SRS Light

[Amanda]

The SRS light is continually on in my car. I read through a few DIYs to reset it and tried it over the weekend. They did not work for me at all, so tomorrow the car is off to a shop and they charge $50 to hook up a sensor just to see whats wrong... :thumbdwn:

[EKVTIR-T]

Maybe there is no airbag in there?
Was the light on since you bought the car?

[Amanda]

Yes it has been on since i got it, BUT the car was in an accident before I got it. The front end on the drivers side and it slightly bent the frame so i had it repaired but the airbag did not go off in the collision. Im pretty sure there would still be one in there though.

[CRXer]

Do a quick code check,just short out the service check connector(usually a blue plug hanging loose near the ECU) & see how many times the SRS light flashes at u.Note the speed of the flashes & any pauses(&how long) between flashes & report back with your results.

[Amanda]

Sorry how would i short that out? <<<< electrical Noob. I will try and do ths tonight, and see what it tells me.

[EKVTIR-T]

Yes it has been on since i got it, BUT the car was in an accident before I got it. The front end on the drivers side and it slightly bent the frame so i had it repaired but the airbag did not go off in the collision. Im pretty sure there would still be one in there though.

Why do you say the airbag didn't go off?
I've got a suspicion it did go off and wasn't replaced.
Sometimes people pass off hondas without the airbag by just removing the srs lightglobe.
The airbag is very expensive to replace.
I've encountered 2 ek's without the airbag with removed globes in the srs light.
Alot of dodgy people around..

[Amanda]

Id say it didnt go off, because I bought the car from an auction, and no-one tampers with the cars. The insurance companys write them off, they go to the yard, and then get sold. *shrug* How would i check if it has one?? I dont want it to EXPLODE in my face if it does have one :P

[CRXer]

To short out means to join together,ie get a paper clip or something metallicly similar & put one end of the paperclip into each pin of the 2 pin connector,thus joining the 2 pins together.

[Amanda]

Alrighty that dont sound too difficult. Thanks :)

[EKVTIR-T]

To check if its there you have to disconnect the battery and wait a few minutes then disassemble the steering wheel.
Not really a beginner type job.There should be a yellow plug at the bottom under the shroud.

[CRXer]

oh & when uve inserted the paperclip just turn the ignition key to the "ON" position & the SRS light should start doin its stuff

[EKVTIR-T]

Id say it didnt go off, because I bought the car from an auction, and no-one tampers with the cars. The insurance companys write them off, they go to the yard, and then get sold. *shrug* How would i check if it has one?? I dont want it to EXPLODE in my face if it does have one :P

Found a diy here that shows you how to disassemble it.http://www.rbgrn.net/blog/2007/09/how-to-replace-a-honda-civic-airbag-and-steering-wheel.html

But disconnect the negative battery wire first.

[CRXer]

i might also add........

an example of the codes are say for example, a code 4-2,will be 4 long flashes >>>> pause >>>> 2 short flashes.

There could be several codes,each seperated by a pause,also note if they continually repeat over & over or just come up once each.

If u do get codes,have a quick look at the SRS unit (box located behind centre console) & get the brand of it & model number & include that in ur report.

[Amanda]

Ok so thats how to read a code, ill get someone to help me read it whilst ill be fiddling around shorting the wire.

FYI: when I was trying to do the DIY resetting the light, I unplugged the yellow SRS plug, i made sure the ignition was 'OFF' then inserted both ends of the wire into 2 outlets of the yellow plug, and turned the ignition to "ON". The DIY said that the light was supposed to go off after about 5 seconds before i could continue with the next step of the procedure and it did nothing. I was doing it correctly was i not?

[CRXer]

Erasing the codes is a strange procedure,u gotta plug & unplug the connector about 4-5 times & wait for the light to do certain things,etc........i'll try find the proper procedure for ya,but your first job is to make use of the stored codes & find out what they are,so u can fix the problem.

[aaronng]

Ok so thats how to read a code, ill get someone to help me read it whilst ill be fiddling around shorting the wire.

FYI: when I was trying to do the DIY resetting the light, I unplugged the yellow SRS plug, i made sure the ignition was 'OFF' then inserted both ends of the wire into 2 outlets of the yellow plug, and turned the ignition to "ON". The DIY said that the light was supposed to go off after about 5 seconds before i could continue with the next step of the procedure and it did nothing. I was doing it correctly was i not?

You are not meant to short the SRS plug. You are meant to short the service connector plug.

