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Open Circuit Squib Driver Side! Red Triangle...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Sam Dean, Jun 12, 2013.

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  1. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Just got back after being out all day. Congrats on getting into the car, that's a relief . Let me see what I can come up with in the way of tests.
    Oh hears a strait forward one. Join those two wires together where they are damaged instead of joining them at the air bag connector with a paper clip and do the test as my post 96 (page 5). You will have to have a battery connected, but you could use the new one just leave it in the plastic bag and use jumper leads to connect to the battery leads in the rear of the car (even if the original battery is not there) but again be careful to connect the correct way.

    Then report the results back here.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #121 Britprius, Jun 23, 2013
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  2. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Sam, sorry not being able to respond as quickly as I could if I was at home, but fortunately there is a wireless hot spot in the vicinity of where I am staying but the signal is week so it disappears sometimes and I have to reconnect.

    No signal on mobile but when I get back I will give you a contact number. All the hold ups must be frustrating, but at the moment there is little I can do to speed things up as other people are relying on me to to transport them about on our holiday.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #122 Britprius, Jun 23, 2013
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  3. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    That's okay John, take your time.

    I'm just heading home from the gym (had to sweat out todays stresses)

    I'll do that paper clip test on both cables when home in approx 15 mins

    I've been charging the old battery since the morning and so I'll use that instead. The other one has acid all over it and it burnt a cut on my finger last time out

    Will report back shortly

    Over n out
     
    #123 Sam Dean, Jun 23, 2013
  4. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    I got caught up and side-tracked alittle and so I still haven't done the test - unsure if i'll be able to do it today as it's getting darker but will try.

    By the way, how can I open the back door from the inside? There was small latch which I tampered with the other day and it made some sort of a release sound and ever since then, the back door isn't tightly shut as it used to be. I hope I haven't broken anything.
     
    #124 Sam Dean, Jun 23, 2013
  5. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    I could do this test but will take abit of time setting up - is there something else I could do with the multi-meter maybe?

    If not - I'll do the above test as soon as I have abit more time to do the setup. I still need to work out how to open the back door aswell, because crawling in to the back from the side doors is starting to cause me knee pains...
     
    #125 Sam Dean, Jun 23, 2013
  6. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The only other tests are to check between the ECU connector and the air bag connectors "the four wires" or a test using the meter on the same settings as follows, and I do not know if this is possible with the clock spring in place.

    On the lower side of the clock spring pushed in from one side is a group of two plugs that connect to the other side of the clock spring (see the link in my post 41, pictures numbers 59 and 49).
    The first picture shows the clock spring in place with the two plugs pulled out. The second picture shows with the clock spring removed the positions these plugs come from.

    The test would be to check continuity between the lower socket pins (I think in the larger squarer looking socket) and the two connectors that fasten on the air bag.
    This checks the condition of the clock spring. In effect there should be four individual pins that connect to each wire going up to the air bag.
    I do not know if this is possible with the steering wheel in place. This test would be bypassed if you check from the ECU to the air bag connectors as in the first paragraph. This is possibly more dismantling than is required at this stage. If the test in the first paragraph proves ok this would not be required however if the test fails it would point to a faulty (broken clock spring) that I could possibly repair, and this is the test I would do.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #126 Britprius, Jun 23, 2013
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  7. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The only way of opening the door without a 12 volt supply is via the inside lever that I have never had to use. Is there any way of fastening a strong cord or piece of wire to the lever that you could pull, otherwise a supply to the jump point (with the precautions) will allow you to open from outside.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #127 Britprius, Jun 23, 2013
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  8. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Hmmm, okay, I'll do the paper clip test tomorrow at some point and report back.

    I'll have a look around youtube on how to open the back door from the inside. I saw it on a clip some time back but forgotten exactly what the guy did.

    I personally think the errors are related to the fact that they don't like the cables being twisted together. Maybe not all points are touching fully. I could just remove the whole clock spring and check for resistance on each entry/exit point (?)

    Will have a look tomorrow.

