After a collision, the dashboard lights and the locked belts can feel like a mystery. We have rebuilt these systems since 1997, and we know exactly what the car is doing and why. These guides walk through what is actually happening inside the SRS system after a deployment and the options you have to fix it.
When an airbag deploys, two things happen inside your car that you cannot see. The airbag control module, the small computer that fired the bags, locks itself with crash data and hard fault codes. And the seat belts that held you in place fire their pretensioners, which makes them go stiff or refuse to retract.
Both conditions stay until someone clears them at the module and restraint level. The generic scan tool most shops plug into your dash reads engine and emissions codes on the OBD2 port, which is a separate system from the SRS airbag computer, so the crash data sits there untouched. That gap is where the confusion starts, and where a lot of drivers end up buying a brand new module from the dealer at full price. As long as the car itself has been repaired correctly and is mechanically safe to drive, your original module can usually be reset and reinstalled.
The guides below walk through the most common after-accident questions we hear on the phone. Read the one that matches your situation, and if you still are not sure, call us at 501-988-0611. A technician who has done this work for years will tell you what your car needs, including the times when a reset will not solve it.
What that SRS light actually means after a crash, why it will not turn off by itself, and when a reset fixes it versus when you need a part.
Read the guide →Why your belt went stiff or will not retract after a deployment, what a fired pretensioner is, and which parts can be rebuilt instead of replaced.
Read the guide →The real mail-in process step by step, how the crash data gets cleared in our shop, and how your own module comes back coded and ready to install.
Read the guide →The myth that will not die, why a standard code reader cannot erase crash data, and what actually clears it at the module level.
Read the guide →The control unit behind your airbag light, what it stores, and why it matters after a crash.
Read the guide →What locks a belt after a deployment, and which parts we can rebuild to factory operation.
Read the guide →When a reset of your original module is the right call, and when a part actually has to be replaced.
Read the guide →Where the SRS module usually hides, and how to locate yours by make before you ship it in.
Read the guide →The clear answer on a lit SRS warning, what it means for your restraints, and what to do.
Read the guide →Why flood and spill damage is a hardware problem a reset will not fix, and how to tell.
Read the guide →How to tell which pretensioner your car uses and why it changes the repair.
Read the guide →Two different parts behind an airbag light, how to tell them apart, and the right fix for each.
Read the guide →How a module reset stacks up against a new dealer module, where the up-to-80 percent savings comes from, and when replacement is the right call.
Read the guide →Once you know what your car needs, our airbag module reset service walks you through shipping it in. Save up to 80 percent against a dealer replacement.
Start an order →Five Star Airbags has been doing this since 1997. Rick and Sharron Glaze started it, their son Bryan bought the business in 2006, and our general manager Chris Sullivan has been here since the beginning. Most of our team has been with us six years or more. We run a working repair shop and parts operation in Jacksonville, Arkansas, with the modules and restraint parts in front of us every day.
That hands-on experience is what these guides are built on. If your situation calls for a simple airbag module reset, we will say so. If it calls for a new part or a trip back to your body shop, we will say that too. Use the airbag code lookup if you already have a trouble code in hand.
Tell us what your car is doing. We will walk you through what the codes mean and what it takes to clear them.
Genuine OEM, tested, and shipped ground from Jacksonville, Arkansas.
Do not see it listed? Request a part or call 501-988-0611.