[Amanda]

Thats probably why the freaking thing wasnt working.....

SRS Light = 1
Amanda = 0

[CRXer]

To erase codes,ie reset,u have to short the SRS mem erase connector.

It should be plugged into the fuse box & have two of the same coloured wires goin to it.

Ok.......r u ready for this rather convoluted exercise........

Code erase
1.short mem erase connector & turn ignition key on
2.SRS light comes on for 5secs then goes off
3.remove short within 5secs of light goin off
4.SRS light comes on again
5.short connector again within 5secs of light coming on
6.SRS light goes off
7.remove short within 5 secs of light goin off
8.SRS light blinks twice to confirm erasure of codes
9.turn ignition key off & wait 10 secs before doin anything else
10.done

[Amanda]

Thats the procedure i tried to follow, but was trying to short the yellow SRS plug instead of the 'SRS mem erase connector' What does that look like?

[CRXer]

Yellow plug clipped into the front of your underdash fusebox

Will have 2 of the same coloured wires hanging out of it,just unclip it from the fusebox

[Amanda]

I think thats what i unclipped... and then tried to jump that thing (yellow plug)

[CRXer]

Did it have 2 same colour wires?

Post a pic of it

If the reset is not working it could simply be a problem with the SRS unit causing the fault.U might have to replace it.

But before u do anything,dont forget to try to get any codes out of it that might be stored

[Limbo]

i got this feeling the airbag has been deployed. Most insurance companies only write cars off that are too expensive to fix. The most common reason is airbags as they are in the couple of thousand mark.

[ECU-MAN]

as above, I recon the airbags went off and someone tried to just replace the airbags and not the SRS ecu. the SRS ECU also needs to be replaced, ( cost about $400 )

use the SCS ( blue pgmfi 2 pin connector ) to read the code out of the SRS ecu. you should get code 10 ( I think ) "which means replace SRS ECU"

persist in resetting the SRS ECU to confirm the deployed code.

If you need a replacement SRS ECU I can help you.

[aaronng]

Just to clarify for Amanda, it is a blue, and not a yellow connector that she should be looking for?

[ECU-MAN]

to check the code in the SRS ecu then blue connector
to reset the ECU yellow connector

[mclovin]

$50 is money well spent for correct diagnosis of the fault. rather than blindly trying to diagnose it urself and spending $$$$$ on replacing a part thats not the cause - just my 2 cents

[Amanda]

Well I didnt have enough time trying to figure out the SRS light myself, was trying to look at my idle issue also (see other thread) so ended taking it to a shop.

They said they would read the codes and fix it. When my mum went to pick the car up, they said the problem was fixed, but on her way home, not long after leaving the shop, it came back on again. She rung the shop back up and they said "oh well it must have a fault".

Soooo, $50 for them to tell me something was wrong with it basically and i could have told them that.

[CRXer]

Do the test yourself,u have all the info u need in this thread to do it,it will lead u exactly to the problem.

If u dont understand any of it,just ask,we will try to simplify it even more.

I think at the end u'll find its the SRS unit has been damaged in the crash,like ECU-MAN said,so u'll be up for about $400 & we can tell u how to replace it.

Or we can also tell u how to disable the system & u can just live without SRS for nothing(your choice though).

Where do u live,if ur in sydney i can help u,or somewhere else there must be someone on here that is local to u & can diagnose the prob for u,if u dont feel up to doin it yourself.

[Amanda]

Thanks CRXer. Would disabling the SRS make the light go off? (that sounds like the best option at the moment until i save up)

I live in Perth.

[CRXer]

Yes,disabling SRS will make light go off.

The cheap & nasty way is to just take the bulb out,but to prevent any unfortunate circumstances,better off to disable the entire system.

But seriously, do the code test first,it could be something very simple to fix & will only take a coupla mins of ur time.

To disable the unit,

1.DISCONNECT BOTH BATTERY TERMINALS & WAIT 5 MINS
2. Remove access panel from under steering wheel column,the one close to the steering wheel & disconnect yellow 2 pin plug,this shorts the airbag so it wont go off.
3. If u have passenger side airbag,pull out glovebox & u will see yellow connector for this airbag,disconnect.
4. Pull out centre console & behind it will be the SRS unit enclosed in 2 protective covers.Undo covers(u will need security TORX bit to undo covers) & in one side u will see the plug connecting to the SRS unit.Disconnect plug without manhandling the SRS unit too much.
5. Remove SRS light bulb from back of gauge cluster.

