2013 DCSB TRD OR - Airbag Issues (SOLVED)

Hey again everyone!
Looking for some help with the airbag system this time
ISSUE'S
-My passenger side airbag never turns on no matter how much weight is in the seat
-Horn doesn't work. I think know what to do here just adding details incase it means anything related (I plan to buy a new clock spring from the dealer or have a company re-furbish mine... Any one have a referb business of choice?) (Ebay order on a used OEM one out of an IS350 or something, I made sure the part number matched. Part 84306-0e010)
What I Know
-The seat belt light never comes on for either the driver or the passenger even while driving (this was the root of my problem)
-If I unplug the grey weight sensor/seatbelt wiring harness (not the yellow airbag one) the passenger seatbelt light comes on and stays on
-The previous owner was a contractor and hasn't historically been known to have been super kind to this vehicle
-I had the seat out to clean the passenger seat upholstery and apon visual inspection all connections and wiring look good. I unplugged and replugged all sensors as this was an issue before the seat was out.
-The vehicle was 'lightly' wrecked into a fence by the previous owner.. hard enough a wreck to break the driver's side strut

I have an appointment with the dealer for Thursday to hopefully recalibrate the weight sensor and just be done with it(assuming it's this easy... probably wishful thinking). I'm down to try near any recommendations to fix before then!

 

Have you checked what codes are in the SRS module and ocupant detection module?

 

Hey! I have not, I don't have any lights on on my dash currently. The only time I've gotten the airbag light on the dash was when I disconnected that grey seatbelt/weight sensor wiring harness.

How would a guy go about checking the SRS module? Is this a matter of having a nice expensive scanner?

Thanks Dm93!

 

You can flash them out with the light by jumping 2 pins at the DLC but I don't have the procedure handy right now, I can grab it and post it later.

 

If you have the time that would be fantastic!

What do you mean when you say 'flash them out', functionally jumping two OBD2 pins will reset the SRS airbag system to some degree?

I'd love to take another stab at this issue before bringing it to the dealer haha. You're the man Dm93!

 

When you jump the CG and TC pins at the DLC the airbag light will flash the codes out, you have to count the flashes. Just note this will only give you the codes in the SRS module, if there are codes in the Occupant Detection Module the SRS Module will have a B1650 (Flash code 23) stored.

 

Alright, I’m checking for past DTCs I get code B1650/32. I’m getting 2 codes, an 32 and an 56.
I think that 56 is front when I unplugged the passenger side seeatbelt/weight sensor harness
I’m having issues clearing codes using the process.

 

So sometimes in small accidents the occupant classification ecu becomes un set, you are correct it needs a calibration.

The zero point is done through utilities in the licensed scan tool operations.

 

You can get Ribbon Cables ( clock spring assembly) for about $40 on ebay. I use them and have had no issue. I've even taken apart bad CS's to compare them to aftermarket versions. I can't tell a difference in quality. I'm pretty sure original equipment is overseas supplied as well.

I think you need to swap out that ribbon cable 1st. The horn not working is a red flag.

Are you sure this truck wasn't in an accident that caused the SW airbag to deploy? Previous owner could have replaced it but never had the SRS module replaced/ reset.

In short, decent scan tool will tell you where your issue is in regard to the SRS (airbag) system.

Looking forward to more details.

 

I'm also wondering if the previous owner had an air bag blow and just removed the airbag light bulb.

With that light never coming on, that is the only reason that can occur...

 

So it would seem you have code 32 which means there are codes in the Occupant Detection Module and code 56 which is a problem in the passenger seat side airbag circuit.

 

Thanks for the quick reply’s you guys!

I disconnected the battery tonight (night before the dealer trip) and plan to Inspect the wrong harnesses for corrosion tomorrow morning before taking it to the dealer. Found a thread with someone having the same code!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/b1650-scanned-or-code-32-jumped-srs-airbags.225599/ (this turned out to be unrelated unfortunately)
I think that code 56 is from when I intentionally disconnected the wiring harness and started the car to see if the airbag light would come on (it did)

I do not own a fancy scanner, unfortunately. I think clearing SRS codes/recalibrating is dealer level thing for me… ahhhg!

Edit 1:
Making a prayer that the dealer doesn't play games with me and is able to recalibrate the 'occupant classification ecu'.. I inspected all wired connections for corrosion after having the battery disconnected for 8hrs this morning. All connectors looked free of any corrosion and even after the battery disconnect both codes read back

Edit 2:
This is what $155 Diagnosis has gotten me

Text from Dealer - "Hi there. Currently the vehicle is thinking that both seat belts are buckled. The passengers side is stuck in child mode- and will not switch to adult. We have already used the first portion of diagnosis for $155.00- this is going to require more diagnostics at this time. If you would like us to continue- just let me know. Thank you Reply STOP to OptOut."
Call from Dealer - "When the tech sits in the seat he can see on his scanner it reads his weight correctly, it just doesn't know to switch the airbag to on"

I'm letting them roll deeper into it for another hour before pulling the plug. It sounds like the previous owner might have done some monkey-ing around in the ECU?

*Edit 3:
The tech took the seatbelt receiver out of an adjacent Tacoma being serviced. plugged it into mine. sat in my passenger seat. AND THE PASSENGER AIRBAG FINALLY TURNED ON!... They then quoted me a $1000 repair to replace the seatbelt receiver... I'll take my luck going to the salvage yards in town.

The first owner of the vehicle removed a spring clip from both seatbelts to trick the seatbelt flasher into never coming on but unfortunately consequentially indefinitely turned off the passenger airbag... I'll update when I install the yard sourced seat belt receivers (I took the spring out of a mechanical pencil and replaced where the OEM should be, Passenger side airbag comes on as it should now!)
Here's a link for how to cause $250 of confusion to someone... DO NOT EVER DO THIS PLEASE. SUPER DANGEROUS FOR YOUR PASSENGERS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDWsoCsQXqw

 

At least it sounds like they figured it out instead of firing parts at it.

Sounds about like this Dodge pickup I've had here for 2 weeks trying to diagnose a very intermittent no-crank, every time it would act up I didn't have time to check it and when I did it always would start.
Finally got it to do it this morning, found I had no power to the ignition switch, checked the fuse and it was blown. When I pulled the fuse out I found that someone had wrapped a tiny piece of copper wire around the legs of the fuse, I can only conclude that the connection there was intermittent.
Popped in a new fuse and so far it's been good.

 

Chasing down other peoples fuckery is never fun haha. Glad you got yours handled!