Broken plugs under seat - dash light on MOT failure

[Lee Collings]

HI everyone.

I've been told by my garage that the cause of a dashboard light (airbag) is a broken plug under the seat. They have advised to go to an auto electrician to get this fixed, but I thought I would ask for recommendations.

Would it better to go to a Toyota dealer (my nearest is Rayleigh but I see that Romford offers discounts for members), or somewhere like Halfords or KwikFit?

What's the best way to get these plugs fixed (responsibly).

Thanks for your help.

[flash22]

Find a decent independent, avoid the chains and the dealers as your wallet will have wings after, go to a breaker and get the wiring you require from a Toyota of the same age as most share parts

any pics of the broken plug ?

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

Most likely neither of these will help, best to do yourself and only visit Toyota dealer if you need to buy some parts from them, if you are not able to do the job by yourself then independent garage or auto electrician can help, it might just need easy fix of new or re wire existing connections. , these services no kwick fit or Halfords  would do especially on a 2008 car, dealer may do eventually but the cost will be sky high imo. 
Good luck 👍

[Red_Corolla]

Whatever you do, do NOT fiddle with the airbag wiring without disconnecting the 12v Battery first!

[Lee Collings]

So are you saying I can't take it anywhere but a dealer (or a breakers yard and do it myself...)

I don't have the time to do it myself, I need to have this resolved as soon as possible because I need to have it re-tested for MOT, and need to limit driving as much as possible (which isn't possible to be honest because I need the car).

So aside from a Toyota dealer, the usual service places are completely out then? Is that what you're saying?

[forkingabout]

Whatever you do - DON'T probe any of the airbag wiring with a multi meter or test light! you risk firing the airbag. 

If its just the connector plug then there's the cut it out then solder & heat shrink will make a decent repair of the wiring.

The wiring should be colour coded / take a picture of the wire positions on each side of the plug before cutting any wires.

You can always replace the plug with a Super Seal connector kit if you wish to keep a plug there for seat removal. 

[Lee Collings]

I'm not going to be doing any of this myself, just stating this. I want to take it somewhere to have done properly by a professional. The MOT garage have told me to go to an auto electrician.

My question was, would Halfords or KwikFit be able to do this? There's a local independent Toyota specialist garage near me that I could try actually. That might be my best option right now.

[flash22]

Do NOT go to a dealer, kwik fit or halfrauds you will get ripped off as for the latter 2 professional is not a word in their dictionary

Post a pic of the plug

[TonyHSD]

Kwick fit and Halfords will not help you. Up to you if you want to go to the dealer or another independent garage, just avoid main chains as these know nothing about cars and never willing to help. 

[Catlover]

17 minutes ago, leecollings said:

I'm not going to be doing any of this myself, just stating this. I want to take it somewhere to have done properly by a professional. The MOT garage have told me to go to an auto electrician.

My question was, would Halfords or KwikFit be able to do this? There's a local independent Toyota specialist garage near me that I could try actually. That might be my best option right now.

Go have a chat with the Toyota independent near you, if they a good one it will pay off in the future too.

[forkingabout]

Any competent auto electrician OR someone handy with a soldering iron will be able to repair this cheaply enough. 

I've repaired a few under seat airbag connectors over the years on various cars ( not done a Toyota one yet ) 

I replace the broken / faulty original connector plug with a suitable Super Seal connector kit - I also crimp & solder the terminal pins.

[Denp]

I had this problem in my old rover, the thing was thing was that the wiring was a !Removed! papers thickness to short and every time the passenger seat was moved back too far the connection would come apart slightly breaking the connection, i just squeezed it back together and it worked

[Lee Collings]

Thanks for all your advice and replies guys.

The garage that has had the car has phoned me saying they think they may be able to fix it or bypass it for now, until it can be looked at by another place.

Hoping tomorrow morning I can take the car from them.

I've enquired with the Toyota specialist garage, hopefully they'll come back to me in the morning.

[Cyker]

Good luck!

[flash22]

"bypass" stick a resistor in the socket to turn the light off

 

i don't solder Airbag wiring as it can cause issues, an open crimp and heat shrink is the correct repair

a common fault with under seat connectors - the terminals in the plug/socket can pull out of the housing and/or the female terminals spread and there is no drag  on the male (aka pin fitment)

[Lee Collings]

Just giving an update here, the independent Toyota garage won't be able to take a look at it until next Friday, which is too late so that's out.

It turns out the plug itself is fine, but the wire has been effectively pulled out of it, leaving no trailing wire left on the plug. I assume then I have two bare terminals under my seat now.

I would assume all that is required, is a new plug to go on the end of that cable, that can then be plugged back into the socket it goes to.

I managed to get a photo of what's wrong, as they've given me the plug to keep.

If someone could help me identify what this plug is exactly, that might help me possibly trying to get a new one (just waiting for iCloud to sync)

D3FC60EB-3644-4418-9186-642557F462CF.heic 41CE127D-BF8C-4CE2-B2A7-D4A1B0986157.heic

Edited December 10, 2021 by leecollings
Added images

[flash22]

That is a seat position switch, the best bet is going to a breakers and cut one off another car with much wire as possible (corolla, avensis or hilux surf)

89178-0W010

i will have to look up the connector if i can find a reference

[Red_Corolla]

3 minutes ago, flash22 said:

That is a seat position switch, the best bet is going to a breakers and cut one off another car with much wire as possible (corolla, avensis or hilux surf)

89178-0W010

i will have to look up the connector if i can find a reference

Bob, would it be possible to get a pin kit from Toyota? I've seen this done before as a repair solution for ECU multiplugs etc: De-latch the old pin and remove it from the connector, then feed the original wire through and crimp on a replacement? I'm not sure if such kits are supplied by the manufacturer or aftermarket?

But yes, take one out of the scrap yard would be easier, for sure.

[flash22]

They supply pigtails and £12-15 each, just looking for a reference to find that you need to look at the Diagram - connector listing - cross ref that part in the terminal and housing pdf for the pigtails/housing and spec

if it's a standard spec part there is a place at brands hatch

[flash22]

@leecollings can you take a pic of the plug (female half) flip the tag up and pull

Edit.

Housing - 90980-12195

Pigtail - 82998-12720

 

the terminals are 1.0 III type

 

This seems a common fault on the Landcruiser