Deactivating SRS light

RELATIVE4

MEMBER
HONDA CIVIC

'96 Civic EX coupe, 1.6L DOHC, 105K. I removed the steering wheel without first disconnecting the battery, and I triggered an SRS light. My little OBD scanner won't read/erase SRS, only engine. Can you recommend an economical way to clear SRS codes?

1 Reply

RELATIVE4

MEMBER
5 POSTS

Well, I'm batting.500 with 2CarPros. They answered my first question, didn't even acknowledge the second. Don't know that I'll be making any more donations.

Anyway, I found the answer on a bunch of other sites, and here's my version for you guys:

Looking at the driver-side fuse box, you'll see a yellow wiring harness that splits into 3 connectors. Two connectors plug into the fuse box. The third runs off and hides behind a bracket. That's the one you want.

If you have tiny hands, you may be able to pull the connector without disassembling anything. I was not so lucky. Here's what I had to do.

Remove the two screws on the left side of the lower dash cover. Then pop the three clips along the top of the cover so it swings free. At this point you have a clear shot at the 10mm bolt holding the bracket in place. Move the bracket out of the way and pull the connector. This is called the SRS service connector and has two wires.

Next you need something to plug into the connector. You have 3 options:
1. Find and buy Honda part 07PAZ-0010100. The dealerships do not of course sell it.
2. Get a Honda speaker connector (Metra part 72-7802) from Best Buy or Circuit City and splice its wires together.
3. Use a small-gauge paper clip. That's what I did, worked great.

Now that everything's ready, here's the procedure.

1. With the ignition off, plug in the connector.
2. Turn the ignition key to the on position. The SRS light will turn on, then after 6 seconds will turn off.
3. Within 4 seconds of the light turning off, disconnect the connector. The light will turn on.
4. Within 4 seconds of the light turning on, plug in the connector. The light will turn off.
5. Within 4 seconds of the light turning off, disconnect the connector. The light will blink twice.
6. Turn off the ignition and wait 10 seconds.
7. Start vehicle. Light will turn on and then off normally.

When putting everything back together, note that you can leave the SRS service connector free, you do not need to plug it back into its hiding place behind the bracket. If you shine a flashlight into that socket, you'll see there are no contacts, it's just a holder.

If there actually is something wrong with your SRS, the light will soon come back on.