OK, my son's 1992 Accord EX was diagnosed with a short in the airbag inflator which is causing his SRS light to stay on. Honda dealer wants $1k to repair. I can do the repair if I have the parts and a new one will run $750+ so, two questions.

1. The inflator, as I understand it, is part of the entire assembly so, when you order the part 06770-SV4-A90ZA, you are ordering the entire assembly correct?

2. I can get the entire assembly used on evil bay for between $40 and $130 but not necessarily a 92 year model. What model years are interchangeable and will work with a 92?



Steve Aki
1971 Porsche 914
1974 MG Midget
1978 Mercedes 450SL

 

Is the car worth $1000?

 

Actually, pretty damn good question. At some point you just cut your losses. Spending $1k in a car that probably is worth $1k isn't worth it in the slightest.

 

my 91 has no air bags and it doesnt bother nor did my other two 91 accords that got totalled in accidents that an airbag wouldnt have helped if i had one

 

Although I concur with the proffered thoughts I am in a bit of a dilemma as I currently live in the communist commonwealth of Virginia. Because of this, the vehicle must pass their safety inspection and it, 'shall not pass!' with the SRS light glaring mightily in the inspector's face.

So, back to the original question, which model year steering airbags are interchangeable with a 1992 model year?

Secondary question, is there a way to 'test' the inflator if I procure one from evil bay?

 

www.hondapartscheap.com and check to see which airbag part numbers are the same....my first guess is only 92-93 ex and se accords will have the same part number but there is a chance that 91 accord wagons might be the same

 

I live in Virginia as well, you could try following the 'Bypass the SRS system' tutorial I wrote up in the Accord FAQ which might just do the trick. You'd be spending $2 for a resistor rather than $1k for the other parts.

You also may be good to purchase from a place like Woodfins which is a parts yard. They're local-ish (~Richmond area) and far cheaper option.

I was able to replace the side curtain airbag AND an electronic leather seat for my ex's '07 Accord for ~$700 and they were both in fantastic condition.

 

I looked at your write up however, as you state in it, this won't help him get past the laughable state inspection. I say laughable because I spent the last 6 years in Germany where they have the TuV inspection requirement that is about 20x more stringent than anything VA wants to do. Still, any inspector worth a crap will see the bypass and fail him.

I did do a search on a 93 Accord with the same part# as holmesmanny recommended and they both show up as the same part which indicates the years are interchangeable. The price at the P&P will run about $60 for the entire steering unit i.e. steering wheel and airbag system so I will pull a complete assembly and see if this will fix it.

Now, the dealer told him that he would have to bring it back in to reset the light but I assume the reset sequence that I have seen will do this vice taking it to a dealer?

 

Soooo...I spent roughly $50 for a steering wheel and airbag out of a 93 Honda Accord at Pick and Pull. We put it in today and...TA DA! SRS light has gone out. Problem fixed, and it didn't cost my son $1,000 like the dealership said it would. Oh yeah, they also said that it would have to come back to have the light reset...yeah...right.

So, next item up for bid...front engine mount and timing belt. That will have to wait for a weekend when I have time. I have to rebuild the steering gear and put in the repaired speedometer on the Mercedes this weekend as well as pull the transfer case out of my son's Jeep so I can do a transfer case swap and rebuild. So, this weekend isn't gonna happen for him.