Think my passenger airbag is screwed up

brick · 01-20-2007, 09:34 PM

As if driving 65 miles against a 30+mph headwind wasn't bad enough, my girlfriend noticed and pointed out to me that her airbag was turned off. Not good! Sure enough it was displaying "Airbag OFF" right in front of her. Is your seatbelt buckled? Yes. Are you sitting properly? Yes. And she's pretty light-weight but definitely more than 60lb. Once we stopped I turned the car off and then on again to see it it would repeat itself, and sure enough the airbag reported being off. Same after a second try.

Clearly, this thing is going back to visit the dealer. My guess is that the weight sensor need to be recalibrated or something but I won't know until I take it in. I just wondered if anybody else has had this problem? This is an '07, purchased about a month ago.

**EDIT**

Yeah, I think it's the weight sensor. I just went out and tried it with me in the seat and it does respond correctly with my 190lb self sitting there.

V8Cobrakid · 01-20-2007, 10:10 PM

is the seat too far forward. There is a sensor on the guide rails.

JimN · 01-20-2007, 10:27 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ Jan 20 2007, 09:34 PM) [snapback]378466[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

As if driving 65 miles against a 30+mph headwind wasn't bad enough, my girlfriend noticed and pointed out to me that her airbag was turned off. Not good! Sure enough it was displaying "Airbag OFF" right in front of her. Is your seatbelt buckled? Yes. Are you sitting properly? Yes. And she's pretty light-weight but definitely more than 60lb. Once we stopped I turned the car off and then on again to see it it would repeat itself, and sure enough the airbag reported being off. Same after a second try.

Clearly, this thing is going back to visit the dealer. My guess is that the weight sensor need to be recalibrated or something but I won't know until I take it in. I just wondered if anybody else has had this problem? This is an '07, purchased about a month ago.

**EDIT**

Yeah, I think it's the weight sensor. I just went out and tried it with me in the seat and it does respond correctly with my 190lb self sitting there.
[/b]

As long as it's going back to the shop, does the seat belt alarm work? I tell my unbuckled passengers that it is the passenger ejector seat arming. :P I put my laptop on the seat and it triggered the alarm so now I don't put stuff on the seat.

judymcfarland · 01-21-2007, 12:18 AM

This happened on my 2007 the first time my daughter rode with me. (she's an adult) When we noticed it, I pulled over to the side, stopped the car. She got out, got back in & everything was fine. Definitely something I'll mention when I go in for service & something I'll watch for - I don't often have a passenger, but this was the first time the sensor didn't seem to notice that a passenger was on board.

qbee42 · 01-21-2007, 12:39 AM

Make sure nothing is under the passenger's seat (except the JBL stereo). If you stuff a purse under there, it will interfere with the weight sensor.

Tom

adam1991 · 04-04-2007, 06:44 PM

Picked up my 07 about 2.5 weeks ago. No real problems. But this morning, after the temperature dropped from 80 yesterday to 35 this morning, my wife gets in the passenger seat and gets the "airbag off" light. Actually, it moves between on and off as I drive--go over bumps, turn the corner, etc. and that seems to trigger it to switch.

Put me in the pass. seat, airbag on all the time. My dad, airbag on all the time.

Then later in the day my wife gets in with her big down coat, and airbag on all the time.

It's going in tomorrow afternoon for them to look at this. The owner's manual is quite clear on this being a malfunction; in general, we should NEVER see the "off" light on the passenger airbag, even when no one is sitting there.

I suspect a calibration issue.

And no, there's nothing under the seat at all.

And naturally, since the temperature dropped so dramatically, the tire pressure light went on, too. What a nanny car. Yeah, it was 80 degrees the last time I drove it, then I parked it overnight and the next time I got in it was 35 degrees. Yeah, that's going to create some pressure differential. Can't the car make an evaluation based on ambient temperatures? Must it be so absolute?

And there's no way to do a simple reset in this situation; the only cure is "put more air in the tire". Which tire? I can put them all back to factory spec, but that won't fix the problem or the light. The same volume of air at 80 is higher pressure than at 35, and the stupid sensor knows only "hey, I saw a big drop in pressure between the last time I looked and now". I know of no real way to fix this problem, other than to let it get back up to 80 degrees with the same volume of air inside the tires.

Bill Merchant · 04-04-2007, 07:53 PM

If you are sure you have adequate tire pressure, press the TPMS reset button under the steering wheel. It's right next to the SKS button if you have SKS.

adam1991 · 04-04-2007, 08:05 PM

Mine, too. 2.5 weeks old Prius, out of the blue, my wife--yeah, slender, but she's not child-size--can't make the airbag "ON" light illuminate with any confidence. It switches between off and on as I drive.

Me, it lights up no problem. My dad, no problem.

The dealer will fix it tomorrow. But all these doodads are just failure points that in the end will make every car not very environmentally friendly--because we'll be driving them many fewer miles than we otherwise could have, due to doodad failures.

JimN · 04-04-2007, 11:32 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Apr 4 2007, 08:05 PM) [snapback]417910[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Mine, too. 2.5 weeks old Prius, out of the blue, my wife--yeah, slender, but she's not child-size--can't make the airbag "ON" light illuminate with any confidence. It switches between off and on as I drive.

Me, it lights up no problem. My dad, no problem.

The dealer will fix it tomorrow. But all these doodads are just failure points that in the end will make every car not very environmentally friendly--because we'll be driving them many fewer miles than we otherwise could have, due to doodad failures.
[/b]

It sounds like the Prius is your first car. There are millions of cars on the road without airbags. There are probably still some on the road without seat belts. Have you ever used duct (or duck) tape for an automotive repair? I wouldn't worry about taking a car out of service for a doodad failure. However, if the doodad, thingamajig, doohickey, and whatchamacallit fail you might be in serious trouble. :P

adam1991 · 04-05-2007, 06:40 AM

This Prius is far, far from my first car.

