This past Saturday I took the mall crawler up to Table Mesa to get the tires dirty. Nothing too extreme - powerline; down in the wash, and related connecting trails. At some point, and I'm not exactly sure when the airbag light came on. I dont remember any particular abrupt or jarring impacts but I didn't put much thought into it.

Later on Saturday back on pavement, run some errands and cycle the ignition a few times. It seems the light takes a bit longer each time to return.

Sunday - drive it around the neighborhood and a section of the freeway - no lights; about 30 minutes drive time. no codes with cheap bluetooth ODBII reader and the Torque application.

Monday - no drive

Tuesday - after about 25 minutes drive time the airbag light comes back on, pull into the gas station - keep the truck running and attempt to pull codes once again - nothing even with the air bag light still on. Finish my day with the air bag light still on and park the truck.

No previous posts here on this scenario that I could find. So of course I head to Bing to see if I can find something useful. Some say take it to the dealer immediately death is imminent. Some say safe to ignore put a piece of black tape over the light.

Today I am pulling the positive battery cable and letting the truck sit for about an hour to see if there is any change in behavior.

I guess if you were openly thinking harm and ill will in my direction, the universe might deliver.

LOL, the answer is always a broken speed sensor wire it seems.

Update

Yesterday I disconnected the battery for about 3+ hours.
Before I reattached the battery I exercised each seat belt tensioner. I slowly removed some length of belt and let it retract, then I would rapidly remove some length of belt causing the mechanical mechanism to catch. I repeated this about 6 or 7 times per belt.

I then reattached the battery and drove the truck. I drove the truck for about 45 miles and a hour and some of time, with an ignition cycle about half way through the time / distance. Everything seemed to operate as it should - no return of the airbag light. Early testing is positive.

Link or it didn't happen.

Yeah I should have provided some technical resources.

While there was no direct cause and effect documented, I did lean on a few resources for my method of troubleshooting.

www.purefjcruiser.com/...400110.pdf

itstillruns.com/reset-...79397.html

www.service-light-rese...fj-cruiser

Basically it was the repeated mention of the seatbelt buckle and pretensioners that lead me to use the method I described above.

I did find a repair service for the tensioners if someone should need it:
www.safetyrestore.com/...epair.html

update 6/7

This past weekend took the FJ out for errands.
1st - medium drive; air bag light comes on after ~25 mins on highway
2nd - medium drive; same 25 minutes of drive time in opposite direction; no air bag light
3rd - short drive; 10 minutes; air bag light comes on
4th - short drive; 15 minutes; no air bag light
5th - long drive; 45 minutes; no air bag light

This puzzle might need to head to a trained diagnostic / repair shop.

Only thing I can think of for DIY is to locate all the airbag connections and reseat the plugs. Years of wheeling seems to take a toll on connectors sometimes and I get weird transient issues.

Not the same, but still air bag related. My passenger air bag/seat belt alarm next to the stereo would alarm on and off almost every time I would drive. This was with no one sitting in the seat or anything on the seat.

This was my solution,

www.amazon.com/Space-U...NrPXRydWU=

I have a similar device when I carry the laptop bag on the seat
smile.amazon.com/Mount...08T7H88BY/

of course don't forget to disable that seat belt chime:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q3BtjYe16U

text instructions:

seat belt chime
1. Turn the ignition switch on (without starting car)
2. Press the ODO/TRIP switch until the odometer displays "ODO"
3. Turn the ignition switch off
4. Turn the ignition switch on
5. Press ODO/TRIP switch immediately (within 6 seconds after turning the power switch ON) and hold it down for 10 seconds or more.
6. Continue holding the ODO/TRIP switch and fasten the front drivers's side seat belt.
7. Check that the odometer displays either "b-on" or "b-off" (it will be "b-on")
8. Press the ODO/TRIP button to change the display to "b-off".
9. Turn the ignition switch off.
10. Turn the ignition switch on while depressing the brake pedal.
11. Check that no buzzer sounds when setting on the front passenger seat.

found here: www.toyotanation.com/t...st-2044496

I have used that method for awhile, but it’s easier for me to use the seatbelt buckle.

Little bit of thread resurrection here, but I recently (finally) took care of the SRS light on my own dash after more or less ignoring it for a couple years.

I had already checked as many connections as I could from the under-seat sensors to the status LED on the dash. Didn't bother cracking open the headliner or the doors or any other seatbelt bits. Glad I didn't.

Had the parts/svc manager at work hook up a Techstream for me (Torque didn't seem capable of getting the SRS codes and I was trying to avoid buying a better reader that could, or going to a vatozone) when I was at the store one day last month and sure as shitballs, it gave up the goods.

B1811. "Open in D Squib (Dual Stage - 2nd Step) Circuit"

Long story short, clock spring. I had heard that was fairly common and kinda suspected it (hence the procrastination) and from what I gather this code COULD still be a couple other things, but still likely the clock spring in the steering wheel.

Snagged one at discounted rate ($250 kinda still stings) and started googling how to replace it without blowing my arms off by setting off the airbag. I ended up following this thread on blue room and am happy to say the light/code are long gone. Kinda cool having airbags again, even if I still don't plan to try using them. =)

Toyota part number *woops* in case anyone else needs/wants to take a trip down that path. 84306-07040

Interesting. Is there any sign of the broken spring other than the air bag light?

FWIW, that part number (04465-35290) is for brake pads.

Replacing the clock spring
www.fjcruiserforums.co...ng.365641/

FJ Cruiser Clock Spring part no 84306-07040
or new part number 84306-60080

I am still confused how the part was $250

www.ebay.com/itm/144437904049
www.ebay.com/itm/264755778721
www.ebay.com/itm/153741019557

toyotaparts.mcgeorgeto...8430607040

resetting SRS
www.purefjcruiser.com/...034004.pdf

mod_muscle wrote:

Interesting. Is there any sign of the broken spring other than the air bag light? FWIW, that part number (04465-35290) is for brake pads.

Light comes on dash (indication) which leads to plugging in a techstrem which provides 2nd indication... the actual code readout. =) I would've had no clue otherwise, and even that code could have been a couple other things apparently, but the clock springs are apparently quite common. Quite a few other expensive parts that could trigger the basic system dash light. Lotsa cheaper possibilities too though, like looks connections.

And yeah, read off the wrong box in a stack of parts (just did the front brake pads/rotors at the same time.) 84306-07040 being the correct one.

calichaos wrote:

Replacing the clock spring www.fjcruiserforums.co...ng.365641/ FJ Cruiser Clock Spring part no 84306-07040 or new part number 84306-60080 I am still confused how the part was $250 www.ebay.com/itm/144437904049 www.ebay.com/itm/264755778721 www.ebay.com/itm/153741019557 toyotaparts.mcgeorgeto...8430607040 resetting SRS www.purefjcruiser.com/...034004.pdf

The mcgeorge link answers that question pretty well. You're welcome to buy parts from eBay that are integral to controlled explosives inside the cabin. I'll stick to the Toyota supply chain in those cases.