Restored Salvage Airbag Questions

[Corolla1sttimer]

I know this is a book, but I feel having everything up front is important.

We have 3 drivers in the family and all of the cars were getting older, so I decided to see what was available in restored salvage cars. I've been looking at buying a restored salvage 2016 Corolla sedan with deployed airbags. I've already gone through this on a Sonic and it wasn't too bad. I've been learning as I go.

I went online to copart and checked out what was available here in Phoenix. Instead, I ended up buying a 2015 Civic from a guy off CL with an airbag light and figured I'll get it taken care of in a week or two. It's been a bit of a beast to say the least as Honda uses proprietary software and I may have to take it to the dealer to resolve.

The next week I bought a 2017 Chevy Sonic with both curtains and driver wheel and knee airbags deployed as well as pretensioners on both front seats. Minor damage to the car though. I replaced everything and had the SRS controller erased by a guy on ebay. Yesterday I started the car and still had the airbag light. I ran the codes with my Foxwell NT630 Elite and had 16 flags (see below). I turned the car off, crossed my fingers and used the scanner to erase and they were all gone. Restarted the car and airbag light off and information light off.

C0196-00 Yaw rate signal
B101D-00 Electronic control unit hardware
B0052-00 Deployment commanded
B0012-0D Driver steering wheel air bag deployment loop – high resistance
B0013-0D Driver steering wheel air bag deployment loop stage 2 – high resistance
B0015-0D Driver seat belt retractor pretensioner deployment loop – high resistance
B0022-0D Passenger seat belt retractor pretensioner deployment loop – high resistance
B001A-0D Driver seat belt anchor pretensioner deployment loop – high resistance
B001B-0D Passenger seat belt anchor pretensioner deployment loop – high resistance
B0016-0D Left roof rail air bag deployment loop – high resistance
B0017-0D Driver knee air bag deployment loop – high resistance
B0023-02 Right roof rail air bag deployment loop – short to GND
B0012-02 Driver steering wheel air bag deployment loop – short to GND
B0023-0D Right roof rail air bag deployment loop – high resistance
B1325-03 Control module power circuit – low voltage
B0021-0D Passenger seat side air bag deployment loop – high resistance

My question is, does anyone on here know if Toyota is more like the Honda Civic (proprietary software) or like GM? Will I likely be able to replace all of the airbags and pretensioners, get the SRS controller erased and then clear the codes in the PCM to fix or will I need to get Toyota service involved? I don't want another Honda type issue.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ZeCorolla]

I've been looking at salvage 11th gens as well. As far as I've searched, the physical components of the airbag systems such as the airbags, SRS module, pre-tensioners, etc. are all pretty easy to get to and replace but I'm not sure about the code removal process compared to a Honda. I know of a company where you can send in your SRS module and they will reset and clear the codes but I'm not too sure about the specifics with doing it on a Toyota. What was the problem that you had with the Civic? Did the codes get cleared on the computer but then return or was it something else? Also, what was the process that you used to clear the codes in the first place? I have some experience with an Acura TSX that had an airbag light due to a driver airbag deployment but it would not go away and the owner (my cousin) ended up giving up on it and selling it.

By the way this is the website of the company which clears the SRS codes: https://www.myairbags.com/
You could try emailing them as they may know if this process works with Toyota's or not.

 

[Corolla1sttimer]

Thanks for your response. Seems like I've touched on an issue that not a lot of people have had experience with. I ended up buying a 2014 Corolla L with 6 speed manual. Never had a 6 speed manual, just 5 speeds. It's kind of cool! What year was your cousin's Acura?

 

[Corolla1sttimer]

I've been looking at salvage 11th gens as well. As far as I've searched, the physical components of the airbag systems such as the airbags, SRS module, pre-tensioners, etc. are all pretty easy to get to and replace but I'm not sure about the code removal process compared to a Honda. I know of a company where you can send in your SRS module and they will reset and clear the codes but I'm not too sure about the specifics with doing it on a Toyota.

I installed the 2.2 ohm resistors in the wheel and knee location yesterday and performed a reset using my Foxwell NT630 and viola, the codes for the two airbags went away. I've since purchased a wheel airbag and have curtains on order. Looks like Toyota is a cakewalk to fix the SRS system.

 

[ZeCorolla]

Thanks for your response. Seems like I've touched on an issue that not a lot of people have had experience with. I ended up buying a 2014 Corolla L with 6 speed manual. Never had a 6 speed manual, just 5 speeds. It's kind of cool! What year was your cousin's Acura?

His Acura was a 2006. And that's great to know that repairing the SRS system on Toyota's is that easy compared to some other manufactures!

 

[Corolla1sttimer]

Thought I'd mention additionally that the scanner isn't even needed on a 2014 Toyota Corolla as the SRS control module auto resets as the airbags are replaced. I still have 3 codes on the system as I have found that the seller lied that he had the driver retractor repaired and I also discovered that the seat airbags had also deployed, but he stitched the seats back up and you can't even tell (he is an upholsterer by trade).

Will replace the retractor and bypass the seat airbags with resistors. I figure the car's for me and I've got a working wheel, driver knee, passenger dash, and driver and passenger curtain airbags and seat belt retractors. The seat airbags is a little overkill.

 

[Corolla1sttimer]

Update: I replaced all of the airbags and seat belt retractors and checked with the scanner. No codes found, but I still had an airbag light, so I sent the SRS module off to an place in Nevada that resets the SRS module to "factory settings" so that the airbag light will go out. Put it back in the car today and I still have an airbag light. I double checked for codes and still show none. I've contacted the company to see if they have any ideas as to the cause. Seems likely that there is a flag in the PCM as well on the Toyota. Not quite as easy as it initially seemed. Will update when I have more info...

 

[Corolla1sttimer]

Update update:

Final conclusion with this era of Corolla... replace all deployed items, either send in your SRS control module for reset and hope you get a good one back and it'll all be solved. No other issues if the SRS module is reset correctly. If you don't want to screw around with the reset, either buy a used, undeployed unit, or buy a new one online for the reasonably low price of $160 (Hondas are $430 or more) from a Toyota dealer. You may have to calibrate the yaw rate sensor if you buy a new one and possibly if you buy a used one. I definitely had to because I already had VSC faults from the damaged original SRS module. This can supposedly be done with jumper wires (my local library has Chilton online), but it's much safer if you have a scanner capable of reading and clearing airbag and ABS/VSC faults. This makes the whole job easier because it tells you exactly what's bad anyway when troubleshooting the airbag issues. I used a Foxwell NT630 scanner which cost just around $100, so totally worth it!

Now let's get out there and fix some wrecked Corollas!