esco786

iTrader: (2)

i also had front right impact airbag sensor which went faulty...acura tried to blame it on my cleared headlights (but i convinced them to cover it under warranty)

this seems to be a common problem and perhaps it should be noted in garage if not in there already

6SpdASpec

kevintl21 or all,
I have the same problem. The code that I retrieved is 61-1: Open in Left Front belt buckle switch. I don't understand why the buckle switch is bad if the seatbelt lights goes off when I buckle it, that's telling me that the switch works. However, the airbag lights turns on as soon as I put the seatbelt on. By the way, I read that this is a lifetime warranty. Is this true? If not, how much is the buckle? TL is a 2004 with 94K miles. Thanks.

6SpdASpec

I need help if you work in a dealership. I am currently in the military stationed in Germany with my 04 TL and I got a bad driver seatbelt buckle, code was 61-10. I called Hopkins Acura of Fairfield, CA and confirmed that this is a lifetime warranty. However, they won't ship me the part. She said that I might have to pay out of pocket first here in a Honda dealership and get reimbursed when I return stateside. Haha, good luck with that. I can't renew my registration here since there is a safety inspection, and with the airbag light on, it's automatic failure. Can anyone help? I'll call Honda here tomorrow to see what they can do. Thanks in advance.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Keep us posted man, and good luck.mine is definitely becoming more of a prominent problem...if I undo the seatbelt I can see the sensor some times doesn't pick it up...the airbag light will come on repeatedly until I unclick and reclick it

**WhItE-aNgEl**

I had the same problem a week after buying my 06 tl, at first the Acura dealer said it was the battery so they replaced my battery, I left the dealer and by the time I got home the light was back on..so I brought it back in the next morning but this time they changed the impact sensor,they said it was faulty.once again the light came off and when I got home the light went back on.so I called my service guy and told him he said bring it in tomorrow, they gave me a loaner and kept my car for 1 week.they replaced the whole airbag system, I have pictures of my interior completly disassembled.the warranty covered everything and the light never came back on!

jmoney2001

hey what i did to clear the code is i blew air in the buckle and messed with the release button a whole lot. i may b a short term fix but i have yet to see the code come on

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^^I may have to try that...I keep pluggin in and unpluggin the buckle repeatedly and then turn the car off and back on. What I THINK I notice now is it takes longer for the airbag system to do it's dianostic and turn the light off...who knows!

heyitsnickk

Do you by any chance know the part number for the sensor? My airbag light has been on and I got a code for "No signal from front right impact sensor". The other week it was really sunny/warm and it magically disappeared, but then this week it was cold/rained and the light came back on. I want to just order the part and replace it myself, but I can't find out which part it is.

scottn3

You can short pins 4 to 9 and get the fault code by watching the # of light blinks. Here is the good info location:
http://forums..com/showthread.php?t=636707

rockyroad

Here is what I learnt from my own experience (and from reading others post);

SRS airbag light came on most of the time.
Playing with seat belt helps you verify that, it is, seatbelt bucle (sensor) that is causing the SRS airbag light to come on. By playing with seat belt, I mean, I did not fasten my seat belt (in local area - just to test - I normally drive with seat belts on and know that one should wear it all the time while driving) and the SRS light did not come on. Sometimes, unbuckling the seat belt caused the light to go away, or, some variation of seat belt buckling/unbuckling. This verified that it has to do with the seat belt.

Verifying that it is seat belt helps, becasue, this way when you take your car in, you wont be charged for diagnostic fees, because seat belt buckle/sensor is covered under "life time" warranty.

My dealer advised me about diagnostic fees ($119) if it was not seat belt issue (But, I kind of knew because of the above process). I agreed to dealer, it was in fact seat belt and now it will be replaced for FREE.

Hope this helps.

Tonywp75

Just got my checked at the dealer too and it was the seat belt buckle. They will be ordering the part and replace at no charge...yay.

Chad05TL

I was getting this 61-1 code which is the open in left seat belt switch, and I called the dealer, actually 2 of them in Dallas, and one said it is not covered.. And I called the 2nd one and they said, "well its a fine line between covered or not". And he went on to say that if the seat beat latches and works properly, and if it is only the electronics inside the belt that is bad, then it is NOT covered. Only if the seat belt is screwed up from being a restraint device is the only time it is covered. So if it stops performing a function that just tells you it is plugged or unplugged or and Open circuit, then no, it is not covered. So I basically just sent their main webpage a complaint.. Probably sales replied but I did not even listen to their voice mail.

