Hey Guys,

Over the past week I've noticed that my air bag light will come on periodically. When I first start the car, the light is off, and sometimes the light doesn't come on at all. However, every now and then, I'll notice it's on when I get to my destination. It was on when I got to work this morning, and it was on when I got home last night. If I turn the ignition off, then start the car again, the light is off.

Any idea what this might indicate? I guess it's an obvious malfunction in the SRS system. I wonder how much it'd cost to have fixed?

Thanks!

 

srs system has lifetime warranty...mine did that and it was something wrong with the driver seatbelt buckle. replaced for free

 

Definitely the driver side seatbelt buckle. Also, notice that when you're not wearing your seatbelt, the seatbelt light does not come on if the airbag light is on. What I normally do now is to pull on the seatbelt near the buckle, then press the button to unbuckle. This will prevent the airbag light coming on. If that didn't work, buckle up right away and try again.

 

Maybe the opds unit or srs control unit is crapping out? Or just like my sis' rsx; the voltage regulator on the alternator was over charging the battery 15+ volts, and may be wreaking havoc with the pcm or srs control unit. Put a voltmeter to the battery while the car is running and see how much volts your battery is reading. 14.6v-12.6v (I think) should be the charging range. Anything above/below that start your troubleshooting from there. Best of Luck!!!

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll mess with the drivers belt buckle when the light comes on and also check out the voltage at the battery when the car is running.

The weird thing was that the SRS light didn't come on at all yesterday!

 

That's good to know! (I'm sure it says this in the owners manual, lol.)

 

I noticed today when moving my car that if I unbuckled my seat belt, the seat belt light did not come on. I buckled my seat belt and then unbuckled it again, and the same. So, I buckled it much more firmly, unbuckled, and the seat belt light came on. Played with it for a minute and it seems OK for now.

Perhaps the sensor/switch in the seat belt buckle was dirty/gummed up? I'll remember to check this the next time the SRS light comes on. Hmm, now to figure out when I'll have time to take it to a dealership! lol

 

In my 05 - the red airbag light (the one with the person sitting and the circle infront of them - dealer description, not mine) came on twice about a month apart. Would go away by turning off the car and restarting. Occured around 40K miles, but 4.5 years old. They said to first bring it in and they would dump the codes from the computer. The code (don't remember what it was at the moment) indicated a problem with the driver's seatbelt mechanism. They checked something like resistance in the mechanism and it was off, so they cleared the code on the computer and restarted the car and the code reappeared. They replaced the buckle/mechanism under the lifetime warranty and the code did not come back. Dealer said the "lifetime" warranty does not apply on newer model years as Acura has changed it - can't remember what year the change was made.

I've done all service at dealer so he did not indicate that he would charge to check the codes and diagnose the problem. So even if you are out of warranty it can't hurt to see if they will check the codes for free.

Also, dealer explained that whenever the light is on, the system is shut off. Explained that the system detected a problem so it shuts off and will not trigger the airbags in a collision.

 

Hmm. That's good to know. I haven't had my seat belt buckle replaced yet as there isn't a dealer near my house. I may make this a higher priority now. Hmm...

 

hmmm sounds like my dealer wants $95 bucks to check the codes. he also said that only bits and pieces of the SRS system is covered... is there any documentation anywhere on what exactly is covered?

acura dealerships suck with their warranties. unless its something small, or common they treat you like crap and force money upfront. does any one know what the part number they replaced? seems like it would be simple enough to replace.

 

Sorry if I am repeating info that is already in this post--trying to get this banged out quick. I had the same problem. I have an '04 with 65k miles on it. I took it to a fast lube place for a free code reading when the light came on. (I don't think it's req'd. for code to be on at moment, but I was driving by the place at the moment.) Lube shop admitted their code reader wasn't advanced enough for Jap car. He referred me to a shop around the corner. The second shop's owner interrupted his lunch to come read my code for free. I saw it, plain as day, "seatbelt buckle." It's covered under lifetime warranty. I wrote down the code #, told the mechanic to NOT clear it, and I called the stealership to make sure they had my part # in stock (I looked it up on Acura Owner Link). When I came in for my appt., the advisor did give me some crap about if it's not the seat belt or another warranty part, I would have to pay $150. I chuckled and said that he'd better hope it was, because I literally did NOT have $150 to give him.

Of course, it was the seat belt buckle, and it was replaced while I sat inside on a cold and rainy day, enjoying WiFi and free cappuccino (yes, luxury car stealerships have their advantages). Most annoying part was dealing with the damned paperwork @ stealership (oh, and insisting they NOT do the complimentary wash, since it was RAINING).

Anyway, it's nice to know that everyone gets that kinda of crap told to them @ dealer--I used to think it was because I was a female and they were trying to dupe me. (Don't laugh--it's happened LOTS of times to me.)

 

I need to get to the dealership someday. I haven't had the problem fixed yet.

 

Any idea what the item numbers were that they replaced?

 

lucky for you guys south of the border, but up here in Canada we do not get lifetime warranty on our srs system. apparently "Acura" means something different up here!

 

Its the Buckle go to the dealer they will order the part and when you come back it should only take an hour to replace.

Got mine changed free of charge.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the seat beat buckle as our is going on the fritz as well

 

Guys thanks for the tip on the seat belt buckle. That does make sense.

My airbag light just came on and is staying on. My plan is to take it to the dealer but I am worried because if it is not covered by the warranty I will have to pay for diagnostic. I am also thinking to get a scanner and read the codes myself. That way I can research the issue and even know if this is part of a recall or not. What do you guys think? I found instructions here on how to read Acura airbag codes.

Is it that easy to read the fault codes yourself? It looks very easy based on the tutorial.