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Airbag question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by steve04, Oct 22, 2020.

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  1. steve04

    steve04 New Member

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    Hi all.

    I have a problem with the airbag light on my Prius Gen 2.
    The light came on and stayed on when I started the car one day, so rather than take it to the garage (I like to do things myself and save money) I tried to fix it myself.
    I fiddled with the wires underneath the seat to see if the light went off, which it didn't.
    So I disconnected the battery, completely removed the airbag from the steering wheel and disconnected the the two electrical connectors (orange and black I think they were). When it was completely removed, I reconnected everything again, started the car up and the airbag light went off. The lights stayed off for a week or so, then one random day when I start the car the airbag light stays on again. So I repeated the process and the same thing happened again.. the light stayed off then came back on so many days later.
    Basically I was wondering if anyone had any idea what might be causing this to happen please? I want to get it sorted as I'm not sure the airbag is going to work if I ever have an accident.

    Many thanks in advance.

    Steve
     
    #1 steve04, Oct 22, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2020
  2. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Could possibly be the spiral cable in the steering wheel has failed. Do all of the steering wheel buttons still work? Does the Cruise Control still work ok or does it not come on sometimes?
     
    #2 dolj, Oct 22, 2020
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  3. steve04

    steve04 New Member

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    Thanks for the reply. I replaced the squib a while ago as my temperature buttons were working intermittently. The one I replaced it with was from eBay and didn't have functions for the telephone and GPS on it. But works fine for the fan control etc
     
    #3 steve04, Oct 23, 2020
  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    I would suspect the eBay part unless you can verify it to be a genuine OEM.

    Aftermarket parts have various quality issues and some have been known to last only a year before needing to be replaced again.

    The possibility also exists that the part could be counterfeit. There are so many counterfeit car parts on eBay/Amazon.
     
    #4 dolj, Oct 23, 2020
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    ? that would scare me and I'm fearless....
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Oct 23, 2020
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Correct me if I am wrong, but the squib is a different part to the spiral cable, isn't it?
     
    #6 dolj, Oct 24, 2020
  7. steve04

    steve04 New Member

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    Sorry it was called a spiral cable clock spring
     
    #7 steve04, Oct 24, 2020
  8. steve04

    steve04 New Member

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    Thank you. I'll try replacing it and see if it makes a difference. Can you recommend somewhere to buy it from?
     
    #8 steve04, Oct 24, 2020
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The electrical part inside the airbag inflator that ignites the propellant.

    I don't think it's separately replaceable.

    Even testing of airbag squibs is done with highly specialized ohmmeters.
     
    #9 ChapmanF, Oct 24, 2020
  10. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Before you replace the clockspring assembly you might want to check what codes are stored in the airbag control module. It might be the clockspring causing your problem, but that's just a guess. Get a code and look in the OE service manual what the diagnostic procedure is for that code.

    The best source for that kind of part is OE, whether at a dealer or from a Toyota source online. The only time I would consider an aftermarket part is when the OE was discontinued.
     
    #10 mr_guy_mann, Oct 24, 2020
  11. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    +1
     
    #11 dolj, Oct 24, 2020
  12. steve04

    steve04 New Member

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    Thank you everyone. I bought a code reader for airbag side. It said there was a problem with the squib, so I bought one off eBay from an old 2009 Prius, swapped it over and now everything seems to be working smoothly. Thanks for all the help
     
    #12 steve04, Nov 19, 2020
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