A bunch of dash lights are on after curb impact

[Shadow8948]

Well, long story short..roads were wet, car under steered straight into a curb at 35-40 mph. It bent the lower control arm, the swaybar link was bent because it had gone up and actually punctured the strut tower, and it broke the steering rack. Now, as I work at an Acura dealership I was able to do the repair myself in about an hour and a half (thank The Lord for the ease of installing that rack!). A Toyota dealership near my dealership actually uses our body shop so we get employee discounts for Toyota parts. Lucky me. Repair cost 500 bucks total. Phew.

Well I get back in the car and the TPMS light is on, the abs light is on, the air bag light is on, the light that flashes when traction control senses the car is slipping is on solid. My cruise control doesn't work and my horn doesn't work.

TPMS may have been damaged when I hit the curb or when transferring to new wheels..yeah at the moment I'm rocking two factory wheels on the drivers side and a staggered 8" and 9" setup on the passenger side.

Other than that, all the other lights and issues are bugging me. I can't figure it out. Steering position sensor? The car drives straight when the wheel is straight..meaning it's lined up correctly. But why wouldn't my horn work and why would my airbag light be on? I'm so confused. Any help would be appreciated!

[steve99]

Originally Posted by Shadow8948

Well, long story short..roads were wet, car under steered straight into a curb at 35-40 mph. It bent the lower control arm, the swaybar link was bent because it had gone up and actually punctured the strut tower, and it broke the steering rack. Now, as I work at an Acura dealership I was able to do the repair myself in about an hour and a half (thank The Lord for the ease of installing that rack!). A Toyota dealership near my dealership actually uses our body shop so we get employee discounts for Toyota parts. Lucky me. Repair cost 500 bucks total. Phew.

Well I get back in the car and the TPMS light is on, the abs light is on, the air bag light is on, the light that flashes when traction control senses the car is slipping is on solid. My cruise control doesn't work and my horn doesn't work.

TPMS may have been damaged when I hit the curb or when transferring to new wheels..yeah at the moment I'm rocking two factory wheels on the drivers side and a staggered 8" and 9" setup on the passenger side.

Other than that, all the other lights and issues are bugging me. I can't figure it out. Steering position sensor? The car drives straight when the wheel is straight..meaning it's lined up correctly. But why wouldn't my horn work and why would my airbag light be on? I'm so confused. Any help would be appreciated!

If you have messed with steering rack steering sensor may need to be re alligned/adjusted as per service manual and using Techstream software.

You may have also damaged ABS wheel sensor or is not been plugged back in when repairs done.

airbag light is a worry possibly something triggered or dislodged in airbag circuit or crash sensor circuit.

Horn not working is weird.

cruise control will not work if CEL light is up for wheel/speed sensors/abs or rear 02 sensor faults.

try a quick and dirty reset, remove battery cable for a minute to reset control units in car (will reset radio ect as well though).

If all the lights come back on its likely a toyota/subaru visit unless you can get hold of service manual and techstream and work you way through it.

[steve99]

Originally Posted by Shadow8948

Well I get back in the car and the TPMS light is on, the abs light is on, the air bag light is on, the light that flashes when traction control senses the car is slipping is on solid. My cruise control doesn't work and my horn doesn't work.

TPMS may have been damaged when I hit the curb or when transferring to new wheels..yeah at the moment I'm rocking two factory wheels on the drivers side and a staggered 8" and 9" setup on the passenger side.

mismatched wheel diameters will throw traction/stability control issues as if they are different enough it thinks its loosing traction /sliding due different rotational speeds when your driving straight.

[navanodd]

TPMS is likely just the wheel sensors themselves.


The ABS and traction control light may actually be because of the different sized wheels. Your factory wheels would have a slightly different diameter than your staggered setup, causing them to rotate at slightly different speeds and confusing the car when your wheel is pointed straight and the wheels are spinning at slightly different speeds. You could have a damaged ABS sensor as well, but getting 4 identical wheels (or at least a proper staggered setup) may fix things.


You should at least try to get the rear wheels the same size so that it isn't causing wear on the diff.


Your airbag sensor may have tripped, but also sensed low enough G's in a specific angle that it did not trigger an actual airbag deployment. I'm not sure what would be involved in resetting or replacing that.

[Shadow8948]

Well in all the chaos after I hit the curb, I noticed the abs light on. So that leads me to believe that the sensor is bad. I do not recall the airbag light being on and the traction control and the TPMS light being on. Could have been I just don't remember.

Although you do bring up a valid point, I don't think this is the case about the wheel diameter. I have had the battery disconnected for 30+ minutes and as soon as I turned the key all the lights came back on. While the car is parked. Which leads me to believe it's something else. I'm wondering if there's something up with the wiring in the steering wheel it's self. Or if the steering position sensor is the culprit. Still don't know why my horn doesn't work.....lol

[Shadow8948]

And yeah, the other two wheels are on their way. I'm going to run 245 width tires in the rear and 235 up front. With whatever sidewall measurement will keep me closest to stock outside diameter. Since the rear is a 9" wheel i currently have a 235/45/16 slightly stretched onto it, but it's 3/4" bigger around so when you get in the gas the car pulls hardddd left

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by Shadow8948

And yeah, the other two wheels are on their way. I'm going to run 245 width tires in the rear and 235 up front. With whatever sidewall measurement will keep me closest to stock outside diameter. Since the rear is a 9" wheel i currently have a 235/45/16 slightly stretched onto it, but it's 3/4" bigger around so when you get in the gas the car pulls hardddd left

Assuming 17 wheels, you'll want 245/40 rear 235/40 front. Assuming 9 inch rear 8 inch front, that'll be a good fit.

Can't help with the lights, that's messed up. Check your fuses? I can't think of what else would knock out your horn.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[FirestormFRS]

So what do you do at the acura dealership. Seems you're a mechanic maybe? Scan the ECU maybe? Just a thought.

[Texas BRZ]

Hope this gets resolved for you, OP.

Let me guess, you work at DMA and TOP is the dealer which uses your body shop... Small world, indeed! (Unless I've mistaken, lol)

[Shadow8948]

Originally Posted by Texas BRZ

Hope this gets resolved for you, OP.

Let me guess, you work at DMA and TOP is the dealer which uses your body shop... Small world, indeed! (Unless I've mistaken, lol)

I do believe you are correct on your assumption lol. Yeah I'm an accelerated service tech (fancy for express lube..gotta love "fancy" cars). Ecu isn't throwing any codes, all the fuses are good. I'm wondering if there is some wiring in the steering column that needs looking at. I'm going to have one of our more experienced techs that drives a sick frs look at it. He was doing some steering wheel work on his car. That is my only guess as to why the horn isn't working.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

but when this accident happened were your driving aids off?

[Poodles]

Was the wheel turned while the rack was removed? The clock spring could have been damaged if it was.

[White64Goat]

Did you check the fuses with a voltage meter or test light? Just because they look good......doesn't always mean they are. I have a 93 Bonneville and it popped a fuse in a secondary fuse panel and I had no lighter, no cruise and it turned on a couple of lights...........did you check for any pinched wires under the car?

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by Shadow8948

all the fuses are good.

You checked the fuses in the engine compartment as well as the driver kick panel? If so, I'm out of suggestions - sorry