scoobydrvr

Resurrecting an old thread. I swapped my cloth seats in my 05 OBXT with some leather jobs I found in the scrap yard. One of the SRS plugs on the driver's seat list it's retaining clip when I took it apart so I tried zip tying it together. Buttoned everything up and the light stayed off so I figured it was an acceptable fix. Next day the light starts intermittently coming on but can be sometimes turned off with a power cycle. Now it just stays on all the time. I took the time to de-pin the the connector that was cut at the scrap yard and replace it with a good one. Now my airbag light stays on. My questions are these. Should the code reset itself if the condition is cleared? Do the codes "survive" a battery disconnection? Am I going to have to visit the dealer to get this sorted out? Worth noting: the Outback doesn't have the overhead passenger indicator like the Legacy does so no easy fix there...

If you want to check the IBU it's not difficult to test for bad transistors and not hard to pull. I can provide instructions later when I get home.

@hwrd69: When the map lights come on, they do it by being provided a ground. When opening the door the IBU pulls the circuit for dome light, and through this mod, the map lights to ground, completing the circuit. It sounds like you've got the wiring to the dome light done right so you can scratch that off your list for troubleshooting. That just leaves the dome light circuit. I'd start by disconnecting the battery, pulling the map lights, pressing one of the light buttons, and making sure one side of the bulb has nearly no resistance to ground. If it does, double check to make sure you reversed the two wires for the map light power circuit. The blue with red stripe should be on the left when looking at the plug with the retaining clip facing you. Hope this helps!

I recently did this mod and it's definitely worth it but please learn from my mistakes. Don't use liquid electrical tape! I was lazy and couldn't find my roll of the regular stuff or any shrink tubing; installed the map lights and the connection got pinned between the body and one of the exposed "traces" in the fixture. Blew the 20A "Back up" fuse, the diode at the joint, and my IBU. Fortunately, I was able to use this thread to find and replace the blown transistor. If anyone is out there with a bad IBU that needs repair but doesn't have the confidence to repair them I'd be willing to for a nominal fee, just send a PM. Final thoughts: DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY!!! The metal bars are very difficult to solder to, do the screw-wrap method if you can. Switch the leads in the dome light connector instead of cutting and soldering. It takes a small precision screwdriver poked in from the front to release them; much easier that soldering! The pictures aren't the greatest; the band of the diode (cathode for the technically inclined) goes away from the map light switch, towards the connection for the dome light.