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SRS Light on Honda

posted Jan 30, 2014, 6:59 AM by Quoc-Anh Vuong   [ updated Feb 3, 2014, 5:48 AM ]
The safety inspection was failed due to SRS light on the Honda. Dealer wants $507 for replacing the OPDS in the front passenger seat. Auto repair wants $800 to do the same. So, I will try this weekend to see if we can save some moo-la on this issue.

The plan is to locate the MES connector to erase the code, and if that failed try to locate the OPDS in the seat, clean & reconnect, then erase the code again. If all failed, we can bring it to the Honda Dealership.

On Tuesday, I could not find the MES connector to reset. It's probably under the dash, and not in the fuse box. According to the some discussions on the net, the connector should be yellow, two-conductor, and either green/gray wires. Here is a picture of the location of where it "should" be:













Here is the instruction to reset the SRS, copied from the net:

1) You need to find the MES Connector. On my car it was plugged into the side of the fuse box. It was yellow in color and was a 2 prong connector. The insulating material around the wires of the connector was also yellow. For me, it was easy to find. HOWEVER, I have heard of some people saying that they had a green connector located near the hood release latch. Wherever your connector is located, it is plugged into a "dummy harness." Hence, the prongs are not actually plugged into anything; the "dummy harness" just holds the MES Connector and prevents it from bouncing around.

2) Clip one alligator clip to one of the prongs and the other alligator clip to the other prong. If you're using 2 strands of wire, you won't be clipping, but twisting or shoving the wire into the respective prongs.

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.

11) Remove your wires, do not cross them at all or let them touch. Replug the yellow/green connector back into the "dummy harness".

12) If the SRS light comes back on (assuming you reset the SRS correctly and the light was off), then something is malfunctioning in the SRS Airbag System and you'll have to see a dealership or repair shop.

Problems?

- You only have a 4 second window to connect/disconnect the wires. Example: when the SRS light comes on in Step 6, you have 4 seconds to reconnect the wires.

- Make sure you have the right connector and that a module or some other part of the SRS system is not malfunctioning.

- It took me 2 tries to get it right. The main thing to remember is that the wires need to be connected when the light is on, disconnected when the light is off.


First of all, you need to find the MES Connector. On my car (Acura Integra) it was plugged into the side of the fuse box. It was yellow in color and it was a 2 prong connector. The insulating material around the wires of the connector was also yellow. For me, it was easy to find. HOWEVER, I have heard of some people saying that they had a green connector located near the hood release latch. Regardless, the MES connector is located on the driver's side in fuse box area. Wherever your connector is located, it is plugged into a "dummy harness." Hence, the prongs are not actually plugged into anything; the "dummy harness" just holds the MES Connector and prevents it from bouncing around. Use the pictures below to find your MES connector.

If you have a Honda Accord OR Acura CL, follow these directions:

In order to find the MES Connector on an Accord or CL, you have to be on your back and looking up at the fuse box. There are two plugs that are both yellow with green wires coming out of them, but the looms around the wires are yellow. The smaller of these two plugs is the MES Connector. They are located above the hood release latch and plugged into the backside of the fuse box. Once again, the smaller (upper) plug is the MES Connector.

(SEE THE PICTURE BELOW) Once located, follow the same directions as below in Part 2:
The SRS light that just won't go out!
The image on the right is of the SRS light that can be accidentally and permanently turned on by pulling the SRS fuse.
Click here for a downloadable version of these pages in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. (217 KB)

Click here for a printer friendly (No Pictures) version of these pages in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. (10 KB)
Start off by going to the Driver's Side of the car and looking under the dash, right by the fuse box.
Part 1) Locating the MES Connector:
The MES Connector is Yellow in color and normally plugged into a yellow dummy harness located on the side of the fuse box.
Unplug the MES Connector from the "dummy harness" and proceed to Part 2) Resetting the SRS.
Part 2) Resetting the SRS
I chose an old piece of speaker wire to plug into the connector, but you can use a paper clip or two separate pieces of wire. Use whatever you have laying around.
A piece of wire is inserted into each side of the MES Connector.
As is pictured on the left, I connected and disconnected the two wires in my hand according to the directions below. This is how you reset the SRS light. See below for the complete directions.


On Friday, 1/31 morning.
  • Remove the driver side fuses cover
  • Took off two screws which hold the plastic cover under the steering wheel
  • On the left panel, behind the fuses box, there is the MES connector.
  • Using the paper clip, the SRS light was reset and did not come back.
  • Took the car for re-inspection. Done.


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