So here is what I did. I jumpered the seat belt with a small jumper wire. If a circuit is open, that is what is called "floating". Floating means the brain does not see +12v or Ground. It's going back and forth. I have not driven the car much yet, so I cannot tell if it is fixed yet since my air bag light was intermitting, but I can tell you the warning light is not On at the moment. Also this jumper takes out the seat belt completly and the car always thinks I have the seat belt buckled even if I do not. I tested that part several times and even went for a drive. And no warning light. I have all the schematics from the book, and pictures I took of the connecter where the seat belt plugs into the harness. There are 3 pins in the connector. One pin is ground, another is "seat belt buckled" and the other is "seat belt unplugged". So I jumpered "seat belt buckled" to Ground and by passed the bad ground circuit in the seat beat. At least, I am hoping it is just a bad ground circuit that is looping through the switch/latch thingy. I will be able to tell in a week or 2 since I don't drive much. But if it solved the "open circuit" problem, and if it thinks my seat belt is constantly plugged in, then I just killed 2 birds with one stone. Often times when I go up to the 7-11 on saturday morning to get coffee, the roads are super slow and its all back roads to get to 7-11 and it takes 5 minutes to get there and I hate wearing a seat belt for that. 99.9% of the time my seat belt is on me.. but do I really need to tell you why? haha Is 60 minutes watching? big brother? do we still have freedom? Maybe yes to all 3. haha

AnthraciteAspec

iTrader: (6)

I am at the dealer right now for this right now. They are replacing the seat belt buckle under lifetime warranty.

Chad05TL

That's cool if they will. The 2 dealers I. Called in Dallas are Goodson and David mcdavid in Plano. David mcdavid was even giving me a hard time about not seeing my car since 2009. So I told him I have only 66k miles on my car . His name is Kim and he is the service manager. And he mentioned oil changes, and I said I do my own. Plus there is a lube place just a few miles away where as he is 15 miles away. So then he said well well trouble shoot it for $110 an hour. I am a Sr. Engineer and I don't get paid that much. Is his employee worth that much? Plus they mark up the parts and gouge the customer, so I thinking this guy can't be for real to think I am going to pay that much. So I told them they are starting to sound like a GM service shop. Haha. Oh well.. good news is, I have been driving around all day and no air bag light! I think my jumper as noted above fix the the error as well as shut up that seat belt chime. Congrats on the fix and having a cool dealership.

AnthraciteAspec

iTrader: (6)

Man your dealership sounds horrible lol. I guess I am lucky, I like this dealership I go to. They have a sweet brand new lounge area with tons of free food, free computers with internet, the lady who manages the lounge even made us all croissant sandwiches for lunch lol

Plus the service is great, also one of my friends is a tech who works there so I know I am never getting the run around.

Chad05TL

wow it sounds like they want to keep you as a customer. I wonder why anyone would want to do that? (joke).

Chad05TL

anyway, my airbag error and seat belt nag is still solved.

jmoney2001

wow nice since i started the thread i have not had the light come back on. it good to know that i can jump the wire under the seat to eliminate the common seat belt issue

Chad05TL

Feel free to "thank" me. Haha I read the helm's book to figure where to jump it. I have 2 helm's books. One for electrical and the other for hardware type replacements.

chinesestunna

My light is staying on intermittently - what are the implications of jumping the sensor, will the car always think passenger side is always there?

Chad05TL

If you jumper the drivers side, the passenger side works as normal. It only tricks the side you jumper.

BobMcG

My airbag light has been on for a month now so when I went in for my 60,000 mile service and asked about it. The service manager said I have a "SRS Control Unit bad". He told me he thought they might have extended the warranty on this, but he wasn't sure. He said he'd have to call Acura on Tues 5/29/12 to see if it was still under warranty. I asked him how much it would cost to replace it if it wasn't covered and he said about $700.

Chad05TL

I would not give them that much money.

All these bells and whistles are designed to make you spend money. Once I bought an 89 accord from a guy that did NOTHING to this thing. It need work and I wanted something to get me around while I was working on my camaro. I gave him like 1,200 for the car.. So I got it and started doing routine maintenance and replaced tires and shocks and front axles and everything it needed!... But Then i realized the terrible truth... The previous owner claimed it was a great car.. When I got it, I thought the seat was damaged but instead it was a build up of grime on the seat from not being cleaned.. I cleaned it and revealed a nice plush cover.. So the terrible truth that hit me like a ton of bricks was that somehow, this car lasted years under the previous owner, even while he did the bare minimum to keep it going. So, this guy did no mods, and did very little maintenance and limped it around until he could not drive it and it lasted like 15 years. So I learned that these cars can go a long time on doing NOTHING to them. The terrible truth is that the previous owner went a decade and spent next to NOTHING on this 89 accord and therefore saw much less expense than a guy like me would incurr. So what I learned was that I dont want to be like him so much to the point that I have a piece of crap to drive, but also, I don't want to be the one who invests every last cent in a car to try to keep it perfect, to only winde up selling it in 2 years and to lose all the extra stuff I put into it. So, there has to be a balance somewhere. We should fix things that need to be fixed but also, we should be cognizate of the cost. Should I spend $800 on a new navigation player to upgrade my 05 to an 08? Should I fix the front axles because they make a silly clicking noise when I turn the wheels? (but they still work)... Should I get new rims? Lower the car? (lower springs)... Should I pay attention to an airbag light? I mean after all, we went 60 years without airbags and XM radio, so why do I need one now? Can we not handle a little light that is on, as we drive around? Does the warning light bother us that much? Does the car stop funtioning if a little cheesy light comes on? haha

The dealer wants to rape you for $700 on an airbag light. Doesnt that seem a little bit like he is trying to supply money to a full gamit of employees and upper management so they can buy their cars, and their houses, and put their kids through college.?? Hey, I am not so insensitive that we all have our forte, however, I refuse to make 1 man rich off 1 sale.