U can skip step 4 its not crucial,just as long as u get the airbags disconnected & the SRS bulb out of cluster u will be fine.

[vinnY]

some pics here (http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58697&highlight=reset) to help you out a bit maybe or did you follow that guide with no luck already?

[Amanda]

Yea thats the guide i tried to follow... Will do some more playing around tonight, thankyou guys for all your help with it :)

[cvicek]

since talking about srs light, how many SRS light there is on a civic ek vtir cluster?

[CRXer]

since talking about srs light, how many SRS light there is on a civic ek vtir cluster?

One light

[cvicek]

ah.. thanks CRXer...

[panda[cRx]]

k when they cleared the srs code they should have noted down what codes were logged. see if you can find that out from them. if the same code is occuring now then that part is definitely faulty and requires replacement.

it could be anything from your airbag, srs control unit, seatbelt tensioner or even a seatbelt buckle.

when you say 'the shop' it obviously wasnt a honda dealer? (which would have been a better option)

[Amanda]

;1718313']k when they cleared the srs code they should have noted down what codes were logged. see if you can find that out from them. if the same code is occuring now then that part is definitely faulty and requires replacement.

it could be anything from your airbag, srs control unit, seatbelt tensioner or even a seatbelt buckle.

when you say 'the shop' it obviously wasnt a honda dealer? (which would have been a better option)

Seatbelt tensioner or seatbelt buckle?? The seatbelt light on the cluster works fine though??

The shop I took it to was a local electrical specialist. They specialise in the electrics of cars, and were only 2 mins away, the nearest honda dealer is around 30mins away, and im not sure Id want to drive the car with its crazy idle also. I may just end up trying anyway.

But thats a good idea to ring and ask them what codes they got from it :D

[panda[cRx]]

yes the seatbelts are a part of the SRS system
SRS = Safety Restraint System aka Supplementary Restraint System

[CRXer]

Dont worry bout the seatbelts,they are not part of the EK SRS system,panda plays with too many modern cars at work everyday.

U only have to worry about 1 or 2 airbags,a control unit & an annoying little light on your dash.

[panda[cRx]]

hmm must be different in ek's. faulty seatbelt buckle's are a very common cause for the SRS light in similar vintage odysseys (and i think accords, i can't remember it's been a while)

[ECU-MAN]

EK, DC, EG CD. didnt monitor the seat belts

[mrwillz]

i hate srs troubles
my problem was the srs light never come on!
bloody clock reel

[Amanda]

***Update***

I took my car to Honda because I couldnt be bothered stuffing around.


My car is a base model Cxi and therefore does not have a passenger airbag. They use the same wiring for models with and without passenger airbags, but install a 'resistor' on the ones that dont have the passenger airbag to block off the circuit. This was malfunctioning and so was replaced ($30 part).

The code they found referred to 'Passenger Airbag not working", which is how they knew it was the resistor.

So thats all fixed now :D

[vinnY]

good to hear Amanda, never a good thing to have an important part like the SRS play up :thumbsup:

[kairi_k]

lol i have the sam issue, no airbag in my eg, light flashes every now and then

get it checked out properly if u still using stock steering wheel.

[Amanda]

lol i have the sam issue, no airbag in my eg, light flashes every now and then

get it checked out properly if u still using stock steering wheel.

Its all fixed now mate :thumbsup:

You may have a resistor issue with yours, same as mine?

[kairi_k]

haha yeah thats prolly it

[paddy13]

How much did Honda charge to inspect it?

[unity]

;1719941']hmm must be different in ek's. faulty seatbelt buckle's are a very common cause for the SRS light in similar vintage odysseys (and i think accords, i can't remember it's been a while)

So are you saying the buckle will click into place but still can be faulty?

[nikiol22]

im having the same SRS problems. I tried to use that simple plug and unplug with a paper clip but it doesnt work. I connected the paper clip to the SRS plug and turn the car to "ON" the SRS should turn off after 6 secs but it doesnt turn off at all - just stays on. What is the problem with my SRS light? Is the problem serious here? or i didnt get the right plug? Anyone have CXI 2000?

[Hooman]

How much did Honda charge to inspect it?

Honda charged me $33 back in 2006, to tell me what the problem was...

[na-118]

well i garuntee you they cahrge around 80 these days, i dont see a problem considering the carmen machine i have at work cost 13k

[B18cEG]

Sorry if this is useless but I can't be fkd reading all the posts lol but you can take ur car to any auto electrician and they can plug it up and reset the srs fault.