Just thought I'd post some pictures of the 'open heart surgery' I did on the SRS cabling this week. I had had an issue with the SRS light coming on after some issues with the evaporator overflowing into the passenger footwell. Turns out the fuse was blowing so next step according to shop manual was to measure a bunch of voltages on the controller. This is a bitch to get at and requires special test cables so I initially had the local dealer do the recommended voltage tests before they threw in the towel (the diagnostic routines go on for pages). But they did loan me the tester and after spending more time with it, the conclusion was that there was a fault somewhere in the wiring. The main wiring starts at the fuse box on the drivers side; picks up the left impact sensor; connects to the airbag; then continues on to the passenger side where it splits with part going to the controller and the other part carrying on to the right side impact sensor. All of this cabling is hosed in a yellow corrugated jacket and clamped to the front bulk head under the pedals, carpet, etc. Time passed and eventually someone on Prime sold me a used replacement cable from a parts car. Last week I swapped them out and maybe my experience can help others who might be in a similar position in the future.
The SRS cabling is one of those things that probably gets installed before anything else in the interior, so you need to first pull back all carpeting and also remove the sub box. The cabling is installed into a blue plastic guide which is installed into holes into the floor with those white snap-in connectors. The cable is held into the guide with a number of flexible tabs. I chose to leave the blue guides where they were; undo the tabs; and swap the cables. But, first things first, install the short protector under the steering column per the shop manual.
There are 6 connector ends on the cable; one for each of the impact sensors; one at the fuse box; one for the steering wheel airbag; one at the controller; and one near the controller. These are the standard Acura connectors where you push on the tab in the center to separate and most of them are easy to do. One exception is the connector controller which is almost hidden in the bottom of the center console and difficult to even see the tab let alone release it. But the thing I had the most problem with was the one that plugs into the fuse box in the driver footwell. It not only has a regular tab but also an extra locking tab and it's at the top left of the fuse panel behind a structural tube. I'm 6' and all of 200 lbs and even with moving the front seat all the way back and removing the lower cushion, and cramming my head into the footwell while almost upside down, it was all I could do to even see the connection let alone release it. After many tries and using nearly all of my most colorful vocabulary .. and a pair of angle-nose pliers, it finally came out. The rest of the swap was fairly straight forward. I had removed everything from the center console thinking that I might need to in order to push the cable/connectors from one side to the other but in retrospect, I didn't need to.
Here are some pictures mid install:
Unfortunately, after getting everything back together and installing a new fuse, I started the car and the SRS light came back on .. it had blown the fuse again. So, not sure what to do next other than go through the whole voltage testing process again and see if anything has changed. I had originally thought that perhaps the water from the evaporator had damaged a cable connection but most of them aren't anywhere near where the water came down .. and by replacing the cabling, I think I've eliminated damage to the wiring itself. It could be that some capacitors have leaked in the controller and is giving false symptoms but it happened so soon after the evaporator overflow that I figured for sure it was a true wiring issue. It's getting too cold here so don't think I'll get back to this until the spring at the earliest.
The SRS cabling is one of those things that probably gets installed before anything else in the interior, so you need to first pull back all carpeting and also remove the sub box. The cabling is installed into a blue plastic guide which is installed into holes into the floor with those white snap-in connectors. The cable is held into the guide with a number of flexible tabs. I chose to leave the blue guides where they were; undo the tabs; and swap the cables. But, first things first, install the short protector under the steering column per the shop manual.
There are 6 connector ends on the cable; one for each of the impact sensors; one at the fuse box; one for the steering wheel airbag; one at the controller; and one near the controller. These are the standard Acura connectors where you push on the tab in the center to separate and most of them are easy to do. One exception is the connector controller which is almost hidden in the bottom of the center console and difficult to even see the tab let alone release it. But the thing I had the most problem with was the one that plugs into the fuse box in the driver footwell. It not only has a regular tab but also an extra locking tab and it's at the top left of the fuse panel behind a structural tube. I'm 6' and all of 200 lbs and even with moving the front seat all the way back and removing the lower cushion, and cramming my head into the footwell while almost upside down, it was all I could do to even see the connection let alone release it. After many tries and using nearly all of my most colorful vocabulary .. and a pair of angle-nose pliers, it finally came out. The rest of the swap was fairly straight forward. I had removed everything from the center console thinking that I might need to in order to push the cable/connectors from one side to the other but in retrospect, I didn't need to.
Here are some pictures mid install:
Unfortunately, after getting everything back together and installing a new fuse, I started the car and the SRS light came back on .. it had blown the fuse again. So, not sure what to do next other than go through the whole voltage testing process again and see if anything has changed. I had originally thought that perhaps the water from the evaporator had damaged a cable connection but most of them aren't anywhere near where the water came down .. and by replacing the cabling, I think I've eliminated damage to the wiring itself. It could be that some capacitors have leaked in the controller and is giving false symptoms but it happened so soon after the evaporator overflow that I figured for sure it was a true wiring issue. It's getting too cold here so don't think I'll get back to this until the spring at the earliest.
