SRS Airbag Dashboard Light on Corolla 2003 1.8 VVTLi

[DeTomato]

This morning it was very damp and I left the car out all night. When I went to start it up, the SRS Airbag light on the Dashboard stayed on. I checked by switching off and on, even drove to work and it stayed on, and this evening the SRS Airbag light remained. This SRS Airbag light is not flashing, it just remains on permanently without going out until the ignition key is removed.

I has the Airbag recall done about 4 months back, and then the secondary Airbag "recall on the recall" done too. I'm tempted not to mess with this Airbag system too much in case anything goes off.

Has anyone else had this problem with an older 01-07 Corolla SRS Airbag light staying on permanently? Is it related to a Service requirement perhaps?

Any ideas or suggestions please?

[DeTomato]

Checked connections under the seat and put some electrical contact cleaner on them. No problem with these. Disconnected the Battery for 30 mins - no change. The SRS Airbag remains on. 

Does the SRS Airbag light need a more deep level ODBII reset?

This is not as easy as I thought. Any suggestions on this welcome.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Resetting the airbag warning will only work if its a random fault, if its a hard fault it will stay on regardless.

As well as the front seat sensors, think it includes the seat belt pre tensioners as well.

Though I have not used one, seems these little cheap emulators can be used to bypass/check out things, though if its pointing to a dashboard airbags think i might ask Toyota to check it out in view of their recent work.

Think you have to use quiet an advanced obd2 tool to get to the ABS and Airbag computers.

 

 

[DeTomato]

Thanks. Local Toyota Dealer advised they think it is the Passenger Seat Side Airbag. I was told there had been a number of Airbag recalls where the SRS Airbag light comes on - they would look at it... They called to say it was fixed by spraying some electrical contact cleaner in the yellow connection under the seat. When I went back to pick up the car a few hours later and turned on the ignition, the SRS Airbag light came on again. So obviously it wasn't fixed and I have my doubts whether they actually ever did anything! Next step the Dealer advised is to purchase a new Passenger Seat Airbag at £620 + VAT!

I have tried to look at this myself under the Passenger seat, but it seems to me it's the Driver Seat one that looks more loose. So I need to do more investigation.

However, I found there are resistors than can be fitted but without a manual I cannot see whether it should be 2.7ohms, 0.25W, 2amp or different. And, it's not clear to me whether these have to be put into the Yellow Connector under the seat to replace the airbag or if the resistor has to be in-line and supplementary to the Airbag and the connectivity.

This could be the end of my VVTL-I Corolla and it will be scrapped because this SRS light will cause an MOT failure which is due soon. I can't afford £700 for a new Airbag.

Can anyone suggest how to use these Resistors please or if there is anyway to disable the seat Airbags? 

Thanks.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Have not played around with the airbag system, but it would seem you can use one of those testers or your own resistor to fit in place of the airbag, so you disconnect the airbag and plug in the resistor instead, so the circuit assumes the resistance is an ok airbag.

However no idea what the resistance needed for the Toyota system ?  Seems thye are all quiet low values, eg BMW about 200 ohms.

2.7ohms is a valid value, the power rating is normally quoted as  0.25w , ok  but the  2 amps  seems like a wrong figure as 2.7ohm 0.25w cannot handle 2 amps

Perhaps you can find details from the attached US manuals which I would think are close to the UK ones,

 

SRS.zip

[oldcodger]

Hi Again,

If unsure of the resistor value,  you could try what this guy suggests, by measuring the other good seat airbag;  do you have a multimeter ?

You can delete the seat airbag without the light coming on. Measure the resistance of the Corolla air bag and get a resistor of the same ohm reading and put it in the SRS air bag connector. If your lucky the resistance of both air bags is the same and you can just take the wires out of one connector and put them in the other.

 

[DeTomato]

Yes I have a multi-meter 😀  I was concerned that even measuring the resistance in an airbag could potentially set it off which ultimately could blow the seat siding to pieces (and probably me too). I'll take your advice and try measuring it when the Rain stops.

Do you have access to any wiring diagram for this SRS connector block (as below) under the centre console attached to the floor below the Climate Control unit? This is where the SRS Airbag connectors are fed in and I read it was recommended to add the ohm resistor there across the correct wires for the fault. Without the wiring diagram I am not sure where.

Or perhaps it can be put into the Yellow Connector under the seat?

[oldcodger]

Hi.

Not one for working on the airbag system, but as you probably know, I believe you have to disconnect the Battery and then wait at least 10 mins for the SRS capacitors to drain down, otherwise you can set the bags off.

