Resetting the Air Bag Light

I need to reset the air bag light and found this on MKIV.COM, has anyone actually tried this? Does it work? Could this cause any damage to the ECU etc.

How to turn off the airbag light:

Problem: Disconnecting the connector behind the upper dash piece where the odometer is located while the ignition key is turned on will result in the airbag light staying on.

Here's how to turn it off :

Go under the hood and open the diagnostic cap located on the passenger-side near the firewall (see photo). Look for AB & TC. Make two plugs with wire to fit into these connectors. With the ignition key turned to the ON position alternate the two wires to the negative terminal of the battery. They need to be done in a consistent rhythm, about one second apart. TC,AB,TC,AB,TC,AB... This needs to be done several times. If you can't get it to work, try adjusting the speed. It is helpful to have someone look at the airbag light while performing this to let you know when the light goes out/blink.

it worked for me.... mind you, takes a little while to get the hang of it, and is better with another person watching the lights whilst you hit the connectors

Thanks for that.

Just so I am absolutely clear, my understanding of the above method is to just get two pieces of wire, fix them into the TC and AB points in the diagnosic cap and then touch the negative battery terminal in alternation till it goes out with the ignition on?

Is that right?

yes that's right. It's worked for me on more than one occasion

Yep, it takes ages to get it right, and the nice thing is IIRC that you don't know when it's finally done untill you stop, but if you''ve not done it enough then it will stay on. Grrrr.

Just done it and it worked no problem! Thanks for the advice.

sorry for the hijack but does anyone know if the light also comes on if you have the keys out of the ignition but the battery still connected?

a much easier way guys is to take the instrumentation panel out and take the bulb out the back! thats if you wanted a quick fix problem

Better to do it properly. It only takes a few minutes to re-set it and is dead simple.

NB, in your signature should it not say Supra rather than `Subaru`!!

Thanks for that.

 

Just so I am absolutely clear, my understanding of the above method is to just get two pieces of wire, fix them into the TC and AB points in the diagnosic cap and then touch the negative battery terminal in alternation till it goes out with the ignition on?

 

Is that right?

Now I need to do this and I'm still confused. You have a bit of wire leading from the negative terminal on the battery, and you then split the other end of the wire into two and about a second apart put one wire into one socket, then the other wire into the other, and just keep alternating until the light goes out. Is that correct?

Other way round.

Split the wire and put it into the terminal points under the diagnostic cap as mentioned above, then with the bare split wires at the other end keep touching the negaive battery terminal in alternation. Takes a bit to get it right, you really need someone in the car to tell you when the lights gone out.

Oh right, so the wire is kinda split at both ends. Or you just use two seperate bits of wire?!

Use two separate bits of wire. Something like a two core speaker cable would be fine. (thats what I used)

One cable in each terminal (just squidge them in so they stay fixed). Then alternate touching the negative terminal on the battery with exposed cable at the other ends. If your still unsure I think there are photos on MKIV.COM

Excellent, thanks for clarification, I shall give it a try

http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/airbag_light/airbag.htm

Will be following this and the above tomorrow

I've had that printed out and on the passenger seat for weeks now - I don't seem to be able to motivate myself to find any wire though

Some pic's for you as the US photo's don't match up to our cars.

The diagnostic cap/port is hooked onto the side of the Intake Manifold rather than on the firewall.

I used some spare telephone cable that I had.

so who has done this? I do it for a while and the light goes out for 30secs then comes back on.

I've done it a few times, the light never comes back on though... no idea why yours is unless there is an actual airbag fault?

Only ever done it the once and it has stayed off every since.

subscribed

Just done mine and was surprised how quick and easy it was.

Thanks

I just did mine. The last owner must have caused it to come on. When I wired in the alarm I found the bulb under the drivers seat and kept it cos didn't know where it came from. When I looked at the panel the bulb was missing so tried the one I found and sure enough the light stayed on. First time I tried the trick it didn't work. I tried again using the second hand on my watch for exactly 30 seconds and the light went out. Happy days! Thanks for the tip.

This all happened cos my lights went out in the right side cluster. Resoldered the connecting socket and all the lights came back. Even the abs one which never worked lol