Open Circuit Squib Driver Side! Red Triangle...

oh nice!

I'm tempted by quite a few mods - but problem is John - in London, it's best to keep things plain and simple otherwise you could end up attracting the wrong sort of attention. Or, I could tune up the car, sell it, and get a gen 3 prius (?) - but unsure if there's a major difference between the two.

Another point actually before i forget is that I'd like to fix my "banger" 1986 nissan sunny spirit. The head gasket is screwed. The car drives okay but the radiator ends up with oil inside of it from time to time. There are tons of videos on Youtube on how to replace a gasket but seems alittle complex with all the talk of torque-ing etc. I wouldn't mind doing some nice transformation work on that car aswell, especially as it's in such a poor looking state at the moment, but a really solid car. It would be so rewarding to see that car transformed. Just a thought.

 

this is pretty freaky but basically, i couldnt find any pictures of it locally and so i thought i'd search the web for it, and i came across a picture of it, with a back-drop which looked like my road....and lo and behold, it turns out my poor car is famous and online! LOL!

i wonder who took this picture - hmmmm

This must be quite an old picture because the bodywork looks more like a faded brown and has abit of rust developing around its body.

hope ya like it - it was given to me by my father as a "run-around car". It's as solid as a tank - passes MOT everytime!

 

just a side thought, but I'm pretty sure that the airbag red light went away right after I replaced the blown fuse for the airbag - but then it came back the following day....

this is what puzzled me most...

 

hmmm - good point - i haven't checked....should have done

I'll be with the car later on today, just out at the moment. I'll check then

thanks John

 

i went out to check the fuses and realised that i actually only replaced the horn and battery fan fuses - not the airbag one

i couldnt see the airbag fuse in the front compartment - but even if it was blown - the open squib error is to do with that cable that I'm going to be assessing as soon as my Torx T30 tool turns up.

 

yeh - I think I'll leave the fuse stuff for now - i'm gonna stick to the plan and that is to test those 4 multi-coloured cables and inspect the connections.....I reckon it'll probably be a broken pin/damaged plug point at the airbag connector but let's see. I think my toolkit should be with me by this wednesday - but you're going away soon too...

hmmm - okay - I'll do all the testing on wednesday/thursday and keep you posted

 

thanks John - enjoy your trip

tomorrow should be pretty quiet as i dont have any tools

speak soon

 

excellent - thank you - that'll help narrow it down!

you're a genius - thank you for the constant good info


i can sense us getting closer

 

i'm still waiting on my Torx screw driver toolkit to arrive! I think i should have it by tomorrow/thursday the latest....

once I discover the problem - what would i have to do to fix it? So for example;

1 - if it's a damaged pin on the connector?

2 - if a cable is shorted (either a connector cable or a cable within the clock spring unit)?

3 - if none of the above, then I'll assume it'll mean a new airbag ECU - or if nothing is wrong with the surrounding cables, then I'll assume a new clock spring unit...


thanks

 

Just got back after a hectic day...

Okay - this is excellent information as ever. Thank you John.

I should have my tools tomorrow and so will open it all up then at some point I hope.

RE the connecting of the 2 pins within the black connector - I'll do it with a bent paper clip and some masking tape to hold it in place.

I've ended up alittle busy with work but will definitely try to do all of this tomorrow.

Thanks again

 

Okay - so I finally found time to get inspecting and troubleshooting only to find that my car wouldn't open via the remote car key so i used the manual key to open it. I tried to start the car but it wouldn't. As I had already purchased that Bosch battery, I spent 45 minutes un-doing the old battery, and when I went to open the box for the new one - there was a water-type substance all over the top of the plastic bag and the battery, inside the box!!! Abit of it got onto my finger and I felt a horrible burn and immediately went to wash it off with soap and water.

I have contacted the people who sold it to me. Lets see if they can replace it, but my problem with this is that it may end up getting damaged in transit again, especially as it's coming from up North (Manchester I think)....but I don't know of any London places that are selling this type of battery at a reasonable cost, hence why I went online.

It's getting alittle dark over here now, so I'll inspect the airbag cables tomorrow morning and report back.

What a day ey

 

Okay, so I got the air bag compartment out and disconnected the connectors. These looked in good condition but I noticed that the actual cables with the airbag connectors had a green and yellow tape wrapped all around them. This looked alittle alarming straight away.

I am attaching a picture of the cables with a green and yellow tape wrapped around them, along with the ECU compartment in the middle, under the central part of the dashboard - the first picture being a distant shot and the 2nd one being a close-up through the gap - I'm assuming that this unit at the bottom (through that gap) is the ECU? It looks like it has lodes of cables coming out of it....I also couldn't see an easy ways to remove this plastic cover - but to be honest - from seeing the condition of these airbag connection cables, I think we can see the culprit. Is there any way to test these cables locally instead of going all the way down to the ECU with the multi-meter?

I know you mentioned that bent paper-clip method, but my battery is flat and I'm now awaiting a new one which will probably take another few days. I could charge the old battery and re-use it (it's currently sat outside in the garden), but to fit it all back in is a mission, so I'd rather spend my time fitting a new one.

Thoughts welcome