Would have thought connecting the resistor to the yellow connector under the seat was the way to start, that larger connector looks very difficult to connect to.

Have a look at the diagrams on this link, will up  for a few hours, but as said its a US version so there will be small differences

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h61621895vjxz2m/AAD9M5EsZoYdkfs7zK6orixLa?dl=0

[DeTomato]

Many Thanks. I'm not a great fan of Dropbox because it's allegedly rather insecure. Brilliant you doing this though. I much appreciated you uploading this. I've now accessed the info to read. I'll see what I can work out here.

[DeTomato]

With all the good info I got from oldcodger, I went to test and check the seat airbags today. All connections are good and wiring is all ok.

I first checked the driver seat air bag and connections to see if these were good. There was a 0.7 ohm resistance.

I then checked the alleged faulty passenger seat airbag to compare and the same 0.7 ohm came up also.

So I connected all back up and turned on the ignition to see the SRS Airbag light stayed on still.

This makes me think the Passenger Car Seat is not the fault as the Toyota Dealer engineer wrote down on the analysis report.

I will need to call Toyota Customer Service to ask why this Toyota Dealership wants to effectively charge me £600 for a Passenger Seat Airbag when there appears to be nothing wrong with the circuitry to it. It's as if the Dealer is diverting attention to something else in the Airbag system, covering themselves for an issue with the Airbag Recall that was done twice and is a known problem - The Service guy said to me there had been TWO instances he knew at the Dealership where the SRS Airbag light comes on a little while after the Secondary SRS Airbag Recall. So it's as thought I am being charged for a problem in a Passenger Airbag that doesn't really exist and where the Dealer is covering for additional work to redo the Airbag recall by charging me for a Passenger Seat Airbag which has nothing wrong with it. 

I'll see what Customer Service say. If I get nowhere, I'm going to Citizens Advice and Social Media to rubbish their SRS Airbag Recall so Toyota can start explaining it to Trading Standards for why some Toyota Cars have the Airbag light come on after the Secondary SRS Airbag Recalls are completed. Getting very fed up with Toyota now.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

A frustrated sounding post there  .... 

However, a couple of points you need to consider.

First, the resistance check is just whats called a Static test  at that moment in time, and its just a first basic check.

From a diy point of view, you really need to use a Resistor or one of those eBay modules to bypass the seat airbag and prove the rest of the circuity is working ok when Powered by the car in a running mode.

It sounds like the error, if temporarily gone, will turn off the SRS check light, but perhaps after so many times or a hard fault it will stay on regardless until its cleared by the OBD2 socket ??

That leads onto the next point,  did the garage show you clear evidence of the SRS error code, indicating that seat airbag ?

Before going at Toyota HQ etc, would it not be wise to read out the SRS error codes for yourself.

You need a good OBD2 scanner that guarantees it does ABS and SRS for Toyota cars or ask an independant garage who sevices Toyotas to read it for you.

Only then will you be sure what the error is saying.

This meter , below, looks like the lowest price meter I can see from a quick search , though cannot vouch for it as have only used the basic type of OBD2 readers that do not do ABS /SRS .

Until you have done some of the above to show that its Not the seat airbag, then doing the above  would seem futile as your first point of call should be the customer services manager or MD of the dealer who gave the diagnosis and let them explain before involving other parties, who will probably also suggest you should first contact the dealer before proceeding further.

hth

 

 

[DeTomato]

Hi Thanks for that constructive advice oldcodger. Much Appreciated. Yes, this is frustrating - I can usually fix or resolve most issues, but this one has manifested itself after the Toyota Airbag recall.

I didn't get any Airbag codes from the Toyota Dealer and my invoice print out shows all they did was "Checked the Airbags"! However, I was shown the engineers report when I went back to complain after the SRS Airbag light was on when first turning the key at the Dealer when picking up the car, where they allege the Airbag light was off after their "work". The Engineers Report showed no codes written down, only that the Engineer suspected it was the Passenger Seat Airbag. The engineer wrote that he had disconnected the Seat Yellow connectors under the seat and squirted electrical contact cleaner in them and the SRS light went out. As said, when I picked up the car and turned the key this was not the case. 

I have a basic OBDII reader, but it doesn't show Airbag codes. Only the most expensive OBDII devices will show deep level codes like Airbag codes I'm told. The Toyota Dealer OBDII would surely have shown codes on the Engineers Report IF a Toyota Code Reader was indeed used, or the problem actually fixed which is what was stated for when the car was ready for pickup.

