$1185 to replace harness in my xB - Help

[xBa380]

Two months ago, a day after I had an ignition coil recall done at the dealership, my SRS (airbag) light start coming on and would not shut off.

I took it the dealer the day after and they charged me $49 to do a "diagnostic" and clear the code. Light has been off for a month and a half now and just came back on this weekend. I checked all connections under the seat and all that, no problem. Light won't shut off. The first time, they told me the front air bag passanger harness needed replaced, estimate at $1185 to do.

Out of warranty for the repair. Toyota offered to cover 50% of the cost.

My question is... Is there anything that may of happened when they did the ignition coils to cause any of this? Or is it just that big of a coincidence? I mean, I have had the car since August 2007 and never had the light come on until the day after the repair. I am the only owner and never been in accident or anything of the sort.

This sucks... This is the second harness related issue I have run into. The first, being the VSC/Trac/ABS lights caused by the harness to the rear speed sensor. Thankfully, I was able to clean the connection, put some dielectric grease and never had the issue come back.

 

[Ram01]

Wow good luck

 

[Ram01]

Check rockauto.com

 

[Ram01]

And stay away from toyota

 

[xBa380]

I don't think I can just order any harness for my car. Also, they estimate 4-8hrs of labor to do the work as it required the interior to basically be torn out to access the harnesses.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I would ask that they isolate the problem and/or tell you what about the harness needs to be replaced. Is there a short somewhere? Is there a bad terminal somewhere?

I'd say that it's generous that Toyota has offered to pay half.

Our Chrysler minivan ate the battery terminals off the powertrain harness. Chrysler replaced the entire $1,300 powertrain harness under warranty. Personally, I'd have simply replaced the battery terminal ends, but Chrysler said they can't do that; they have to replace the whole thing.

 

[stephen9666]

I'm not familiar with the model in question, but it sure does seem suspicious. I guess they could have damaged a wire somewhere that since shorted out.

I wonder if a place that specializes in automotive electrical could repair it for less?

Did the dealer say exactly what the problem is, or what caused the problem? Broken wire, short, damaged connection? Is this a common issue on these cars?

 

[SLCraig]

That sucks so much. I probably wouldnt fix it at all for that much $.

 

[xBa380]

When I took the car in they pulled the SRS code, which was B1901

OPEN INP/T SQUIB (D SETE SIDE) CIRCUIT.


What I found online with a TSB:

"SCION: SRS LIGHT ON DTC B1901/B1906: OPEN FRONT PRETENSIONER CIRCUIT. SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEMS. ON SOME MODELS, VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT A DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE (DTC) B190 AND /OR B1906. AN UPDATED WIRE HARNESS IS AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS"


They told me they checked all the harnesses under the seat with a multimeter or whatever and see there is a "hole" in the line somewhere, causing the short or whatever to occur and need to replace the whole harness.

I just got off the phone with them and it's going in next Tuesday. Going to cost $600+tax and take two days to complete the work. They will give me a loaner for free and such while the work is being done.

I just hope this is the last of my harness issues... oy

 

[xBa380]

To clarify on the checks they did, they checked for resistance in each of the harnesses. I found the procedure to troubleshoot this code and depending on resistances, tell what needs to be replaced (entire harness, seatbelt connection, sensor, etc...)

So if they did it correctly, they found out the whole harness needed replaced and that is what they will be doing.

 

[supton]

Seems odd for it to just "go" like this. This vehicle wasn't underwater at any time?

Probably just a bad crimp on one pin. Finding and replacing just that one pin could be the same cost (although it's pretty well narrowed down by now, if they ohm'd out the ends). If it was me, and I had reached this point, I'd find the two connector ends, cut the wire back two inches, and splice in a temporary wire. If it worked, well, job done... But I'm guessing a bad crimp, and I don't know if the pins can be pushed out and replaced.

I can't see any issue with ignition coils causing this. They should not be close to each other at all.

"An updated harness" sounds to me like a known issue. Since it's an '07 I'm guessing this is as good as it gets: free loaner while in the shop, and only $600.

 

[xBa380]

Yeah, I agree... It is really strange. I tried to look at all the connectors and such, but they all look OK by visual inspection. I used some electrical cleaner and made sure all were snug.

