The Airbag lights were lit, the person sitting with seatbelt on (flashing) and the person sitting with an inflated airbag in front of them. I ran an OBD2 scan on SRS and got code B1656. Driver seat belt buckle Left Hand. I Investigated the latch and found one wire was snapped off and a couple of inches shorter that the wire that was still connected. I have included 2 pictures of the back end of the seat belt latch. You can see the broken wire and where it use to be connected.
Toyota Prius airbag light comes on
49 of the 12,530 owner complaints about the Toyota Prius describe airbag warning light, most of them for the 2005 model year.
- owner complaints
- 49
- worst model year
- 2005
- typical repair cost reported
- $2,000
- typical mileage
- 80,000
Is there a fix? There are 5 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Adaptive cruise 3Seat belt 2ABS 2Whining noise 1Overheating 1Headlights 1Fuel gauge 1
Trouble codes mentioned
B1826 2B1821 1B1656 1
What owners say
On Friday June 9, 2023 we drove the 2011 Prius on our daily travels. This was uneventful. Parked the vehicle around 10pm that same night. We drove it on the following Saturday around noon on a very short errand, maybe 30 minutes. Parked it again a little after noon. On Sunday morning around 730am, we discovered the side curtain airbag on the passenger side was deployed. There in no external damage and the vehicle was still locked. Upon starting it, the airbag systems check light illuminated for about three seconds then went out. Although the airbag is currently deployed, the airbag dash light does not stay lit indicating a problem. In order to determine if this was a soft code, we started it, drove it around the block, and shut it off. We did this a few times. The airbag light always lit for about three seconds then went out. The airbag has "PA66, VMQ" stamped on it.
Airbag light on
Passenger airbag indicator on/off light was on despite having passenger over the airbag activation weight requirement being present with seatbelt buckled. Brought car to Toyota dealership and after running diagnostics for two hours they found that the airbag itself is faulty.
When start the car, passenger side airbag light stays on until shut-off the engine.
My steering wheel controls, including odometer, cruise control, horn, and airbag light is on. I took it to the dealership and they said it is the spring (clocking) cable in the steering wheel. Looking up a recall there are quite a few years and models where this exact issue has been recalled on Toyotas, but the dealership says my 2016 Toyota Prius is not cover (same exact issue). I submitted a ticket through Toyota customer service but they have done nothing about this safety issue for the 2016 Toyota Prius. I see lots of blogs and complaints because the airbag default warning light stays lit, so I assume airbag is not functional. I found a site that says to put the complaint through here.
The airbag light on my 2010 Prius intermittently goes on and off. I have brought it to Toyota as well as my mechanic to see if anyone can find the problem. I've been told I need to change the seat and or the weight sensor isn't working. When I looked at the numerous PRius websites this is unbelievably common!
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while attempting to use the horn, the horn failed to operate as needed. The contact also stated that the front passenger’s air bag warning light illuminated and then turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the clock spring failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was also taken to an independent mechanic who confirmed the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in the manufacturer communications regarding the clock spring assembly repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
My 2010 toyota prius has leather seats and the passenger side light is coming on. According to toyota recall there was a problem with the leather seats and calibration.the sensor on the passenger side is not communicating with the front airbag so when you sit down and buckle in it does not activate the front airbag. A seatbelt and airbag light is constantly on.
2011 toyota prius. Consumer writes in regards to defective brakes and electrical issues. *ld the consumer stated the master warning light, air bag light, slip indicator light, and brake sysytem light all illuminated.
Related recalls
Air bags: side/window
- What is wrong
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2016 Toyota Prius and Lexus RX 350, RX 350 F Sport, RX 450h F Sport and RX 450h vehicles and 2015-2016 Lexus NX 200T, NX Turbo and NX 300h vehicles. The air bag pressure sensors and/or the acceleration sensors may fail causing the side/curtain shield air bags and/or the front air bags to not deploy in the event of a crash.
- Risk
- If the air bags fail to deploy in a crash, it can increase the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the sensors as necessary based on their serial numbers, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 12, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are JLA, J0F.
Recall number 18V085000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2016 Toyota Prius vehicles manufactured November 30, 2015, to June 14, 2016. An air bag inflator manufacturing error may result in the inadvertent partial inflation of the front passenger air bag.
- Risk
- A front passenger air bag that unintentionally inflates can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag assembly, free of charge. The recall began November 10, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's number for this recall is G0W.
Recall number 16V672000 · Recall details
Air bags: side/window
- What is wrong
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 Toyota Prius, 2010 and 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, and 2011-2012 Lexus CT200h vehicles. A weld in the curtain shield air bag inflator may crack causing one or both portions of the inflator to eject into the passenger cabin.
- Risk
- If either portion of the curtain shield air bag inflator ejects into the passenger cabin, there is an increased risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will install retention brackets to the curtain shield air bags, free of charge. The recall began on October 17, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota Customer Service Department at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's number for this recall is Toyota G0U, and Lexus GLJ.
Recall number 16V487000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: sensor/control module-inactive
- What is wrong
- Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain models interspersed through model years 2009 through 2013 as follows: model year 2009-2012 Tacoma, 4Runner, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Prius, and RAV4; model year 2009-2010 Avalon, FJ Cruiser, and Highlander Hybrid; model year 2010-2013 model year Corolla, Sienna and Tundra; model year 2009-2013 Highlander and Venza; model year 2012 Prius V; and model year 2010-2012 Sequoia. During modification by SET to include accessories such as leather seat covers, seat heaters or headrest DVD systems, these vehicles may not have had the passenger seat occupant sensing system calibration tested. Without passing the calibration test, the occupant sensing system may not operate as designed.
- Risk
- If the front passenger seat occupant sensing system is out of calibration, the front passenger airbags may not deploy or they may deploy inappropriately for the passenger's size and position. This could increase the risk of personal injury during the event of a vehicle crash necessitating airbag deployment.
- Remedy
- Southeast Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the sensitivity of the occupant detection sensors, and recalibrate them as necessary. The recall began on March 21, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1‑800‑301‑6859.
Recall number 13V014000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- On certain vehicles, due to improper assembly of the air bag inflator, which is used in the side air bag, the curtain shield air bag, and the knee air bag assembly, some inflators were produced with an insufficient amount of the heating agents necessary for proper air bag deployment. In this condition, the expansion force of the gas may be insufficient to properly inflate the air bag when the SRS system is activated during a crash.
- Risk
- This may increase the risk of injury to the occupant in the involved seating position in the event of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the specific SRS air bag. The recall began on april 6, 2006. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371, scion at 1‑866‑548‑1851, or lexus at 1‑800‑255‑3987.
Recall number 06V096000 · Recall details
Questions about the Toyota Prius airbag light
Why does the airbag light come on in the Toyota Prius?
Owners who report it most often also describe adaptive cruise control problems, seat belt won't latch or retract and abs light or abs activating, and the codes they mention most are B1826, B1821 and B1656.
Which Toyota Prius years have airbag warning light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2005 (12 complaints), 2010 (11 complaints) and 2007 (9 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix airbag warning light on the Toyota Prius?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $2,000 (median of 8 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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