I checked the Airbags on both seats and the connectors and all showed consistently the same resistance on all the connections to the ECU and separately to the two Airbags. I'll buy and try a 1.8 ohm resister (I measured 1.6 ohms on each connector to the ECU) in the Passenger Seat Airbag connector to see if this turns the Airbag light out, but I suspect this will not resolve the issue to be completely honest because I believe the problem is elsewhere and likely in the SRS Airbag Recall fittings or new Airbag - and if the Service Guy said this problem has happened before with TWO others cars on the recent second Airbag Recall, then in my opinion there's a link where Toyota may have a problem with their new Airbag system fitted on some models.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Its hard to say what the fault is, even fitting the resistor only excludes the airbag unit, not the wiring /connectors from the seat to the control unit, which sounds as if they are a weak point on all cars , otherwise they would not have made up those eBay /amazon tester modules.

As you originally said, testing at that main connector would be better, but a mistake in getting the right pins could be costly, think I would follow the wires from the seat as far down the loom  as possible and test out there, though you would need to strip the sleeving back etc,

 

To me, getting the error codes read out seems to be the right place to look ....  yes ?

Before I got  a basic reader like yours I had trouble with my old Avensis and found a guy at Halfords who  read the code out for me  without charge as its would have taken him more time doing the invoice, so even if they, or another garage  charge £5 ,10 or £20 to get the codes read it would be time and money well spent ?

If the error codes show its the dashboard airbag then how can your local Toyota dealer dispute that ?

You could also try another Toyota dealer, though seems in your area its all the same group, apart from the one In B st Ed.  ?

 

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Just for my own interest as well as yours, have mailed Autel UK to ask them to confirm their AL619 OBD2 can read and clear our 2002-2006 ABS and SRS errors.

The info on the eBay adverts as above do not make it clear, so would want assurances it will before buying one.

Seems they do the 619 and a 619EU slightly dearer model which includes a few more EU / French models not sold so much world wide.

Also seems their products are cloned, but you can buy direct to avoid such problems, see the link which also shows the user manual etc.

http://www.autelstore.co.uk/wholesale/autel-autolink-al61--srs-abs-obd2-can-diagnostic-tool.html

Will let you know what they say ...

[DeTomato]

Thank you for all your support. It's really appreciated. This is a frustrating problem and I am annoyed I might have to effectively scrap my low mileage car because a SRS Airbag light that will cause an MOT failure. I just can't afford another car to be very honest. But I want this to work because of my family also and for now we are using my wife's car only as the "Taxi".

I checked again this morning and the Airbag light stayed on when the Battery was reconnected; I had it disconnected it overnight because I read somewhere this is a good way to get all the Codes lost and the Airbag one gets removed too on my old Toyota ECU firmware.

I've ordered the 1.6 ohm resistor which is what I measured on the yellow connector under the passenger seat (and the driver's seat) back to the centre console pin assembly. It will be another week before I can test if this actually works.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Just looking at that PDF I sent you and assume like me you have yet to see the Diagnostics SRS chapter .. ?

It shows how you can use the old fashioned way to get the SRS light to flash out the errors codes, its a time proven method, used it on my old cars before, simple but effective.

It also details how to clear all the codes.

Using the code/s  retrieved,  you then match it to the code explanation list and further down how to trouble shoot, plus it seems to have the detailed pin out of that big connector you were originally after on page 05.434

If the worst came to the worse there are ways around any indicator light so would not write you car off yet,  but am sure the above, getting the code read , one way or another, will lead to  overcoming the problem.

[oldcodger]

Hi again,

Got a quick reply from Autel about that 619 reader working with SRS etc as the ads imply.

For your request, we suggest you the following MK808

http://www.autelstore.co.uk/wholesale/autel-maxicom-mk808-diagnostic-tool.html 

it is with one year free update online, and with multi-language.

 

Which is £359 !! 

 

As in my last post, you should be able to jumper the OBD2 socket and Flash out the not only the SRS codes but also the ABS codes by the same method.

 

hth

[DeTomato]

So I rechecked all the ECU connections and wiring under the front seats to compare again. Jiggled cables to see if there were any loose connections too under the seats, but the same result that the ohms for the airbag to it and from the ECU connections are the same on both sides. Reconnected the Battery and SRS light comes straight back on at key position two. I think the Dealer was guessing re no code given but I may know some guys that may be able to diagnose whether the passenger airbag is the root cause or not. I'll see what they say this week.

