HOW TO: Bypass SRS for Aftermarket Wheel

[TheMuffinMan]

****MASSIVE DISCLAIMER**** NEITHER I OR HONDA-TECH ARE RESPONSIBLE IF ANYTHING HAPPENS AS A RESULT OF THIS MOD. YOU ARE TAKING THE CHANCE OF GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT AND HITTING YOUR HEAD ON THE STEERING WHEEL WITH THE OTHER BAG DEPLOYING. YOU ARE MESSING WITH THE SAFETY SYSTEM OF THE VEHICLE AND TAKE ON THE RISKS OF DOING SUCH. THIS WILL NOT PASS STATE INSPECTION IN MOST STATES. Why? - This is a DIY on how to trick your SRS system into thinking you have an airbag installed on the driver's side so the SRS light will be removed and the passenger airbag will still deploy in a crash. How? Parts List - 1 2ohm 1/4 Watt Resistor (Radio Shack does not have these, go to an actual electronics store) (Pic #1) - electrical tape - screwdriver - 2 ~1 ft long pieces of wire (speaker wire works fine) Procedure 1) Remove the steering column covers, 5 screws total, all accessible from the bottom looking up (Locations circled in red - Pic #2) 2) Pull apart covers and look at the bottom of the shaft near the lower dash cover you should see a yellow plug - unclip this from the holding clip (slide down) and then undo the two plugs from each other (Approx Location circled in red - Pic #3) 3) The plug to the right is for the SRS cable reel in the steering wheel, pull that aside (you should be removing the SRS cable reel anyways) 4) The plug on the left should have 2 prongs, on the back side of it (where the cables enter) trim your resistor legs so you can slide it in and make contact with the metal prongs (I cut ~1cm off each leg) (Pic #5) 5) Locate the MES SRS dummy connection, this should be close to the hood release under the lower dash cover, it is also 2 pronged and has a yellow plastic cable cover on it, it should be plugged into a dummy connection. (location circled in red below - Pic #4) 6) Stick one end of each of the speaker wire you have into the two prongs 7) Taken from another source listed below 3) Hold the two ends of your wire together, so that they are now connected. 4) Keeping the wires connected, turn the ignition on (Do NOT start your car). 5) The SRS light comes on for about 6 seconds and then goes off. Quickly disconnect the two wires. 6) The SRS light will come on again. Quickly reconnect your wires. 7) The SRS light goes off. Disconnect your wire connection and leave the wires disconnected. 8) If you did this correctly, the SRS will blink twice. 9) Turn the ignition off and wait 10 seconds. 10) Turn the ignition on, thus starting your car, and hopefully the SRS light will now be off. 11) Turn your car off, assuming the above instructions worked and your SRS light is now off. If not, either retry the instructions and/or verify that nothing else is wrong. 8) Assuming the SRS light is now off, take out the two wires, and plug it back into the dummy connector and then wrap the resistor/plug with electrical tape. Tuck the SRS wiring with the resistor somewhere safe optionally zip-tie it. (location circled in blue below - Pic #4) 9) You should be good to roll, verify that the SRS light goes off after you turn the car on and then you're done Reference: http://www.geocities.com/myintegra96/srs.html Pictures:

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[TheMuffinMan]

I'll try to take pictures shortly

[JDM_DC4_Fanatic]

Looks good man, how long did it take you to do?

[TheMuffinMan]

About a half hour, simply because all the reference pictures and what not don't help with Accords haha. So there's like 5 yellow plugs I had to sort through.

In reality should take 10 minutes.

[TouringAccord]

Added to the FAQ

[Brad_and_the_acc]

Thanks man.
I Have had that SRS red light on my dash for 2 years now. lol
10 - 15 min fix. lol damnit.

[raidacaipo]

this is great but we need more pictures of actual steps on installing the resistors!!! the reseting of the srs light after installing the resistors are easy.

[majrneo]

yes more pics would be nice, and also the resistor would be very helpful

[TheMuffinMan]

Bend the resistor legs so it makes a U shape, then I put mine on the back side (where the wire enters) but you could also stick it into the front where the plug actually plugs in.

I'm uploading a picture now.

[majrneo]

i just got word that i might be able to get a dummy resistor from canada, heheh thanks tho for the fast image posting!

[TheMuffinMan]

NP, hopefully it's helpful. Ghetto illustration but gets the point across - I would like to point out I took the time to properly color the bands on the resistor haha.

[majrneo]

hahah your paint skills are great!