But let's face it: the "ooo, I have to have a new car every three years" mentality, combined with the gaggle of doodad failure points, means cars aren't being driven as long as they could be. The public is demanding more resources to build new cars, and the old cars have to be disposed of.

01-20-2007, 09:34 PM	#1
brick Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Columbia, SC Posts: 895 My Car: 2007 Prius Model: Package: #2 Thanks: 10 Thanked 21 Times in 15 Posts Friends: 0	As if driving 65 miles against a 30+mph headwind wasn't bad enough, my girlfriend noticed and pointed out to me that her airbag was turned off. Not good! Sure enough it was displaying "Airbag OFF" right in front of her. Is your seatbelt buckled? Yes. Are you sitting properly? Yes. And she's pretty light-weight but definitely more than 60lb. Once we stopped I turned the car off and then on again to see it it would repeat itself, and sure enough the airbag reported being off. Same after a second try. Clearly, this thing is going back to visit the dealer. My guess is that the weight sensor need to be recalibrated or something but I won't know until I take it in. I just wondered if anybody else has had this problem? This is an '07, purchased about a month ago. EDIT Yeah, I think it's the weight sensor. I just went out and tried it with me in the seat and it does respond correctly with my 190lb self sitting there. __________________ Improvements: Analog Tach, ScanGauge II, RadioShack EV Button, Turn Signal DRLs, dogfriend Seat Mod, some bits of pipe insulation stuck in my grill, and whatever I'm forgetting. 53.4mpg @ 54,000mi

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01-20-2007, 10:10 PM	#2
V8Cobrakid Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: hell Posts: 2,894 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: N/A Package: #9 Thanks: 9 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts Friends: 5	is the seat too far forward. There is a sensor on the guide rails.

01-21-2007, 12:18 AM	#4
judymcfarland Queen of Moral Indignation Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Glendale, WI Posts: 575 My Car: 2007 Prius Model: Package: #3 Touring Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 7	This happened on my 2007 the first time my daughter rode with me. (she's an adult) When we noticed it, I pulled over to the side, stopped the car. She got out, got back in & everything was fine. Definitely something I'll mention when I go in for service & something I'll watch for - I don't often have a passenger, but this was the first time the sensor didn't seem to notice that a passenger was on board.

01-21-2007, 12:39 AM	#5
qbee42 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 10,472 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #7 Thanks: 94 Thanked 387 Times in 289 Posts Friends: 10	Make sure nothing is under the passenger's seat (except the JBL stereo). If you stuff a purse under there, it will interfere with the weight sensor. Tom

04-04-2007, 06:44 PM	#6
adam1991 Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 220 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Picked up my 07 about 2.5 weeks ago. No real problems. But this morning, after the temperature dropped from 80 yesterday to 35 this morning, my wife gets in the passenger seat and gets the "airbag off" light. Actually, it moves between on and off as I drive--go over bumps, turn the corner, etc. and that seems to trigger it to switch. Put me in the pass. seat, airbag on all the time. My dad, airbag on all the time. Then later in the day my wife gets in with her big down coat, and airbag on all the time. It's going in tomorrow afternoon for them to look at this. The owner's manual is quite clear on this being a malfunction; in general, we should NEVER see the "off" light on the passenger airbag, even when no one is sitting there. I suspect a calibration issue. And no, there's nothing under the seat at all. And naturally, since the temperature dropped so dramatically, the tire pressure light went on, too. What a nanny car. Yeah, it was 80 degrees the last time I drove it, then I parked it overnight and the next time I got in it was 35 degrees. Yeah, that's going to create some pressure differential. Can't the car make an evaluation based on ambient temperatures? Must it be so absolute? And there's no way to do a simple reset in this situation; the only cure is "put more air in the tire". Which tire? I can put them all back to factory spec, but that won't fix the problem or the light. The same volume of air at 80 is higher pressure than at 35, and the stupid sensor knows only "hey, I saw a big drop in pressure between the last time I looked and now". I know of no real way to fix this problem, other than to let it get back up to 80 degrees with the same volume of air inside the tires.

04-04-2007, 07:53 PM	#7
Bill Merchant absit invidia Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA \| Oregon \| Portland area \| 97004 \| Posts: 4,100 My Car: 2007 Prius Model: Package: #5 Thanks: 18 Thanked 10 Times in 8 Posts Friends: 60	If you are sure you have adequate tire pressure, press the TPMS reset button under the steering wheel. It's right next to the SKS button if you have SKS.

04-04-2007, 08:05 PM	#8
adam1991 Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 220 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Mine, too. 2.5 weeks old Prius, out of the blue, my wife--yeah, slender, but she's not child-size--can't make the airbag "ON" light illuminate with any confidence. It switches between off and on as I drive. Me, it lights up no problem. My dad, no problem. The dealer will fix it tomorrow. But all these doodads are just failure points that in the end will make every car not very environmentally friendly--because we'll be driving them many fewer miles than we otherwise could have, due to doodad failures.

04-05-2007, 06:40 AM	#10
adam1991 Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 220 My Car: Model: Package: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	This Prius is far, far from my first car. But let's face it: the "ooo, I have to have a new car every three years" mentality, combined with the gaggle of doodad failure points, means cars aren't being driven as long as they could be. The public is demanding more resources to build new cars, and the old cars have to be disposed of.