If the SRS unit is bad.. then here is what I say.. LET IT BE BAD.. move on. Let it go. With all the "features" these cars have, not all are going to work as the thing dies. At some point the car will die. It becomes trash. Will we keep everything working perfectly until it dies? Not unless you are rich and you have a collection of cars. A car collector will fix anything at any cost.. but for a daily driver, sometimes you just gotta let it go because the dealer will rape you.

So long story short, maybe it pays to be a little bit like the guy I bought my 89 accord from. even though he was being a slacker, I think somehow he came out ahead by not fixing every little thing the car "needed". Or shall we say, "everything the car flashed a light in his face for.."

I'm still amazed at how someone can be lax in fixing a car and actually benefit financially from it. Of course, this was a Honda. Not a GM. I wouldnt try it with a GM! haha I should know, I have owned several GM vehicles.

bouncer07

Seems to be a problematic for early 04+ models. My 2005 has this SRS light on and won't shut off. Will have to see if this is covered lifetime like other members got.

mbradleyc

This seems as good a place as any for these questions. I bought a 2003 TL a few days ago. It runs very nicely, but it's 147,000 miles, so there are some things going on.

To begin with, the "side airbag is off" light comes on sometimes. Also, the red "brake light" light is always on, but the brakes lights work fine.

The third day I had it I turned the car on and the stereo speakers were all out except for the subwoofer. They were fine the night before. Nothing I tried to adjust, fader, balance, etc. made any difference. That lasted three days, then I happened to turn it on one day and they were fine again and have been ever since.

I want to get it checked out, but I have to wait a while to have the cash and to find a good service place, which if anyone knows a place in northwest suburban Chicago I'd like to know.

So, any idea what's happening with it?

I should point out that the rear view mirror is gone. The place I bought it from had a non-powered replacement that I would have to cement to the windshield, which I may do temporarily until I can scratch up a real replacement, so maybe having that wiring disconnected is causing issues?

By the way, I looked into an extended warranty and the one I spoke with quoted $2550 for four years, which I could pay $106 a month for 24 months. That seems comparable to just paying as I go repairs. Is there any reason to go with it?

Thanks.

Chad05TL

You might try posting that in the 2nd gen area. This is 3rd gen and I have no ideaaa about 2nd gen TL's. But it sounds like separate issues. Rear view mirrors dont effect speakers in a 3g car. And 2500 for a warranty is too high considering most dealers bawk at doing repairs under warranty and they try to say its your fault or they say its not covered. I wouldnt buy a warranty but that's just me. But I would try to find out if the timing belt has been changed or not. That is a routine maintenance and I doubt it it covered on any warranties.

MandoTL

I got my passenger seat buckle replaced under the unlimited belt warranty from my dealer.

So no complaints here with the annoying red light. They didn't fight more or argue or even ask if it was in an accident. (which mine was never in one)

The light first came on intermittently, then came on once or twice during the week, then over the course of 6mos or so of random SRS light illumination on the dash it finally would stay on whenever I had a passenger sit in the front seat. It only came on when the passenger seat was occupied every time so process of elimination told me it had to be the buckle as opposed to the weight sensor under the seat.

It will need to be cleared by the dealer as a normal code reader will not pick up the seatbelt code from what my dealer told me. They have a special tool to reset it after a new buckle is replaced, so even if I bought a new buckle to install on my own it would not fix the SRS light from staying off.

mbradleyc

I thought I was in the second gen forum. My search must have taken me out.

I'm trying to avoid going to a dealer, I don't trust them. The one I spoke to about the stereo wanted $75 just to do a diagnostic.

RonJonTL757

Thread resurrection time...

Ive searched the google machine and the forum and it looks like I have another code to add. Went to the dealer for a re-inspect (needed a new battery amongst other things the first time) The DTC scanner showed 81-61 Bad ODS sensor. They cleared it and it still came back on. Looks like it could be a sensor under the seat (22x.xx/1.5labor) or a module behind the dash (31x.xx/3.0 labor) or maybe a frayed wire under the seat, which is what im praying for.

car goes in next Tuesday and I will update

jmoney2001

81-61 seems to be the passenger Weight Sensor. they had a recall on them on the 99-04 rl and some honda accords. they were covered under warranty for 10 or 150k. check to see if your tl has the same warranty?? i sold my tl with 70k miles and never has an issue with the seat belt buckle ever again

EM2typeflex

going to need this information for later, subscribed

EarlThePearl

iTrader: (4)

I'm having this issue with my 05 6spd TL, subscribed also...

jmoney2001

I have a solus scanner and if you are local I would be more than happy to scan and remove those airbag codes for you.

chinesestunna

mine came on it was it was the driver side buckle sensor which the dealer replaced for free outside of warranty. Apparently retention devices are covered for life so worth looking into.