Obviously they know about the issue as they have TSB's for it. I am thankful Toyota is covering half the cost, for sure... It could be much worse (like the whole $1200). It still is all so disappointing though to say the least. I bought a Toyota/Scion because of how great the reliability is and such... Yet I seem to keep having electrical issues, which is disappointing. I hope this is the last of them! Supposedly the engine harness is known to go bad as well and cost $1200 to replace... So I PRAY that it never comes in need of replacement.

Love the car though... I just wish I did not have these issues! Mechanical wear items, fine... But I don't like electrical stuff going bad.

 

[eljefino]

A car owner could splice this wire and with the self diagnostics be pretty sure everything will work.

But because of liability no dealer or shop in their right mind would take this shortcut.

I've heard of Best Buy being on the hook for thousands of bucks for a harness replacement after nicking an airbag wire with a self tapping screw doing a stereo or GPS install.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
A car owner could splice this wire and with the self diagnostics be pretty sure everything will work.

But because of liability no dealer or shop in their right mind would take this shortcut.

I've heard of Best Buy being on the hook for thousands of bucks for a harness replacement after nicking an airbag wire with a self tapping screw doing a stereo or GPS install.

Seems a bit strange that a dealer can't replace a connector or a wire here or there? Surely a tech can do it with a 99.9% success rate. They let them change tires, and they get that wrong once in a while...
My buddy had a "wiring harness" problem with the hatch on his old focus wagon, and the dealer would install a junk yard harness but not fix the wire that had broken... The local mechanic found the offending wire and for an hours labor it was better than new.

 

[bepperb]

I can see why no dealer will touch airbag wiring besides complete replacement.

Replace one wire, make 100 dollars in profit on two hours labor, risk losing the entire business if there's ever an accident where the airbag doesn't go off.

Replace whole harness, make 100 dollars on eight hours labor (after giving away half), blame Toyota if there's an accident it doesn't go off.

Easy math since if that thing doesn't fire when it's supposed to it's a seven figure settlement offer, eight figures if it goes to court.

I'd unhook and reseat every connection I could get my hands on (removing trim and necessary) and then try to find online how to clear that code assuming my OBD scanner couldn't.

 

[antonmnster]

I got a great deal on my BMW because of a situation like this.

The dealership diagnosed a bad SRS harness somewhere between the SRS box and the side airbag in the door. They quoted to replace the whole thing, and sold the car as is to me for cheap because they didn't want to bother. (The car also needed tires, control arm bushings and had a cracked bumper.)

Turns out someone replaced the window clips and broke the connector on the side bag. I changed just the portion that was in the door, reset the light, and saved $1200.

 

[antiqueshell]

I wouldn't even pay 600$ for this repair, the car is a 2007. I'd just drive it as is.

I wonder what Toyota's (not the dealer) reaction would be if you tell them that a critical, possible DANGEROUS safety component is failing and the car is only 5 years old, and you will not bother paying for that, instead you will continue to drive the car and hope that a catastrophic action never occurs.

How many miles are on the vehicle. More than 60k?

 

[xBa380]

I am at 69,500 currently. I plan to keep the car a long time as long as repairs don't pile up. I would love to see this car hit 200K and beyond as long as it stays safe and reliable. I don't plan to get another car anytime soon. I am a college student who bought this car for safe/reliable transportation. It has been an excellent car with no issues other than this one, really. Everything else has just been preventative stuff.

I would ignore it if it wasn't a safety item... I mean, the entire airbag system is disabled. Something that could some day (hopefully never) save my life if needed. Not something I will play around with to be honest.

It is what it is I suppose. I don't have the experience to start repairing wiring throughout the car. I am fine with most mechanical things, but electrical is a bit more complex for me.

Just hopefully once repaired I won't have any other issues!

 

[bdcardinal]

With Ford you can usually get pigtail connectors for most electrical components, however with airbags they usually want us to replace complete harnesses due to liability. The exception being on some models there is an approved connector kit.

With most Mazda models, any electrical connector will be serviced in a complete harnesses. A battery cable will come in an engine harness. With Ford a battery end will come with a cable harness, so its a lot cheaper.

 

[chrome]

Is the pretensioner part of the seat belt?

I read somewhere the in the US, the car manufacturer must warrant the seat belt for the life of the car. The Accords had issues with the belt buckles that sets off the SRS, and Honda replaces them under warranty regardless if the actual car is still under warranty or not.