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Srs unit / airbag issue

7K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  SuperTech 
#1 ·
I Need some help.. I have an 04 MDX. I recently had an air bag deployment due to that I taped into the car in front of me and I mean taped...zero damage not even a scratch to either cars...some how that tap caused the steering wheel airbag to deploy.. The body shop I used ( a friend ) replaced all the necessary parts air bag,cable reel,SRS unit and 2 front seat belts...after all repairs were made and codes reset a 81-63 code came in which is passenger weight sensor unit(odd) being that nobody was in that seat at the time of incident nor any deployment other than seat belt tensioner..We replaced unit and reset the code which came right back in..As per the shop manual if this happens than replace the SRS Unit..So we that again thinking we were giving a faulty one from the start..Clear the code and now comes the mystery code. All of a sudden I have an 85-79 code ( OPDS UNIT) and an 81-79 front passenger weight sensor initial check fail which I'm being told is coming in due to the 85-79 code..Can anybody help steer me in the direction of what the heck is going on..insurance company won't pay for me to bring to dealer ship and must have the shop that did the initial work to fix it and he has no clue what is going on..I can't believe that i have to put in a new OPDS UNIT and dealer ship also recommends to put new sensor which is the back seat pad..Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply..This guy is insisting to me that the OPDS unit needs to be replaced and that he worked at Acura for years and this has always been a problem with that unit and back cousin sensor. He told me if it needed to be initialized it wood of come back with a different code Than the 85-79... He said he has the honda hds..This is going on for months now..
 
#4 ·
Here's the thing. You didn't have a SRS warning light on with OPDS and/or SWS faults before the SRS hit replacement right?

When you replace a SRS unit, at the first ignition cycle it tries to perform an initialization of OPDS/SWS on its own. If conditions are not very close to what they were the last time everything was initialized, you get those initial check failure codes. If could be something like items in the seatback pocket (affecting the seat weight). Or more likely, there is a difference in readings from the OPDS sensor. The sensor is very sensitive to moisture in addition to pressure. So matching conditions of when everything was brand new sometimes doesn't happen.

Any Acura dealer is very familiar with all of this right now as we are all dealing with a SRS unit replacement recall on the 2003 MDX and have been running into this very same situation.

So maybe your guy worked for Acura for years. But he didn't work for us in the past few months, or he'd know all this.

If he has the HDS, then he needs to make sure the seat is completely upright and free of any excess weight (as would always be the case for SWS/OPDS initialization. Run the vehicle with the A/C on, recircullation mode, full heat...for like 15 minutes. Clear the SRS codes with the HDS. Then perform SWS initialization with the HDS. Then perform OPDS initialization wit the HDS. If it fails on the OPDS, you can "massage"the seatback cushion a bit and try again. You might have to try it a few times but it should eventually pass.
 
#5 ·
Thank you once again for your reply and that lesson...I will fight with my insurance company to have the dealer do the reset cause I want this put to bed once and for all . I am tired of getting the run around for months now and the fact that my air bag system is disabled...Thank you once again for your expertise on this issue and your time..
 
#9 ·
Update part 2....car was supposed to be read today dealer calls me saying that the OPDS unit and pad sensor that they changed didn't fix the problem .. Super tech I referenced your description and procedure to re initial it and he told that if you had the truck in front of you you wouldn't be saying that and would of changed the parts as we'll..So now I tell him I guess you mis diagnosed the problem and should of took your advice...tells me they ave a call in with Acura to se what the next step is....what asses they are at this dealership....
 
#10 ·
Update part 3 ..dealer can not fix the problem replaced yet another SRS unit along with new ODPS unit and seat sensor...told me there's nothing else than can do for me..other than try and replace the wire harness ..which is crazy...ODPSwill not initialize and the error still is stored with 81-63 and will not clear...unreal That they can not fix ther own product..told me that they also spoke to Acura engineers and they told them may be the frame of the truck is a little bent and not keeping things in alignment...LOL .. If anybody has anymore insight to help me I would appreciate it...
 
#13 ·
Your dealer is absolutely incompetent. I could possibly believe that the seat weight sensor wouldn't initialize due to the floor pan being bent, which would in turn bend the seat tracks. The SWS is part of the seat track.

But that's not what won't initialize is it? They're saying OPDS won't initialize. Now....if the frame of the seatback was bent? I could understand it, as that would possibly distort the OPDS sensor (the seatback pad). But they say the frame of the vehicle? Sounds like they don't know what they're doing and are just BSing their way out of having to deal with it anymore by claiming they spoke to engineering and got told that line of malarkey about a bent frame. "Engineering" would have told them the same procedure I described earlier.
 
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#12 ·
Need to check and see if one of the grounds at the bottom of the seat was knocked loose (the wire can get broke off of the terminal end) I had the same fault and messed around with it and found the ground wire broke causing the OPDS not to read right, don't know if that is what is wrong with yours but it could be.
 
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