The SRS warning light in the meter came on when I replaced the steering wheel. Although I knew it wouldn’t affect operation, I’m the type who gets bothered by these things, so I looked into how to turn it off.
Apparently, the airbag and horn module itself, sometimes called the clock spring, can occasionally fail. However, since the warning light went off when I put the steering wheel back, I figured it was probably related to the U-turn harness (also known as a dummy harness – a harness that applies the same resistance as when the airbag is connected to prevent the SRS warning light from coming on).
It seems that the SRS warning light often comes on when the resistance value is too low, so I ordered the following items from Kyoritsu Eleshop. The minimum order lot was 10 pieces, so I ordered 10, but even with shipping, it was under 1,000 yen.
- Metal oxide film resistor 1W 2.7Ω Model: 1W 2.7ohm
I connected the ordered resistor with bullet connectors, installed it into the harness, and reconnected everything. Once the SRS warning light comes on, it won’t turn off unless you input a cancel command, so I performed the following procedure:
- Remove the panel under the dashboard. There are two screws: one on the lower right and one inside the storage compartment.
- Find the harness wrapped with black and yellow striped tape and pull it out (it’s just inserted into a dummy terminal, so it comes out easily).
- Have a clip or similar tool ready to short-circuit the coupler terminals.
- With the terminals shorted, turn the engine on.
- The SRS warning light will turn on, then off. Disconnect the short circuit.
- A few seconds later, the SRS warning light will come on again. Short-circuit the coupler again.
- The SRS warning light will blink, and you’re done.
Successfully turned off the SRS warning light. These kinds of harnesses cost at least around 1,500 yen, but many of those have resistance values below 2. Some advertise resistance of 3 or higher, but they cost nearly 5,000 yen. Once you know what you’re dealing with, you really understand what a fair price should be.
