peabodyn

I was frustrated trying to get my SRS light off after I removed the drivers seat to dry the carpet after a sunroof tube clogged and wet the carpeting. After many searches I finally found the correct connector to work with. See the photos below. I used telephone wire instead of the paper clip (easier to keep the wires in the connector and touch them together than inserting a paperclip within the few seconds you have to respond to the SRS light going on or off). The yellow connector is under the dash board on the back side of the fuse box. The yellow connector is the smaller of the two on this side of the fuse box and is in the middle of the photo below (See the arrows).

I've copied and pasted and made minor changes to a posted procedure - so apologies if I have "stolen" someone else's words.


Supplies Needed: 2 wires
Steps:
1) You need to find the MES Connector. On my car it was plugged into the back-side of the fuse box. It was yellow in color and was a 2 prong connector.

2) Using 2 strands of wire, you won't be clipping, but twisting or shoving the wire into the respective “holes” – they are the larger 2 holes.

3) Hold the two ends of your wire together, so that they are now connected.

4) Keeping the wires connected, turn the ignition on (Do NOT start your car).

5) The SRS light comes on for about 6 seconds and then goes off. Quickly disconnect the two wires.

6) The SRS light will come on again. Quickly reconnect your wires.

7) The SRS light goes off. Disconnect your wire connection and leave the wires disconnected.

8) If you did this correctly, the SRS will blink twice.

9) Turn the ignition off and wait 10 seconds.

10) Turn the ignition on, thus starting your car, and hopefully the SRS light will now be off.

11) Turn your car off, assuming the above instructions worked and your SRS light is now off. If not, either retry the instructions and/or verify that nothing else is wrong.

11) Remove your wires, do not cross them at all or let them touch. Replug the yellow connector back into the "dummy harness".

12) If the SRS light comes back on (assuming you reset the SRS correctly and the light was off), then something is malfunctioning in the SRS Airbag System and you'll have to see a dealership or repair shop.

Problems?

- You only have a 4 second window to connect/disconnect the wires. Example: when the SRS light comes on in Step 6, you have 4 seconds to reconnect the wires.

- Make sure you have the right connector and that a module or some other part of the SRS system is not malfunctioning.

-The main thing to remember is that the wires need to be connected when the light is on, disconnected when the light is off.

Aqua

step 7 says disconnect the wire connection and leave it disconnected.
5 steps later says to remove the wires. is there a step where we have to re-insert the wires?

if the mes connector is unplugged, it should automatically have the srs light on, no?

i'm having a tough time resetting my srs light. i will keep trying though.

thanks for the clear pics. also, your yellow/black telephone wire is connected at the bottom right?

01tl4tl

is this the same as our DIY section list?

dudeinaTL

iTrader: (1)

Disconnect is a bad word.

1. Stuff two wires in the holes of the MES connector
2. Short the ends of the two wires together
3. Turn key to ON, wait for SRS light to go off
4. Unshort the two wires, wait for SRS light to go on
5. Short the ends of the two wires, wait for SRS to go off, unshort wires.
6. Turn key OFF, remove your wires from the MES connector, plug the MES back in it's spot, you're done if you did it right.

peabodyn

Much Better!

ego_roots

worked like a charm.. thx again acurazine!!

Skirmich

My Light never turns off on this step I cant continue since It will never turn off, The wierd thing is that it does turn off on step 3!. Any suggestions?

01tl4tl

done any electrical work just before the light came on?
if so try the reset and if it comes back proceed to dealer
If no work done, proceed to dealer

sometimes the SRS light really is a warning of system prob!
most of its parts are covered on a special 10 year 150kmiles SRS warranty

Skirmich

Yeah I did go to an Acura dealer but since im sitting at 179K no warranty for me and The stealership wants 99 Bucks just TO PULL THE CODE, hehehehe.

01tl4tl

you are in Ca, to get around the ~parts store cant ck codes~ prob, go to a muffler shop!
no kidding- they will ck it for you
Or Regions section- there are many ziners near you with scanners

are you getting a constant red srs light? I dont recall your car backstory
can you get to step 3 and stop there? leave the light off at least
never done this project so only throwing out guesses

You know how to drive!!! airbags injure more than protect, if you know how to steer around a crash~

01tl4tl

the old mechanics trick:
cut a 1/2 to 1 inch long piece of black electrical tape, use scissors for nice ends

Apply to dash lens over offending light, press down securely

Done!!

Skirmich

Hahahaha lold @ mechanics trick!!

Nope if I unplug the SRS Plug after step 3 it will turn on Again

The thing is that The SRS ECU isnt Conected to the OBD-II Plug, the SRS ECU have its own Socket for Codes and only Honda/Acura have the code reader The socket can be seen just below the wheel its a 3x3 Socket if I recall right.

01tl4tl

you have tried basic--disconnect battery neg cable?

what about water in a connector under the seat/carpet--unplug and dry with CRC WD etc??
guessing on my part- dont know the system details

totaledTL

Sounds like playing a roulette wheel... are yours disconnected-?

Skirmich

Someone told me that if the SRS light is On my Air Bags could not deploy but Im not really concerned. I only hate that Red stupid light on my Dash if I could I would just unplug the Light for the SRS but the only thing stopping me is that I dunno how to remove the Dash :S

I want to adress the Problem Instead but I think that Charging 99 Bucks for just Pull the codes and then tell me that the SRS ECU is fryied (+400 Parts + Labor) Im screwed cuz I dont have the Money for that right now, Maybe in Dec.....

totaledTL

Have you tried a Honda dealer? Maybe they can chk. it for less $.

01tl4tl

is there a part that definetly got wet??

SRS light ON = airbags OFF

hence my comment about- you know how to steer around a crash right?

jlee133541

My SRS light came on after a day of running an inverter off the accessory plug over the seat heater switch. I used two large paper clips to perform the reset procedure. It worked. The next two times I ran the inverter I plugged it into the power outlet in the center console. The SRS light did not come on after two days of continuous use. Tomorrow will be the third day of testing this procedure. I don't have an explanation as to why this prevents the SRS light issue that I believe is associated with running devices with a larger current draw off of the dash connector. I just thought I would pass this information along. I did plug an Eveready battery charger into the dash outlet both days with no SRS light. If I see a change I'll post a follow up.

Simplydoesit

What does it mean if i do these steps and my srs never turns off? I tried paperclip, small wire, two wires. Did all these steps and made sure i did them exactly correct.

i have a 2002 btw.

3.2TLc

Take your time and patience, try the procedure again.....if it doesn't work, ya may have a bigger problem than a simple reset of the SRS system. Same thing if ya get it to reset and the light comes on again shortly afterwards. Good Luck !!!

Simplydoesit

Ive tried over 10 times. Nothing is happening. If my srs unit is bad it still should reset... but then the light would come back on..

Americandream

Bump for this diy, i will be trying this one today!

bk85

Used your abbreviated instructions along with the OPs photo and it worked first time and the SRS light has been off for 3 days now.

Thanks again, BK85

01tl4tl

many things will cause a false SRS light/code such as any electrical work with battery connected or power source hooked up
unplugging the seat wiring with batt hooked up- will trigger a false srs

we do get a real SRS light from failed occupant seat position detector- had a special 10 year warranty on it but we are past that~
there is 1 other part that fails in SRS, have to search azine to find info I read a few years back