I have a confession to make. I lost my cool.
The other day I was at work. I had to move my car a short distance after getting out of it while it was still running and I didn't feel like re-buckling my seat belt. The seatbelt chime came on...***PING PING PING PING PING!*** Yes. I know my seatbelt is off.
A short time later, I had to do it again...***PING PING PING PING PING! PING PING PING PING PING!***
And again. ***PING PING PING PING PING! PING PING PING PING PING!***
And again. ***PING PING PING PING PING! PING PING PING PING PING!***
And again. ***PING PING PING PING PING! PING PING PING PING PING!***
YES, I KNOW MY GODD%MNED SEATBELT IS OFF!!
If I had a Mitsubishi MUTIII for five minutes, the first thing I would do with it would be disable the seat belt chime! It's not that I don't wear it, it's that my job sometimes means I have to move short distances at low speeds in residential areas where a seat belt isn't necessary. Anyway, I got so annoyed I reached under the seat and disconnected the connector. Not the yellow connector for the airbag itself, as I knew that would throw a code. But the other connector for the seat belt buckle. Well, my car didn't like that. In the back of my mind somewhere I knew it wouldn't.
Of course, the airbag light immediately came on in the instrument cluster. Dammit!
I began researching ways to turn it off again. Back in the day you could just plug everything back in and the system would self-correct. Not anymore. I found procedures that might work for other cars...even other Mitsubishi products. But not our Mirages. It was a trip to the dealer or a trip to a mechanic to have the light manually reset. I am sure a local mechanic would simply reset the light for me for a small fee. Maybe even do it for free if I was nice and promised to come back. But I got myself into this and I wanted to get myself out of it.
During the course of my research I discovered that certain middle and higher-end consumer-grade scan tools could reset this light. One of these tools was the Autel MK808.
I ordered one from Autel last week. Took them forever to get it in the mail, but once they did it arrived quickly. I got it tonight. Registering it is kind of a pain and you can't use it until you do. But once you get it set up, using the tool is pretty easy.
Go to the main menu. Select 'DIAGNOSTICS'
Now it will ask you what make you are working on. 'MITSUBISHI'
Next, it will ask for your VIN. You can enter it manually, or select 'Automatic Selection'. With the key on and engine off, it will retrieve it for you.
This is the platform designation, I guess. This information on our cars can be found on the metal plate in the passenger door jam. If you hit 'HELP', the machine will tell you where to find this designation. Pretty cool! Mine is 'XNHHL#'
The car's details will appear.
Select 'DIAGNOSIS'.
On this screen you can scan for any and all codes, but I knew what I was looking for and selected 'CONTROL UNIT'.
Select 'SRS-Air Bag'
Here are your options. If you want to erase codes, the MK808 will not let you do so until you read them first. So select 'Read Codes'.
Here is my self-inflicted trouble code.
Back out again, and push 'Erase Codes'.
It will ask you to make sure the key is on.
It will ask you if you are SUPER sure!
Codes erased. Light gone. Humiliation over.
At about $400 the Autel MK808 isn't particularly cheap. But I decided it was time to retire the $15 code reader I have been using for the last 15 years. The MK808 is supposed to be able to register TPMS sensors and...NEW F.A.S.T. KEYS.
Stay tuned...