Airbag / Seatbelt ECU Problem

[Ian Black]

I’ve had my 2002 Corolla since new and it has been the best, most reliable car I’ve had. Sadly, it has had an issue for months now which means I cannot get an MOT for it. The airbag light flashes and the Toyota dealer and auto electricians cannot clear it. All say that the car, which drives perfectly, is safe, and all say that is the ECU that is giving a false reading, but no-one can fix it. The car is in superb condition, low mileage, and I am reluctant to scrap it. Can anyone point me in the direction of a repairer?

[50p]

Maybe totally different but my wifes Yaris 54 plate kept having an airbag light coming on. You could reset it by putting jumpers in the OBD socket and pressing buttons, but after a time it would fail again ... anyway, it turned out to be a faulty airbag ECU. I replaced it with a known good one from eBay and the fault was cured.

[Rosgoe]

If the ecu is the problem might be worth contacting a company called bba re man they repair ecu’s and body control units etc give them a ring see what they say.

Also check the connectors under the drivers seat for corrosion and loose connectors but I assume this has already been checked.

I find it strange that a Toyota dealer cannot find the fault if it’s a 2002 it should be OBD compliant. Bba re man link below

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwib5ufCq-X5AhUITsAKHSbCDqkQjBB6BAgKEAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bba-reman.com%2Fgb%2Fcontent%2Fhow_to_contact_bba_reman&usg=AOvVaw1Ht72W_ka1eLLuB_NIDFj6

[Ian Black]

Hi Rosgoe, finally got back to you. I just received my ECU back from a company called Sinspeed in Greenwich who sound great on their website, but failed to repair the ECU. They had the ECU since 14th July. Waste of time and money. I have now found another company called ReMap Aberdeen, so when I get my car back from Dundee, I'll take it to them. Sounds promising. This will be the last throw of the dice, have already spent over £800.00 trying to get the problem fixed. I'd be very sad to scrap a car I've had for twenty years with only 42,000 miles on the clock. The Toyota dealer in Dundee, Struans, have tried very hard to resolve this and have been very helpful. Toyota GB customer service have been very polite, but ultimately useless. I can't understand how a company with the resources of Toyota cannot help. Perhaps they don't care because my car is old. Car has now been off the road for six months!

[RHYSF00]

mine had a similar issue. it comes and goes. but it turns out to be a sensor which been rusted. could be worth looking at all airbag crash sensors to check for corrision

[oldcodger]

18 hours ago, Ian Black said:

. Perhaps they don't care because my car is old. Car has now been off the road for six months!

Hi,

Well we are in a similar situation with our 2006 model in that part prices as very expensive , if available,   and as you have found , its difficult to expect them to be able to fully support the few remaining 20 year old cars.  Afraid thats true of any such large producer, not just Toyota or the car industry.

£800 sounds a lot of money on such repairs, who has been charging  that much ??

Whats not been mentioned is have the ECUs returned any error codes to indicate where the fault may be ?

One of the most common airbag problems you read about is the front seat wiring problems, though they can be temporarily  bypassed by using some of the plug in ' Car SRS Airbag Emulator resistors 2.2 ohm '  plenty of info on the web and even this forum about using them

There are lots of second hand ECUs on the market which might be a quicker way to elimiate if they are the cause, though doubt toyota would entertain fitting them but you might find a local auto electrian who would be open to doing such things if you are not into such work, without charging the earth !

 

 

[Ian Black]

Hi oldcodger, thanks for the reply. I will pass on the information to the next (and last) potential repairer as the information may be useful. 

The charges to date are from my local garage which diagnosed but could not fix the fault. My nearest dealer is in Dundee, 60 miles away. They have diagnosed the fault, code B0138, as faulty front passenger seatbelt pretensioner. The part was ordered and replaced, and all was fine for a while until the car hit a pothole and the warning light came on again. I went to a local auto electrician, who came up with the same fault code B0138. They suggested the ECU was faulty. New ones are not available. I managed to get an identical ECU from a breaker. The auto electrician installed it and guess what two error codes came up, B0138 plus another one.  Still the fault could not be cleared. With the original ECU re-installed, and MOT imminent, I took the car back to the dealer in Dundee. Same diagnosis, but they couldn't clear the fault. Suggested another auto electrician, same diagnosis, but couldn't fix it. Both auto electricians and the Toyota dealer said the ECU was faulty (I think not) but taking their advice I had the ECU removed and sent to a repairer in Greenwich who after six weeks told me the ECU could not be fixed. Each of these stages cost money. I'm now having one last attempt to have the car fixed and all information such as you have supplied I will pass on. Thanks for taking the time to try to help.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

That code B0138 is well documented in the Toyota manual so not sure why its not being fixed by Toyota, for what they charge can imagine your frustration.

Cannot find that particular airbag post I was refering earlier,  but have a look at this short none technical video which shows how its likely to be a wiring problem under the front seats as when the seats moved etc , it can put strain on the connectors/wires, as storing anything under the seat can also knock the cables.   Happens on many cars not just Toyotas

After 20 years it could simply be corrosion of the wires or connectors, seems Toyota do some wiring reprair kits but not sure if its for our models ?

Your point about they have not been able to Clear the error code from the ECU,  not sure if you/they  mean they really cannot clear it, or more likely, they have cleared it, but the physical airbag/seatbelt tensioner fault is still there, so the error code returns immediatelly ... ?  which begs the question if its a 'hard' fault why have they not cured it ?

Cannot offer any real pracical advice, but possibly someone else in the forum my know somewhere near to you would should be able to help without costing more than the car.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_onxXADxRE

 

 

 

 

[Ian Black]

Hello again oldcodger, thanks so much for your latest reply, so much useful information there. I am of the opinion that the ECU is not actually faulty and that it is a wiring / bad connection issue. The fact that the light last came on after hitting a pothole supports that. If the fault was in the ECU, why would the same fault code keep coming up? Also a replacement ECU that I obtained from a breaker's yard came up with B0138 plus another code. I bet before that ECU was connected in my car, the B0138 code was not present in it. I've been up against it with the Toyota dealer and two separate auto electricians all blaming the ECU. I'll let you know how I get on.

To others who have replied to me, thanks, I couldn't figure out how to answer. Still a novice with this forum !

[kingcarp69]

Hi,

Just wondered if you managed to resolve this issue, thanks