    Also, its not the easiest thing to work on a car that is parked on the road, a good few meters from ones house - but we'll get there :)
     
    #128 Sam Dean, Jun 23, 2013
  9. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    I do understand the difficulty you are working under and admire your patience that I am sure will be rewarded.


    As I have stated before we do need to tie down exactly where the fault is before we can eliminate it by one means or another. If we can prove the clock spring is at fault, either I will try to repair it or you can replace it with a SH or new one.

    If it is ok we can take the next step.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #129 Britprius, Jun 23, 2013
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  10. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    I placed a paperclip into the black connector's 2 sockets and joint them together with a bent paperclip and ran Techstream. I did this with both connectors, not just the black one - and here are the errors that came up:

    B1801 - Open in D Squib Circuit (History - this was no longer current - had changed to Historical only)

    a new code came up:

    B1811 - Open in D Squib (Dual Stage - 2nd Step) Circuit (Current - and Historical - but i think it was historical because I had already triggered it with testing the other connector).


    Hope this yields more of the puzzle

    thanks
     
    #130 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  11. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    i used the old battery which i had been charging for most of yesterday...

    i stuck the paperclip in, connected the battery (positive terminal first), and a key point i also noticed was that the red triangle had disappeared but the red air bag light was still showing.

    unsure if this is a useful addition
     
    #131 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  12. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Sam, if code 1801 was gone and did not return after connecting the terminals on the black connector together, suggests that the wiring and connections on those two wires as far as the paper clip are ok, and the problem is either the connector where it fits to the air bag or the air bag it's self.
    The second part I am not quite clear on what you did. If you tested with a paper clip only on the black connector and nothing on the other connector this makes sense triggering a code of 1811 for the second stage of the air bag. Is this what you did.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #132 Britprius, Jun 24, 2013
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  13. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    yep - I first stuck the paperclip into the black connector, then into the orange one. I should have then done it on both but didn't think of this

    Both times, the same errors showed up.

    I thought so - I had a feeling that this outcome would point at the airbag area.

    hmmm - shall i take a photo of the connections on the actual airbag? and also maybe a close-up of the black and orange connectors?
     
    #133 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  14. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Yes Sam this does point to the Black connector where it fastens to the air bag, the only other explanation is the air bag it's self and my money is on the connector, (famous last words) this is good news.
    Did you put the paper clip on the side of the connector that goes to the air bag or did you push it into the back where the wires are connected.
    Some close up pictures of the air bag terminals and the side of the connectors that go on the air bag could be useful.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #134 Britprius, Jun 24, 2013
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  15. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    thought i'd upload a picture of the connectors on the airbag just for good measure...

    these airbag units looks quite expensive
     

    Attached Files:

    #135 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  16. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    ermmmm - basically, I pushed one end of the paperclip right into both tiny sockets, found on the black connector - i did push it in quite far back - unsure if that's what you're asking about
     
    #136 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  17. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    That's fine. One more simple check with your meter. Simplest way to give instructions is for you to watch a video on Youtube. Do a google search on "How to check an air bag" the first item that comes up when I search is this video. Let me know how you get on and if there are any questions. We are very very close, and I think the air bag will checkout ok (final last words:) ).

    John (Britprius)
     
    #137 Britprius, Jun 24, 2013
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  18. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    okay - just watched the video...

    i dont have any tubing that thin to slip onto the terminals for the second part of the test - any other way to do that bit?

    the first part is straight forward, I just need to check to make sure it's resistance free
     
    #138 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  19. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    is there any risk of the airbag going off? shall i bring it indoors? I left it in the car just incase...
     
    #139 Sam Dean, Jun 24, 2013
  20. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Have you a ball point pen? the tube inside could be about the correct size just snip a bit off the end of the ink tube , even a piece of drinking straw would probably do or strip a piece of wire. If you look down the end of the connector pins on the air bag you will see a small gold strip going off to one side of each pin (this can be see in your pictures) the idea of the plastic tube is to separate that small strip from it's pin as it is spring loaded. This only needs to be done on one pin on the black connector on the air bag.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #140 Britprius, Jun 24, 2013
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