Airbag codes

[othater]

Another airbag question.

I did a search and I followed CTScott's suggestions to read
the codes by placing the jumper across 4 and 13.

I get a 43 and 51 which gives me multiple possibilities.
I got them from the on-line manual.

43- 1) instrument panel wire 2) Front passenger seat belt
3) center air bag sensor assembly
51- 1) instrument panel wire 2) spiral cable
3) steering pad (driver side squib) 4) center air bag sensor assemble

Whats the best way to isolate to which part is causing the problem?

Thank you for the replies.

[CTScott]

The 51 is relatively easy to diagnose. Disconnect the negative battery cable, wait a couple of minutes, remove the driver's airbag and check continuity between the two wires to each squib of the airbag and the yellow connector on the bottom of the steering column. With 51, more often than not, it is the spiral cable that has an open conductor, so it must be replaced.

The 43 is a bit more obscure, as it can be caused by quite a few unrelated things. Follow the procedure starting on page RS-122 of the SRS section of the service manual to narrow it down.

[othater]

CTScott,

Thank you for the direction.
Also love the garage.

I will post my findings.
Will it be safe to drive until the weekend?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by othater

CTScott,

Thank you for the direction.
Also love the garage.

I will post my findings.
Will it be safe to drive until the weekend?

My understanding is that the airbags will not deploy if the SRS system has an active fault, so try to avoid needing them to do so, until you get it resolved.

[othater]

CTScott or anyone else that has tested the spiral cable-clock spring.

(check continuity between the two wires to each squib of the airbag and the yellow connector on the bottom of the steering column).

How do you disconnect the yellow connector?

I have a sedan if it matters.

As far as continuity, Can you explain the two squibs to which contacts of the yellow connector.

Thanks for your help.

[othater]

Here are my results.
Black pins to Yellow connector '0' ohms to either two right pins (Good).
Orange left pin 0 ohms to left pins (good), right pin changes from open or 1.1 ohm (bad).
It varies when I turn the steering wheel.
Looks like I need a new clock spring.
Where's the best place to purchase one.
I believe this is the correct part number for a 2007 Yaris sedan S.
TOYOTA 84306-22010 OEM
I search EBay and the best price was $185 shipped which sounds pretty good.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by othater

Here are my results.
Black pins to Yellow connector '0' ohms to either two right pins (Good).
Orange left pin 0 ohms to left pins (good), right pin changes from open or 1.1 ohm (bad).
It varies when I turn the steering wheel.
Looks like I need a new clock spring.
Where's the best place to purchase one.
I believe this is the correct part number for a 2007 Yaris sedan S.
TOYOTA 84306-22010 OEM
I search EBay and the best price was $185 shipped which sounds pretty good.

That definitely confirms that you have a broken wire within the clockspring. $185 is high for a used one, as you can buy a new one from an online place like ToyotaPartsZone.com for $202. Actually I just took a quick look at ebay and saw that the $185 one is new, so that is not a bad price.

[othater]

Received the spiral cable-clock spring.
Do you know if it is set in the middle already from the factory and
if I line the arrow up I should be good?
There is no instructions with the package.

Thank you again

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by othater

Received the spiral cable-clock spring.
Do you know if it is set in the middle already from the factory and
if I line the arrow up I should be good?
There is no instructions with the package.

Thank you again

I would think that they would be shipped centered and taped to not move. But, if it is not, you can verify the centering before installing.

There are two small triangles that line up when centered. The clockspring is a 5 rotation one, so when centered you can go 2.5 turns in either direction.

Gently rotate the spiral cable until it stops. rotate it back 2.5 turns until the triangles line up. Rotate it in the opposite direction and verify that it stops in 2.5 turns. Turn it back 2.5 turns until the triangles line up and then install it.

[othater]

CTScott,
Thank you for answering my post.
I will be doing the replacement this weekend and will post how it goes.

[othater]

Didn't get a chance to install the clock-spring this past weekend due to Mother's day.
But I just finished this evening. No more air bag light.
Just got the rough idle, waiting on the computer re-learn.

Thank you again CTScott for your help and the video you made which helped visually.

[sprayed1]

My Yaris is setting a 51 code. Had the clock spring out today fo ra visual inspection ( no mutli-meter available) and all the connections and ribbon looks good. What is the next likely component which may be cause the error code.....control module? Is it under the console? How common is it for them to be faulty? Thanks in advance!

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by sprayed1

My Yaris is setting a 51 code. Had the clock spring out today fo ra visual inspection ( no mutli-meter available) and all the connections and ribbon looks good. What is the next likely component which may be cause the error code.....control module? Is it under the console? How common is it for them to be faulty? Thanks in advance!