[DeTomato]

So I got codes for the SRS Airbag problem:

BO108

B1100

I've not been able to do a reset though.

Question is whether there is anyway of clearing these codes by crossing over pins on the OBDII connector or the like?

Anyone know please? 

[oldcodger]

How did you read out those codes, with a Code Reader or via the OBD11 socket ?

As detailed in those SRS pdfs 05/ page 425 section 5, you should be able to Reset it via the OBD11...

Otherwise you need someone with a suitable Code Reader that can clear the codes, probably a Toyota dealer.

Interesting that B0108 seems to say its the passenger airbag or associate wiring etc, so why not keep it in there and present it to your Toyota dealer  to suggest it could be as a result of their work on that airbag.

 

[DeTomato]

Codes were read by Toyota. They said "new passenger airbag is £600" - same old chant.

When I got the car back though, they said their visual checks advised there was a passenger side headlight bulb out - it wasn't out when I drove the car there in the morning because it was dark and both headlights worked! So what the hell, it was a bulb... I could change that.

So I spent hours this morning changing out the passenger side headlight bulb because I couldn't remove the front top cover and had to work backwards, and the bulb sprung retainer popped out so had to find this and refit it - replaced the bulb - Tested and it's not the bulb!

So my expectation is Toyota read the codes with the headlights on and now they've buggered up the headlight circuit or a relay - it states in the literature not to read codes with headlights on.

Each time I go to Toyota, the car comes back to additional problems which is so annoying now. Beginning to think this is the end. 😒

 

[oldcodger]

Well the headlight bulbs are a pain to replace and can be difficult to disconnect the wiring if its a while since they were last touched.

Not sure , but would think their visual checks would have been done before or after the airbag testing  ?  why would they have kept the headlights on once in the garage bay ?

Think other than trying a different dealer outside your local area, then some communication with Toyota Head office , Customer Relations dept. detailing the situation and actions/comment from your local dealer and how you consider their earlier and current diagnosis /costs wrong and unfair.

Even if they do not accept it 100% they might offer some kind of discount with the repair ....?

[DeTomato]

Toyota do a visual check AFTER any work is carried out. This was booked as a "While you wait" check so should have taken only a few hours but I went to work because I had a lift and needed to be there - Toyota then took all morning on it...

I had a call from Toyota late morning on the day. They said they had checked again and it was the Passenger Airbag as before.

I asked for the codes, which is specifically what it went in for. They hadn't got them!

So it had to go back to the workshop again.

All the cars have to be driven to and from the workshop about 1/2 mile, and that day it was raining. So the technician would have had to use the headlights on the return journey and as a quick job the car was likely left running with headlights on, codes read and it was promptly then taken back to customer service who called me about 1/2 an hour later to say it was ready.

So they caused this extra problem... and that's what is annoying because the customer service guy said it was "just a bulb" - it clearly is not now.

[oldcodger]

Seems the LH and RH headlights have their own 15A fuses, so likely thats the problem, the fuse is the weakest link in the chain , plus cannot see how a code reader could affect the headlights ? its very much is own hard wired system.    More the other way around because the headlights would cause a drop in voltage/current surge if switched on or off when reading the OBD11.

You really ought to contact Toyota direct and quickly as time may not be on your side,  as I do not know the exact time limits, but when the Toyota dealer did the recalls for Toyota, they /Toyota  still have to warranty the part/s and work for a length of time, regardless the age of your car.

So shoot of a letter, email or phone call to register your problem / dispute with Toyota UK, plus a copy to your local Toyotas dealer, specifying the dates of the first recall, then the second recall and your subsequent check lights and visits to your local dealer and the  negative response from them. 

After all they have now said two times the airbag is faulty ....! even though its new !!

 

 

[DeTomato]

Yep, this airbag problem is a real pain. And thanks for the fuse info; that was where I looked first... forgot to mention that. Both 15 amp fuses where ok. I suspect the worse where a logic board relay has blown or the headlight relay is not working correctly now. Needs further investigation to eliminate the latter from this new problem.

Anyway, back to the Airbag problem, I am going to try one of those Toyota 2.7 Ohm Resistor thingies (because I suspect that is what the Ohm is from my readings) to eliminate the actual passenger seat Airbag being the real problem, but not sure if this put the SRS Airbag light out once installed or if it will need another hard reset by Toyota at cost (cheaper than buying an expensive OBDII reader cancel the SRS codes, and I have to take the car back anyway now for the Headlight problem). 

I'll be back. Thanks again.