Request Assistance: T’shooting OPDS Passenger-side

[lothian]

2000 Accord LX V6
141k

I couldn’t reset the sudden appearance of the SRS light, so I drove the car to the dealership for inspection.

The tech, via the Mouth of Sauron Service Manager, claims the OPDS Sensor is bad. Another SRS doodad, the OPDS unit, resides in the seatback as well, but the tech claims this part isn’t bad. He determined this by reading a diagnostic code from the dealership’s Honda Factory Scan Tool. I’m bummed for several reasons…

1) The SRS light cannot be reset until the faulty part is replaced with a working part;
2) The OPDS sensor is an exponentially more expensive part than the OPDS unit;
3) The OPDS sensor is embedded in the seat back, necessitating the replacement of the seat back in its entirety, whereas the OPDS unit is a little box attached to the side of the seatback;
4) Replacing either, or both, OPDS parts requires use of a Honda Factory Scan Tool to initialize the replaced parts with the airbag computer;
5) The Honda Factory Scan Tool costs seven hundred forty three million dollars, give or take, on sale with a coupon.

I’ve read here and elsewhere that the “OPDS sensor” rarely goes bad, and that it’s much more common for the “OPDS unit” to fail despite diagnostic codes that indicate otherwise.

Anyone experienced with this issue? If so, how do I t’shoot the OPDS sensor and the OPDS unit to determine which is faulty without stupid Honda’s stupid factory stupid scan stupid tool?

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[Mike]

Even if you can’t initialize a replacement unit, you could still save big bucks by replacing the defective parts yourself.
It would have been nice if the tech wrote the code down for you.
In light of the fact that codes don’t necessarily mean that a certain part has failed, you’re wise to question the “diagnosis”.
Go to Hondahookup and join their website. You can then access the appropriate service manual to avoid getting blasted by an airbag and to make an actual determination of the cause.

[Author]

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