I got the dreaded B1826 SRS error code...

could it be rodents? have you looked to see if it can be repaired?

on the harness, when did they add the charge point under the hood? that might be the difference.

 

When you google that part number it shows up as Wire Floor - Toyota (82161-5CL71). I also wish we could actually see what it looks like because I would want to at least check the plastic electrical connections first (if accessible), maybe reseat them before a full replacement. Of course assuming no sign of rodents like Bisco said.

Airbag Warning Light Code B1826 | PriusChat

 

I think they charge by other characteristics than weight, mostly. Some big bulky things are expensive just for the space they take up on ships and in warehouses. Wiring harnesses aren't heavy or bulky, they roll up sort of well, but they're danged intricate.

You will likely have out the seats, carpet, low interior trim and kick panels, center console, etc. Then it's just a matter of following the harness around, undoing all the connectors (there are pictures in the wiring diagram showing how all the different connector release arrangements work; some are more obvious than others) and undoing all of the really, really irritating little push clips that secure the wire harness in place. (Often that goes more easily if you have some kind of skinny, bent-long-nose pliers to get under the clips and squeeze the squeezy bits, but once you get the hang of one kind of clip, it changes to another kind for the next two feet.)

Toyota got wise to the needs of material separation when recycling cars, and started bundling a length of aircraft cable in with all the electrical wires, with a loop somewhere in the middle. At a breaker yard somebody can just hook a chain to the loop and pull out the whole wire harness with a good yank from an excavator bucket, instead of having to pay people to pop out a zillion irritating little clips. That's only when you don't plan to keep using the car, though.

 

Maybe plug in that part number at McGeorge Toyota Parts website. Ditto for anything you're looking for. They don't ship to Canada, but still a good resource.

You might be able to set up a mail-box just over the border in the States. We have set ups like that here in Vancouver, drive down to Blaine. I haven't done it, but was considering it.

Huh, $670 (US):

Toyota Wire Floor 82161-5CL71 | McGeorge Toyota Parts

Ugh, see it's a long drive to Maine.

 

It sucks they didn't or couldn't test out those seat sensors prior to this but I suppose the next step is identify the bad sensor and replace with new or used.

 

For that kind of dough, you might want to access the Repair Manual yourself (more info) and follow the problem-isolation steps on your own ... you learn more, and you're not at the mercy of somebody else's slipshod diagnosis. It really sounds like the dealer in the first instance thought "this kind of problem is very time-consuming to track down, the customer will probably balk at our hourly rate for that, so instead of tracking down the real problem, just quote him the most expensive part it could turn out to be, so he gets the message and goes away and we can do the jobs we enjoy more." Only you, unexpectedly, took them at face value and replaced the expensive part. They would probably be shocked.

Some of the tests in the manual will involve a milliohm meter: a specialized instrument you probably don't have, even if you have a regular multimeter with an ohm range. Reputable ones from recognized names can be mid-hundreds to $1k or so (the one Toyota recommends, which is quite a nice instrument if you might be running a repair shop, is around $1200). As with almost anything anymore, you can find oodles of no-name cheap ones of completely unknown quality on ebay, some under $100.

The distinguishing feature you'll notice on a respectable milliohm meter is its four-lead input arrangement, leading to a pair of Kelvin-style test clamps (two leads to each clamp).

The steps in the manual with milliohm measurements will be for testing the wiring and connectors, but never with the actual airbag connected at the time. For any testing with the airbag in the circuit, you're not looking just at any milliohm meter, but an igniter tester, which is like a low-ohm meter with special circuitry so that even in failure nothing can make it output more than a fixed number of milliamps. Prices on those get right up there comparable to, well, Toyota wire harnesses.

You could probably not pay me enough to take any chance on a no-name ebay igniter tester. But for all tests not involving the live airbag itself, a cheap milliohm meter might be enough.