Help with SRS codes #12 and #31 in 9’95 Tacoma

Hello, I recently inherited a 1995 Tacoma. It’s great! But the airbag light has been on, and stays on 24/7. The lights must have been on for some time, because my uncle put tape over the engine and airbag lights… I finally got the codes read off and they are:

RETRIEVED CODE AND FOUND CODE# 31 AND #12. AIR BAG SENSOR MALFUNCTION AND SPIRAL CABLE SHORT OR OPEN.

I would like to know how to tackle better diagnosing this problem. I understand it can be that the control unit needs replacing. I also understand that it can be the clock spring and that I should tackle this first? I’m new to airbag maintenance so dumbing things down would be appreciated…

any help would be appreciated. The light is annoying!

 

Hmmmm

does your horn work?
If equipped, does cruise control work?

both above issues point to coil spring/spiral cable

 

Welcome to Tacoma World-

Same situation when I bought my 2000 PreRunner. First I paid my regular independent shop $175 (2014) with no resolution. Then paid Toyota Dealer $412 (also 2014) and the issue was resolved.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Airbag issues should never be a DIY project. Take it to a Toyota Dealer. (A recommendation I very rarely make!)Sorry.

 

Do you know what they fixed? That would be immensely helpful. I took it to the dealership, they didn’t have the parts, and they didn’t know if/when they could find them.

 

the horn worked yesterday. I read that I should turn the wheel and see if the horn stops working. Going to try that shortly.

 

So the horn still works. I tried turning it hard and it still was working fine. Bad control module?

 

Copy of the invoice, PDF, attached.

 

Did the Service Department do diagnostics? The codes you got seem to indicate a different situation than I had.

 

We took it in but I think they did just a code read on it. I did some trouble shooting today and I believe that I isolated the problem to being the airbag control module.

I am having difficulty finding a replacement part online.