There is little chance that it is anything other than the clock spring. You really need to use a multimeter to test it.

[sprayed1]

Scott...
Is there a detailed thread ( and I do means detailed....I'm an electrical novice...lol) on how to test the clock spring with a multi-meter. From the factory manual they talk about SST etc. but don't give a method for using a common multi-meter.
Thanks again.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by sprayed1

Scott...
Is there a detailed thread ( and I do means detailed....I'm an electrical novice...lol) on how to test the clock spring with a multi-meter. From the factory manual they talk about SST etc. but don't give a method for using a common multi-meter.
Thanks again.

I keep meaning to put together an article on how to use a multimeter for common automotive tasks, but for now to give you some instructions:


1. Before you begin, disconnect the battery's negative terminal and wait a few minutes before removing the steering wheel airbag.

2. Get your meter in the right mode. You are interested in measuring Resistance, so you will put the meter in that mode. Some meters say "resistance", "R", or "Ohms", others just have the Ohm symbol.

If the meter has multiple ranges for the resistance setting, set it to the range around 1,000 - 50,000 (for example my one non-auto ranging meter has 200, 20K, 200K, 2000K, and 20M for the ranges, so I would chose the 20K range).

If your meter has removable probes (the wires), and more than 2 holes to plug them into, make sure that the black one is in "Common" hole and the red one is in the "Volts, Ohms" hole (as opposed to the "A" or "mA" hole).

3. To make sure your meter is in the correct mode and is working, look at the display, which show a large number or "OL" if it is digital or if it is the analog needle type, the needle will be at the highest part of the ohm range.

Touch the metal tips of the two probes together and the display should change to zero, or very close to zero for a digital one, and for an analog one the needle should sweep to the low end of the range. If the meter does this then you are in the correct mode and it is working. Since resistance is how much something resists the flow of current, a low value means that their is a good connection between the two ends and a high or "OL" value means that there is not a good connection or that the thing being measured is "open".

4. OK - Now you are ready to test the spiral cable. There are two airbag squib connectors (black and orange) and each has two terminals, so you have four separate wires that you will be testing. The picture below shows the airbag squib connectors of the spiral cable. The holes are small, so you will probably need something to insert into the hole that is metal and smaller than the tip of your meter probe (like a sewing pin). Stick the pin in the hole on the black connector, with the red wire attached and touch one of the meter probes to it (in this case, it doesn't matter if you use red or black, since we are just checking the resistance of a wire, so no polarity is involved).



Airbag removed.jpg

The other end of the spiral cable is the white and yellow connectors on the steering column, shown in the picture below. The yellow one is for the airbag squibs, so that is the one we are interested in. You should be able to touch the metal pin where the wire enters the connector with the probe. If you can't get the probe to make contact, then you will need another pin. Place the tip of the second probe on the metal connector pin where the Yellow wire with the red stripe enters the connector.

Now, with one probe on the red wire on the steering when end and the other on the yellow-red wire on the steering column side, look at the meter's display. It should show a zero or close to zero reading (like when you touched the two probes together). If it does then that wire of the spiral connector is good and you can move to the next two ends per the chart below. If all four test good, then repeat the process while slowly turning the steering wheel from side to side.

Steering wheel side / Steering Column Side
Red / Yellow-Red
Black / Yellow-Green
Yellow / Yellow
Blue / Yellow-Black

Conn D3.jpg

[sprayed1]

Scott,
I obtained a multi-meter before you posted this test procedure and what I did was use the 20k scale. I probed the yellow plug with the connector disconnected and just probed the male pins right inside the connector that is part of the clock spring housing. On each of them I would get no resistance on three pins but around 1.5 ohms on one of them. When I did the yellow wire on the orange squib connector I got no resistance on three of them and 4.5 ohms on one pin. Was my procedure and results valid in any way or should I redo it following your outline. Much appreciation for all your help!

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by sprayed1

Scott,
I obtained a multi-meter before you posted this test procedure and what I did was use the 20k scale. I probed the yellow plug with the connector disconnected and just probed the male pins right inside the connector that is part of the clock spring housing. On each of them I would get no resistance on three pins but around 1.5 ohms on one of them. When I did the yellow wire on the orange squib connector I got no resistance on three of them and 4.5 ohms on one pin. Was my procedure and results valid in any way or should I redo it following your outline. Much appreciation for all your help!

That was fine, but you should go end to end, as the connection between the internal pins and the wires could be an issue as well. I would also test it through rotation.

[sprayed1]

Thanks for everything Scott, retested it per your method including rotation and it failed. Anyone who has a good one they would like to sell can PM me.
Thanks again Scott!