[Pr-Type-R]

so are we putting the wire in the connectors with the resistor attached? or are we putting in the resistor After the SRS system is reset?

[majrneo]

what i understand is that, ( not sure of this check with the original poster ) you have to disconnect the battery anyways to do this HOW TO, by doing that the system is reseted, so after doing the steering wheel, and disconnecting the airbag system, you just put the resistor or or the fuse dummy ( if you have it, or got it from Canada ) in the place where it was connected to the airbag originally and that way the SRS system is fooled in thinking the airbag is still intact.

this is my understanding of the issue at hand

[TheMuffinMan]

Originally Posted by Pr-Type-R

so are we putting the wire in the connectors with the resistor attached? or are we putting in the resistor After the SRS system is reset?

Well you are left with the SRS plug - the yellow one - dangling with nowhere to be plugged into. As it originally is plugged into the SRS reel at the steering wheel. By inserting the resistor into that now spare connector you are tricking the system into seeing the resistance of an airbag. So to the SRS module the 2 ohm resistance is the electronic equivalent of an airbag.

When you reset the SRS light with the resistor in there, it's tricked into "seeing" the airbag and operates normally.


Hope that explains it.

[rngo219]

hi i recently got the 2ohm 1/4 Watt Resistor like the instructions stated, but i realized that in the picture above that shows the resistor box, it says "5%". the one i got says "2%" will that be a issue??
And also, the 5th picture that shows the resistor plugged into the yellow plug shows it connected to a blue and red wire, mine is gray and gray..
im i looking at the wrong yellow plug??

[TheMuffinMan]

Originally Posted by rngo219

hi i recently got the 2ohm 1/4 Watt Resistor like the instructions stated, but i realized that in the picture above that shows the resistor box, it says "5%". the one i got says "2%" will that be a issue??
And also, the 5th picture that shows the resistor plugged into the yellow plug shows it connected to a blue and red wire, mine is gray and gray..
im i looking at the wrong yellow plug??

2% is actually a better quality resistor than 5% that simply states that the range of the actual resistance value.

The colors of the plug may vary depending on the year of the car. Make sure you've already removed the SRS spool on the steering column as it's the plug behind that you'll want to play with.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

uhm I would not be driving this car on the road after this mod. It can be impounded for safety violations.

[rngo219]

Originally Posted by YeuEmMaiMai

uhm I would not be driving this car on the road after this mod. It can be impounded for safety violations.

forreals? a non-srs wheel mod on a car can me impounded for safety violations?

[WHEEELMAN]

If not impounded, you could be cited for removing that safety device.

Same rule applies to seat belts and seats. If you install a aftermarket Harness or racing seat and remove the OEM seatbelts, that may be against the local, city, state or fed law.

It's probably going to depend on your local law enforcement and if they really want to bust your chops for it.

[TheMuffinMan]

Originally Posted by YeuEmMaiMai

uhm I would not be driving this car on the road after this mod. It can be impounded for safety violations.

Hence the disclaimer at the top

I've been pulled over twice with the Nardi wheel and have not had an issue though.

[majrneo]

Originally Posted by WHEEELMAN

If not impounded, you could be cited for removing that safety device.

Same rule applies to seat belts and seats. If you install a aftermarket Harness or racing seat and remove the OEM seatbelts, that may be against the local, city, state or fed law.

It's probably going to depend on your local law enforcement and if they really want to bust your chops for it.

it is true, but it depends on the cop that pulls you over, but one thing is for sure, there is a good change that if you remove the safety in your steering wheel and you are involved in a accident ( knock on wood ) there is a good chance the insurance company will drop you on the spot and you are screwed because you removed a safety feature from a vehicle that is equipped, thus injuring yourself and other in your vehicle.

[passout]

I am trying to do something similar for my 2010 Honda Insight Ex. I'd like to remove the passenger seat. I used a 2 ohm resistor in the yellow plug under the seat and that works great. However, there are 2 other connectors under the seat for the occupant sensor (turns off the airbag if a child is in the seat). If unplug those as well the SRS warning light comes on.

Anyone know how to fool the occupant sensor as well? One connector has two wires (green and black) and the other has three wires (green, black, and white).

Here is a pic of the connectors.

[TheMuffinMan]

Using a multimeter you can test the resistance on the seat side of the connection to see what the resistance is. It's possible it's a switch, I'm not sure how the seat sensor works.

It could be resistance, could be a circuit (open/closed) , I dunno. You'll have to test it out.