A Honda Civic came into the shop needing an SRS light diagnosis. This light indicates that there’s something wrong with the airbag system. On Hondas from the early half of the 2000’s, this is often caused by a faulty seat belt buckle switch, and is often covered under warranty, but this was newer than that, so it could be anything.

I plugged in the scan tool and got a code for no signal from the left front impact sensor. There are several sensors around the car that detect a sudden change in velocity from an impact and trigger the airbags. The left front sensor on this Civic was up around the headlight area. I was able to move enough plastic shielding away to find that the wires going to the sensor had corroded and broken. I’m not sure how enough water got up there to corrode it, but because these are sensor wires, particularly for the airbag system, trying to repair them is not advised, and a whole engine compartment/front end wiring harness is needed.
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-Dan