P2512: Event Data Recorder Request Circuit Open
What to do
Nothing about how the car drives or how its safety systems work is affected, and you will notice nothing. What may not work is the recording of data around a collision, which matters afterwards rather than at the time. If an airbag or restraints warning light is also on, treat that as the priority — it is a far more serious fault and the two can share wiring.
What this code means
An open circuit in the line that asks the engine control module to record event data.
What an event data recorder is, factually. Most modern vehicles store a short window of operating data around a significant event — typically a few seconds before and after an airbag deployment or comparable trigger. It is a snapshot rather than a journey log: figures such as road speed, engine speed, throttle and brake position, and whether seatbelts were fastened. It is not a continuous recording, it does not capture audio or images, and it holds seconds rather than history.
This circuit is the request line. The module responsible for detecting the event — usually the restraints module — signals the engine module to capture and preserve its data. An open circuit means that request may not arrive.
What that costs is evidential rather than mechanical. Nothing about the vehicle's operation changes, no safety system is disabled, and the driver will notice nothing. What may be lost is the record of what happened, which matters in insurance and legal contexts after a collision rather than on the road. Severity is low on that basis: nothing is at risk while driving.
It is worth repairing for the same reason it is worth having, and worth knowing that a fault here can also indicate a wiring problem shared with the restraints system — so if any airbag warning is present as well, that is the fault to pursue, and it is not a low-severity one.
Likely causes
Start here
- Open circuit in the request wiring · moderate
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
Less common
- Damaged wiring harness · moderate
- Faulty restraints control module · specialist
Rare
- Faulty engine control module · specialist
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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