Set off Curtain Airbags-

And the drivers side seat belt is locked up too. Also FYI, Driver and Passenger seatbelt mechanisms are different.

 

Not saying this is what it is but the seat belt pretensioner might have gone off also.

 

That's been blown too.
Needs replacement
The sensor should be also.
Need to check the wiring really well. Se if the wiring was pierced
Check the other belts also.
This really sucks.
There could be thousands of dollars of damage here.
Every component needs to be examined.

 

Pure speculation on your point above.

I think the OP is being very vague as to what he was doing and what was screwed with.

There is a reason that all of the service manuals say to disconnect the battery when performing service.

 

DeadBird, so sorry to hear this has happened to you. I too would not have given it a thought to unhook battery AND be careful of a shock/motion sensor under the kick panel. I doubt many of us would have.

Through your pain, many of the rest of us have learned an valuable lesson: Disco the battery whenever you wrench on these trucks! My rule before was unhook the battery whenever working on electrical components or anywhere near the high-amp lines (like near starter or alternator).

We all should send DeadBird $10 for this teachable moment!

 

I just took a better look at the picture and it looks like the belt is on the floor mat and the connector to the pretensioner is still attached. I see what looks to be a wire wrapped in there. If this is the case, the pretensioner harness is ripped out?????
If so the interior harness is ruined and needs replacement. No replacement connectors are available
IMO you need to stop playing with this.

I've seen this lots of times. You can be causing more issues and not helping your cause.

Take it or not.

 

Like I was doing that on purpose? Really? This isn't a conspiracy bud, and not sure what you are implying there.

I really don't know what I hit. I was fitting a large piece of MLV in the passenger side floorboard working from the outside over the door sill. I guess I pressed up against the wire harness under the front sill or something when it went off. As posted above, there are sensors under the sill, near the base of the B-pillar, had to be that.

I've gutted the entire interior to install sound damping and revamp the audio, have had all these panels out multiple times and was just finishing the last thing I was going to do on it.

Issue was the key was in the 'on 'position to kill the door chimes and had the radio on, should have had the battery disconnected.

Think I feel good about it? The only reason I posted was so people would learn from my mistake.

 

Too sensitive maybe. Lots of stuff falls and or gets kicked around the kick panel. I wonder if that's why it's called a kick panel? I would also contact the dealer for a possible warranty claim. Also contact Toyota. This should not happen while doing minor repairs on a vehicle. Even with the ignition on and battery connected.

FYI, you can turn the side airbags off in the 4wd versions. Little button on your left IIRC.

Insurance should cover it. Possibly under comprehensive. Call your agent and they should be more than helpful to work it out with you.

 

This is a good lesson and I thank you for showing what can happen.
I hope your issue is taken care of and you get back to enjoying tour truck.

 

There is no room for logic in this thread

 

^^^^^^^^^^ this

 

Yesterday, I called insurance and one of the questions was "is it drivable" which I had told them "Yes".

I took a bunch of pics and uploaded them to the insurance company. I got the floor finished, re-installed all the trim, tucked the airbags up under what's left of the headliner and made a drink (or four).

Came out this morning and noticed the driver's seat belt was locked down against the side of the B-pillar. W/O seat belt, its not drivable. So I took it off to see why it was locked up and saw that there is a charge in the mechanism that apparently goes off when the airbags trip. There aren't any wires wrapped around it, its just laying on the floor board. Took pics and uploaded them to the insurance company, told them the adjuster will need to come to the house.

I then took off the passenger side trim to see if the seatbelts were interchangeable (they are not the same, may work but wouldn't chance it). All that trim will need to come off to replace the headliner anyway so I don't think I'm really messing anything up. When I get it fixed, I will probably remove all the interior trim anyway and let the dealership do the headliner and air bag replacement. There is deadening under all the interior panels and the trim panel fitment is tight. Don't want those guys telling me they can't get it back together so I will set it up for them.

First thing I will need to do Monday is get a seatbelt for the drivers side.

 

Just be careful.

 

Things to remember in life.....

 

That's crazy scary. Thanks for sharing.

Glad to hear you're not hurt.

 

So the insurance company is going to pay for the repair?

 

Prerunners also have the disable switch for the side airbags.

 

Interesting? Does the newer models have this option? The reason I ask is that my 2014 Hilux does not.

OP. Bad luck mate, I hope you get it all sorted and thanks for telling the story, it's definitely something we all need to consider.

 

Maybe its the TRD OR that has it. My Sport doesn't.

 

Maybe so. All I know is next time I got offroading, im pulling my airbag fuse.