Airbag warning light on dash Prius 04

next step is to buy the correct code reader, or take it to toyota for a scan for trouble codes. all the best!

 

A bad 12V battery or soon to be bad HV battery can cause these symtoms, atleast they did for me, and all the lights went away once replacing the battery.

 

Agree that the next (first!) step is to read the codes. The light on the dash means the computer has something to tell you.

I am pretty sure you can read the airbag system codes tool-free, using just a small wire, paperclip, or the like, to jumper the Tc and CG terminals of the diagnostic port, then counting blinks of the airbag warning light. At least, my Gen 1 worked that way, and so does my Gen 3, so I'd guess it works for Gen 2 also.

You can find lots of threads here on PC with more step-by-step info on reading blink codes with the Tc to CG jumper. You can also find it completely described in the repair manual. You'll probably want to check the repair manual anyway, as once you have the codes, the manual is what tells you what they mean. $15 gets you all the looking/saving you want to do for two full days, techinfo.toyota.com.

The "I had X warning light, and it went away when I replaced my 12 volt battery" meme is pretty common around here (of course, replacing the battery means the computers all lose power temporarily, and forget what problem they were trying to tell you about), and helps keep business good for battery makers, so it's all good.

-Chap

 

We get the passenger side seat belt warning because we have rear facing car seat in middle back, the driver side seat can put pressure on the passenger front side due by pushing to hard on the car seat

 

The spiral cable in the steering wheel probably has failed.

 

If you want to DIY, there are several posts on Prius Chat explaining the process. You can also download factory repair manual info at techinfo.toyota.com which will give you the troubleshooting tree to follow. There are other possible reasons for that DTC besides the spiral cable.

Use Mini VCI to retrieve DTC and clear the codes from the various ECUs. You can also use a jumper on pins 4 and 13 on the OBD-II connector, there are a few posts about how to do that.

 

Was there a recall on the 2004/5 steering column issue?

 

Yes

 

Be very careful buying a spiral cable from eBay. First, be sure to use your VIN to get the correct part number via Toyota's parts system. I use this site. Second, if you get a cheap one it'll be cheap part and may not work very long. And there's some concern that the SRS circuit will be good enough for supervisory, but not good enough to fire. The SRS circuit has redundant connectors and conductors, so that may not be an issue, but some are concerned about it and pay more for the Toyota part. I could see a definite difference in pin quality when I installed a cheap one in my car.

And be sure you're well versed in airbag safety before you disassemble the wheel. It's an easy DIY project otherwise.

 

I agree that the correct Toyota part should be installed, not a cheap aftermarket part. Look at parts.com.

Buy Mini VCI on Amazon.com. The one that I bought has "Fotga" in the description.

 

I'm hoping Patrick will chime in... I have an 07 and red SRS light is on full time. The car has codes: B1650 and B1795. I have techstream and have gone through all the utilities to reset the passenger seat, etc. The red SRS dash light will go off momentarily when I clear codes, but comes back on in a few seconds... DO I need to replace the Occupant classification ECU? IF so, is that in dash or where? How to test for this? Car has not been in an accident as far as I know... ALL buttons on the steering wheel work. Any suggestions?

 

It seems likely that the occupant classification ECU has failed, which is located under the front passenger seat. I don't have much to suggest other than to review the factory repair manual info.

 

I can replace it with a used one for about $40... I don't see any problem with trying that out or is there programming of the ECU involved other than tech stream? The test for the ECU is many steps, but I may get the meter out for this. Thank YOU Patrick!

 

I don’t think it is necessary to program the ECU but please refer to the factory repair manual info.