mins 2-3 times a week while waiting to pick up my daughter from school. So are you saying the battery is starting to drain? If this was the case wouldn't the battery indicator flash too as well as other indicators as well?

[aaronng]

Yes, recently I have been running my radio for 15-20 mins 2-3 times a week while waiting to pick up my daughter from school. So are you saying the battery is starting to drain? If this was the case wouldn't the battery indicator flash too as well as other indicators as well?

Nope, because the battery indicator will flash when the battery is really really dead. You might have a battery that is halfway there. If you are able to swap batteries with someone else to test, that would be a cheap way to find out if this is causing the flashing SRS problem. I doubt it is a problem with the airbag system itself because the light goes off and doesn't stay on.

[unity]

Nope, because the battery indicator will flash when the battery is really really dead. You might have a battery that is halfway there. If you are able to swap batteries with someone else to test, that would be a cheap way to find out if this is causing the flashing SRS problem. I doubt it is a problem with the airbag system itself because the light goes off and doesn't stay on.

I have a multi meter at home. Will testing the batteries voltage be any indication?

[unity]

If it is due to a low battery is it also possible that other indicators ie ABS, VSA, etc may also show up upon start up?
And if these indicators flash only momentarily during start up as a result of a low battery do the actually register a fault code in the ECU?

[tron07]

I doubt a multi meter would be able to tell you anything.

A simple solution is to go for a 30 minute drive or more, better still if the rev is 3k or more, then dont run your radio with the car engine off for a week and see if it repeats or not. If your battery is good, you shouldnt have the SRS lights anymore.

Any idea how many years you had been using that battery? Maybe its time to change?

[unity]

I doubt a multi meter would be able to tell you anything.

A simple solution is to go for a 30 minute drive or more, better still if the rev is 3k or more, then dont run your radio with the car engine off for a week and see if it repeats or not. If your battery is good, you shouldnt have the SRS lights anymore.

Any idea how many years you had been using that battery? Maybe its time to change?

It only happens randomly not every single time I start the car. So if it was a low battery wouldn't it occur every time?
Well my battery is about 10 months old but it's not the one that came with the car originally.
My battery died the day I picked up my brand new car from the dealer. The guy went through all the features in the car like radio, A/C controls etc. Then we went back into the show room to finalise the paper work and when I was ready to drive away the battery died. The dealer replaced the battery but I have no idea what type of battery was put in. How would I know if its the OEM battery?

[ok2]

I may have something similar. Had a mystery "ping" maybe 3 or 4 times at exactly the same time and by the time I checked the console nothing there :confused:. It happens fairly infrequently though. Car is bone stock.

My battery has already been replaced under warranty a while ago (cranking slowly after being left overnight, techs said it had thrown some errors).

[unity]

I may have something similar. Had a mystery "ping" maybe 3 or 4 times at exactly the same time and by the time I checked the console nothing there :confused:. It happens fairly infrequently though. Car is bone stock.

My battery has already been replaced under warranty a while ago (cranking slowly after being left overnight, techs said it had thrown some errors).

I heard the noise and that's what alerted me to the problem. What I do is turn the key to ON and wait for all the lights to go out (battery, oil and parking brake lights remain on) Then I start the car whilst looking at the dash and there goes the light on and off in a flash. No lights should come on once you start the car unless there is a potential problem.

[ok2]

Generally I wait till the fuel pump has finished priming and then I start the car. My problem is so infrequent that when it has happened I was not expecting it so by the time I looked at the console the warning, if any, had gone. As it seems to have the same warning tone for any "error" so can't use the sound to differentiate the cause.

Will have to get into the habit of watching the console each and every time :eek:


I heard the noise and that's what alerted me to the problem. What I do is turn the key to ON and wait for all the lights to go out (battery, oil and parking brake lights remain on) Then I start the car whilst looking at the dash and there goes the light on and off in a flash. No lights should come on once you start the car unless there is a potential problem.

[unity]

Good idea find out which dash light is activating, even catch it on video, and report it to the dealer so everything can be checked up.
If these warnings come up as a result of a low battery do they register as a fault code when Honda hook up there computer to the car?

[unity]

Had my car at honda today and the technician saw and acknowledged the problem but never had seen this before. Have been told the SRS system has been checked and is operating normally. technician will report the problem to the Honda tech line. Battery was fine so it's not a voltage problem.

[unity]

Does any one know exactly where the SRS impact sensors are located in the front of the car and are they easily visible?

[ok2]

@Unity - what is the status of your problem ?

Have had a couple of re-occurrences when I was watching the console and there were no warning lights I could see when the ping sounded.

[unity]

@Unity - what is the status of your problem ?

Have had a couple of re-occurrences when I was watching the console and there were no warning lights I could see when the ping sounded.

Nothing has changed. It still happens once every few days. It's been checked by 3 different dealers and they all reassure me everything is ok. I'll keep you posted if there is any new news.

So are you still trying to determine which system is giving you the "ping" sound?

[ok2]

@Unity - Yes in the sense that the ping may be a warning being issued indicating a problem or failure. In our case we have an intermittent fault that could be first sign of a more serious issue as a part fails or simply a small intermittent fault that causes nothing more serious than what we see.

My "concern" is based on the chance of it being from the more serious category where if we fix the problem early we can avoid extra pain / inconvenience and possibly cost. It is also because modern cars are incredibly complex computer based pieces of equipment built from proprietary components and can be very expensive to fix.

Wish we had the same "easy" access to reading error codes that they appear to have in the US where access is mandated by law. This may not help us in our case but at least to have the ability to see if there is a code would help.


Nothing has changed. It still happens once every few days. It's been checked by 3 different dealers and they all reassure me everything is ok. I'll keep you posted if there is any new news.

So are you still trying to determine which system is giving you the "ping" sound?