Open Circuit Squib Driver Side! Red Triangle...

You don,t need me any more.

John (Britprius).

 

When you say the aircon blows out hot air do you mean with the aircon turned on in ready mode set at maximum cold? (It must be in ready on the dash).

John (Britprius)

 

Ok report back and I will give you some checks to do depending on results.

John (Britprius)

 

Ok three checks to start with:-

(1) Put the car in ready and before the engine starts up press the EV button. (this is only to stop the engine starting so you can hear whats going on). With the bonnet open can you hear a metallic humming moaning noise from low down on the front of the engine (drivers side).

(2) "Still as in (1) above" On the inner wing drivers side there is some metal pipework with a metal block with electrical connections and a small round sight glass can you see any liquid movement in the glass.

(3) Are the two electric radiator fans running and if they are is the air being pulled from the front of the car into the engine compartment or is the air blowing out through the front grill of the car.

John (Britprius)

 

The electric radiator fans are difficult to see, but with the A/C operating at full cold they should be running. Listen by the front grill you should hear the fans running over the noise of the A/C compressor, or put your hand down between the engine and the radiators you should feel air movement from the rads towards the engine. (nothing to bite you down there)
While your there there is a metal pipe (about 1/2 inch dia aluminium) coming up from the compressor that joins a rubber pipe. (center front of the engine) Feel that pipe to see if it is cold.

When you turn the A/C off you should see some foaming of the liquid in the sight glass for a few seconds. Can you run those checks.

I also think you should open a new thread on this as we are now way off the original topic of the airbags.

John (Britprius)

 

Hello,

I bought a 2010 Prius 3 months ago from Germany. It was brought there from the US.
I noticed the airbag red light after a week and it seemed to go on and off randomly.
I went to see someone about this and the error was:

B1811 Open in D Squib (Dual Stage - 2nd Step) Circuit

The man also dismantled my steering wheel to see what was going on. Turned out that the airbag had one connector and the steering wheel spiral had two. One of these was plugged with a tiny resistor (don't know the impedance, I didn't ask).
Thus I found out that my "new" second hand car was involved in a serious accident and the steering wheel airbag was replaced with whatever was available.

I did a brief search on eBay. I found a 2-stage airbag at $250. Also, a fully equipped steering wheel goes for $450.

Bottom line: what can I do to spend as little as possible and still benefit from the presence of the airbag (and turn the light off)?

Many thanks,
Andrew

 

It is possible the spiral (clock spring) can be at fault going open circuit as you turn the steering. The ECU from memory looks for a resistance within the airbag of about 2 ohms so the resistor fitted should be around this value for it to work, and keep the ECU happy. Obviously this is not ideal as you say the airbag is designed as a two stage unit. You could position the resistor on the input side of the clock spring if the clock spring is going open circuit. Hope this helps.
Replacing the airbag or steering wheel will not cure the problem if the clock spring is at fault.
It may also be worthwhile checking the curtain and passengers side airbags are in place, and not "resistor ed out"

John (Britprius)

 

What if I buy a single stage clock spring? Do you think it can be fitted with the actual ECU (and thus discarding the resistor), or does it expect to see a dual stage clock spring?
I found clock springs at about 30$. I could afford that it it were a solution.

Thanks,
A

 

The clock spring is just a coiled up set of cables to put it simply. I doubt any other clock spring will fit with the connectors at either end.
Finding out which connectors are the correct ones on the input side of the spring and moving the resistor to there or even connecting it across the output of the ECU would be cheaper and easier.
The other alternative is to buy the correct clock spring and leave the resistor where it is. I cannot guarantee the clock spring is at fault, but if turning the steering makes the problem come and go this is the most likely cause.

John (Britprius)

 

I forgot to mention that the problem never occurs during vehicle operation. The light only appears at ignition. If it doesn't, then it doesn't.
Also, there are weeks when the light does not manifest itself. I could not find a recipe to light it up, nor one to shut it down.

Thanks,
A

 

It seems likely that fitting the resistor on the ECU would prove things. If the light stays off leave it there if it keeps coming back on either the resistor is the wrong value or the ECU has a problem.
The only correct way is to replace the airbag and work from there.

John (Britprius)

 

I solved the problem.
I reckoned that the red light was from the B1811 error but it was not. When the mechanic repaired the steering wheel connection he accidentaly touched the knee airbag wire. When the car had the accident both the steering wheel airbag and the knee airbag were deployed. So the knee airbag was missing and a similar 2 ohm resistor was placed instead.
So all the mechanic had to do is secure the connection between the resistor and the knee airbag connector and the light disappeared and never came back ever since (except when i start the engine).

Thanks for your help.
Hope this helps other people too

A