SRS light repair

[spookybathtub]

My SRS light is on, and I've got two DTCs: 43 and 51.

Tracking down 43 first, I've gotten to page RS-128 so far, where Step 5 measures the resistance between D16-17 and D16-23 at the center airbag sensor assembly. The manual says there should be 1MΩ or higher, but mine measures 800KΩ. What does this mean? It's not a full short, but partial short??

I'm really hoping I don't have to replace the instrument panel wire, and I have no idea how that wire could have been broken.

[spookybathtub]

Ok my bad. It turns out the reason for DTC 43 is that the passenger airbag light was disconnected (due to some radio wiring I was doing earlier).

Anyway, moving on to DTC 51. I've made it to RS-146, Step 5f, checking for a short. After releasing the activation prevention mechanism in Connector B, I measure resistance between D18-1 and D18-2 at 200KΩ. It's supposed to be 1MΩ or higher. So the solution is to replace the instrument panel wire. But if it's a short, wouldn't the resistance be zero? Why am I getting 200KΩ ? I wonder if there's something weird with my electrical system, because this is similar to the test in my last post.

[spookybathtub]

Ok I answered my own question. The resistance was low because I was holding the multimeter leads with my fingers. Duh!

[CTScott]

Ok I answered my own question. The resistance was low because I was holding the multimeter leads with my fingers. Duh!

Did you find anything yet with the 51? The most common cause is a bad spiral cable (clockspring).

[spookybathtub]

Yep, it is indeed a bad spiral cable. I took the spiral assembly apart, and I see one little spot where the insulation is worn down and one wire is broken. This exact same thing happened to this car 3 years ago. Weird. I already know I'm not skilled enough to solder the joint, so I'll be looking around for junkyards.

Can you think of any reason the exact same problem would occur twice in 3 years?

[CTScott]

Yep, it is indeed a bad spiral cable. I took the spiral assembly apart, and I see one little spot where the insulation is worn down and one wire is broken. This exact same thing happened to this car 3 years ago. Weird. I already know I'm not skilled enough to solder the joint, so I'll be looking around for junkyards.

Can you think of any reason the exact same problem would occur twice in 3 years?

Do you live in a sandy area of CA?

[spookybathtub]

Hmm, not really. I'm in Orange County, but I rarely go to the beach.

[CTScott]

Hmm, not really. I'm in Orange County, but I rarely go to the beach.

For the insulation to wear through, you are either getting some type of contamination within there that abrades it, or the lubricant that they coat the cable with is breaking down.

[spookybathtub]

Yeah... Maybe I should vacuum the car more often. I do have a carpeted dash cover. I wonder if that is somehow trapping dirt from the air, and then... I don't know... dumping it onto the steering wheel or something. Has anyone else ever had a clock spring go bad by itself? I've just never heard of it happening, except when people aren't careful removing the wheel.

[CTScott]

Over the years on here I have seen about half a dozen people have clocksprings fail on their own.

[spookybathtub]

This is interesting. Toyota issued a recall for spiral cables in some Tacomas, saying:
Due to combination of the spiral cable design and characteristics unique to the chassis components of the Tacoma, steering wheel vibration ("flutter") may cause friction between the Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) and the retainer in the spiral cable assembly in the steering wheel. In FFC's with seven-channel circuits, friction over time may result in damage to certain circuits on the flat cable that provides connectivity to the driver's air bag module.

Mine has a seven-channel circuit too. I don't think Tacoma and Yaris share the same spiral cable though.

[CTScott]

This is interesting. Toyota issued a recall for spiral cables in some Tacomas, saying:

Mine has a seven-channel circuit too. I don't think Tacoma and Yaris share the same spiral cable though.

They are different part numbers, but it does sound like the same issue.

[spookybathtub]

I just bought a $50 new aftermarket spiral cable, and if works fine, but I can hear a scraping sound when I turn the wheel. I think it's the 2 short wires that connect to the airbag, maybe they're slightly too long and rubbing on the airbag?

[CTScott]

I just bought a $50 new aftermarket spiral cable, and if works fine, but I can hear a scraping sound when I turn the wheel. I think it's the 2 short wires that connect to the airbag, maybe they're slightly too long and rubbing on the airbag?

They should be pretty stationary since they connect between two points within the wheel. Hopefully the scraping is not an indication of the quality of an aftermarket clockspring.

[spookybathtub]

Hooray! Toyota has just announced a safety recall for this, affecting the Yaris and many other models.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20140409/COPY01/304099971/toyota-recalls-more-than-6-million-vehicles

I'm going to take advantage of this instead of the aftermarket part. I'm going to see if they'll give me the part with extra wires for audio controls if I pay the difference. Then it might be possible to DIY some steering wheel buttons to connect to an aftermarket stereo.

[Exiwolfman]

Good luck with that cos when it comes to warranty they will only do what's required for that car .

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

[CTScott]

Hooray! Toyota has just announced a safety recall for this, affecting the Yaris and many other models.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20140409/COPY01/304099971/toyota-recalls-more-than-6-million-vehicles

I'm going to take advantage of this instead of the aftermarket part. I'm going to see if they'll give me the part with extra wires for audio controls if I pay the difference. Then it might be possible to DIY some steering wheel buttons to connect to an aftermarket stereo.

They definitely will not. The recall work requires very specific part swaps. Also, you could purchase one on your own for a different vehicle, but they would not install one that is not made for your vehicle.

[jcboy]

They definitely will not. The recall work requires very specific part swaps. Also, you could purchase one on your own for a different vehicle, but they would not install one that is not made for your vehicle.

Question, can't the steering wheel controls be easily added on? (considering it has a connector on its own and that the buttons have their own panel that replaces the blank panel on the steering wheel)

I guess the quesion is, are the clocksprings different for cars that don't have SW buttons from the factory as compared to ones that do?

[CTScott]

Question, can't the steering wheel controls be easily added on? (considering it has a connector on its own and that the buttons have their own panel that replaces the blank panel on the steering wheel)

I guess the quesion is, are the clocksprings different for cars that don't have SW buttons from the factory as compared to ones that do?

The clockspring is different, as the wires go through it and the stock Yaris one only has wires for the airbag, horn and cruise control switch. If you forgo cruise control you can use those two wires to implement 2/3 of the steering wheel control functionality.

On pre-2012 Yaris for the US market there was not even an option of having steering wheel controls. Importing a European or Japanese clockspring was the only way of doing a vehicle specific upgrade.

[Solid T D]

A couple of questions.
- If I go to my local dealer and ask them for a list of the recalls, would they provide them?
- Do I have to be under warranty for them to fix the issues(even if I have to find the recalls on my own)?

[CTScott]

A couple of questions.
- If I go to my local dealer and ask them for a list of the recalls, would they provide them?
- Do I have to be under warranty for them to fix the issues(even if I have to find the recalls on my own)?

For recalls - Yes on both. For service bulletins, typically no on both.

[spookybathtub]

You can also look them up yourself at http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/resources/recalls