"airbag off" due to poor electrical connection.

Was on a long trip and noticed that the airbag off light was illuminated.

Being as I'm fond of my partner who was sitting next to me, I pulled over and started jiggling wires around under her seat.

Apparently I did something right, because the airbag came back on, but I'm wondering specifically which connection I need to look into deeper?

I don't want an intermittent electrical fault to be the reason my partners airbags don't deploy in an accident.

Under the seat, which plug do I need to investigate deeply?

And because it's going to be asked, her seatbelt was on, she weighs enough, it's a 2017 off-road access cab.

 

The SRS connectors will usually be yellow and have some kind of locking mechanism. They get stressed easily from the seat moving back and forth and people shoving stuff under the seat

Funny story, years ago my coworker was looking at a fancy Porsche with a stuck passenger seat. The seat motor was trying to turn but couldn't move the seat and the SRS light was on. He found a giant Wyatt Earp revolver with a 10" barrel stuck under there jamming things up.

 

Thanks, I'm going to look into that plug more deeply.

Would putting heat shrink tubing over the connector/wire help with stress relief?

 

You'd never be able to take the connector apart with tubing over it, without cutting..

Might be a brittle spot in a wire, can you do some resistance checks with a DMM while wiggling the harness around?

 

So I have been scratching my head about this non-stop.

I've only had a few other people in my vehicle besides my girlfriend, but they have all managed to activate the airbag with no issue.

My girlfriend is 85 lbs. Is it possible that she does not weigh enough? Is it possible that she is right on the verge, which would explain why it only sometimes activates?

Is there some way that I can hotwire the pressure sensor in the seat (is it just as simple as connecting the wires together?) so that the pressure sensor always shows there is sufficient weight in the seat?

I don't care if the passenger airbag goes off in an accident when no one is in that seat.

 

My partner is under 100lbs and sometimes the pass airbag stays off for her, and sometimes it’s on. Seems she’s right on the edge of its limit. I assume its working as intended. Lighter/smaller humans are at risk of damage from the bags apparently. Go for a drive with a slightly heavier human and see how the system responds.

Edit- Just for fun, years ago I was trying to get a Chev Tahoe on the road and needed to get the airbag light off for inspection. (Malfunction light, not the pass seat light) The pass seat weight sensor (which appears to be a bag full of gelatinous liquid with a pressure sensor) had burst and had no pressure inside to keep system happy.

Part was expense. I cut the hose and threw away the bag, and stuck in a schraider valve and added air with a bike pump to trick the pressure switch into thinking someone was always in the seat. Light went off and I was able to get it on the road. I never had passengers and planned to remove the passenger seat so safety wasn’t a concern. Couldn’t just remove seat for inspection because that triggers the malfunction light too lol. Fun times. But don’t do that. Your truck is likely working as intended.

 

I for one would not attempt any redneck engineering for an airbag issue. That would make for a personal injury attorney's dream case.

PS: have your Chica sit in the seat and put some free weights on her lap and see if the light goes out.

 

Not air bag related but same year I have 230+ k miles on mine and I lost my horn around 180k mi . One day I was driving to work long story short thought someone was honking at me and it was my horn stuck on . I was on i-5 surrounded by vehicles doing 60mph . Eventually after a few miles you could hear the horn was dying then it stopped after investigation my horn burned out and my conclusion was there is a wire assembly really short connection in the steering wheel that got well worn out I guess causing this to happen . Only thing on my 2017 that took a .

 

You might have to scan the system codes. I've seen a few where a passenger weight calibration was needed to get it working correctly. It involves a capable scan tool and some materials that you can add/subtract to achieve a specific weight on the seat, like 60 lbs or so. I think I used jugs of coolant

 

If I recall, 105ish lbs is the cutoff Per gov regulation. But I think it varies by mfg and can be less than that

 

So by this point I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with these seat sensor. The dash lights now sometimes illuminate, sometimes go out completely. (No airbag on or off light) It doesn't just not detect that there is weight in the seat, the light goes out completely and comes back now. I notice it flickering when I'm driving down a smooth highway.

No codes or anything.

So I'm ready to start throwing parts at it. Can anybody tell me what I need to buy to replace the control module / wiring to the seat?

Any other ideas?

Anybody around Pittsburgh, certified, that would be interested in some under the table work?