Airbag light

[dmichaelson]

When there's someone in the passenger seat, my passenger airbag light says "Passenger: Airbag ON"..But how come when there's no passenger, it sometimes says "Passenger: OFF Airbag" and at other times just "Passenger: Airbag" (neither on nor off is lit)? It doesn't seem to change while I'm driving, it's either one or the other for the duration of the trip...Anyone know?

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by dmichaelson »When there's someone in the passenger seat, my passenger airbag light says "Passenger: Airbag ON"..But how come when there's no passenger, it sometimes says "Passenger: OFF Airbag" and at other times just "Passenger: Airbag" (neither on nor off is lit)? It doesn't seem to change while I'm driving, it's either one or the other for the duration of the trip...Anyone know?This has to do with having a child seat in the front seat, when the airbag should be off.There is a sensor in the seat that detects when wieght is present, and a sensor in the seat belt that detects when buckled.No weight on seat:Just "Airbag" (but it's off)Weight on seat, seatbelt buckled:"Airbag ON" - lets you know it's on as it thinks there is a passenger.NO weight on seat, seatbelt buckled:"OFF Airbag" - confirms that it's off as it sees the belt is buckled, but no weight is on the seat sensor. This is usually the case with child seats put in the front seat - it confirms that it really is off, since you don't want it on when there is a child seat in the front.(It's also supposed to be off for short adults and children - which it attempts to determine by weight).(Edited - I had this last one backwards first.)

[dmichaelson]

Thanks.. there must be a little more to it since there's no child seat and I'm the only one in the car at these times, so it's not the seatbelt being buckled.. maybe it also has to do with putting a small amount of weight on the seat such as a bag at the beginning of the trip; perhaps it sees that as a potential child even without the seatbelt buckled (although it's not enough weight to trigger the seatbelt alarm). Anyway sounds like it's probably not a malfunction.

[miked]

If you put luggage on the seat, whan you start there's an alarm that will beep for about 30 sec. After it stop beeping. But the airbag lites up.Don't know if on or off appear.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by dmichaelson »Thanks.. there must be a little more to it since there's no child seat and I'm the only one in the car at these times, so it's not the seatbelt being buckled.. maybe it also has to do with putting a small amount of weight on the seat such as a bag at the beginning of the trip; perhaps it sees that as a potential child even without the seatbelt buckled (although it's not enough weight to trigger the seatbelt alarm). Anyway sounds like it's probably not a malfunction.If it detects any weight, it should set off the seatbelt alarm.Perhaps there is an intermittent problem with the seatbelt sensor, where sometimes it thinks the seatbelt is buckled. In this case, it would see no weight but buckled belt occasionally when you start the car, and so would turn on the "OFF" light.BTW, the "OFF Airbag" light should only come on when you first start the car, and not during driving. (As far as I know).PS- The belt sensor is actually a switch. When the belt is unbuckled, the switch is "connected". When the belt is buckled, the switch is "open" or "disconnected". Therefore, if there was a loose wire or something, it might periodically disconnect the circuit when unbuckled.

[dmichaelson]

So it turns out there's a weight sensor involved with the airbag light as well, and with the seatbelt unbuckled it's not the same weight as the seatbelt alarm..Talking about the passenger seat:With belt unbuckled:- No weight in seat: "AIRBAG" (and apparently airbag doesn't deploy when the light is like this)- Little weight in seat (like a light backpack): "AIRBAG"- More weight in seat (like a heavy backpack): "OFF Airbag", but no seatbelt light or alarm- Significant weight in seat (like a rolling suitcase or an adult): "Airbag ON", and seatbelt light/alarmWith belt buckled:- No or little weight in seat: "OFF Airbag"- More weight in seat (like a child in a childseat): "OFF Airbag"- Significant weight in seat (like an adult): "Airbag ON"Now, I'll go count all the matchsticks in my kitchen drawer.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by dmichaelson »So it turns out there's a weight sensor involved with the airbag light as well, and with the seatbelt unbuckled it's not the same weight as the seatbelt alarm..Talking about the passenger seat:With belt unbuckled:- No weight in seat: "AIRBAG" (and apparently airbag doesn't deploy when the light is like this)- Little weight in seat (like a light backpack): "AIRBAG"- More weight in seat (like a heavy backpack): "OFF Airbag", but no seatbelt light or alarm- Significant weight in seat (like a rolling suitcase or an adult): "Airbag ON", and seatbelt light/alarmWith belt buckled:- No or little weight in seat: "OFF Airbag"- More weight in seat (like a child in a childseat): "OFF Airbag"- Significant weight in seat (like an adult): "Airbag ON"Now, I'll go count all the matchsticks in my kitchen drawer."The Definitive Airbag Light" - D. MichaelsonThanks for posting that! That'll be more helpful in answering people's questions than the less thorough investigation I did.

[dmichaelson]

Quote, originally posted by GMJAP »"The Definitive Airbag Light" - D. Michaelson