Airbag Codes: What They Mean and How to Fix Them

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Airbag warning on a car's dashboard

Airbags are an essential safety feature in cars. When a person is involved in a collision, the airbag deploys to cushion their head and body from injury. But like anything else that gets used over time, there may be some issues with them, and airbag codes will cause your airbag warning light to illuminate.

If your car's airbag light comes on or you notice any other problems, make sure to get it checked out by a mechanic as soon as possible.

Common Airbag Codes

Deployed steering wheel airbag

Code 01: Faulty Internal ECM

Causes:

  • Internal electronic control module (ECM) fault

Code 02: Faulty Firing Circuit, Driver's Airbag

Causes:

  • Firing circuit in the driver's airbag
  • Faulty airbag warning lamp

Code 03: Low Voltage Supply

Causes:

  • Low voltage supply
  • Firing circuit and belt tensioner on the driver's side is not working

Code 04: Faulty Firing Circuit on Driver's Airbag

Causes:

  • Firing circuit and belt tensioner on the passenger's side is not working
  • Firing circuit on the driver's airbag is not working
passenger airbag warning

Code 05: Faulty Firing Circuit Belt Tensioner (Driver Side)

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Firing circuit and belt tensioner on the driver side is not working
  • Firing circuit on the passenger's airbag is not working

Code 06: Faulty Firing Circuit Belt Tensioner (Passenger Side)

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Firing circuit and belt tensioner on the passenger side is not working

Code 07: Firing Circuit Passenger Airbag

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Firing circuit on the passenger airbag is not working

Code 08: Faulty Firing Circuit on Left-Side Airbag

Causes:

  • Firing circuit on the left-side airbag does not work well

Code 09: Faulty Firing Circuit on Right-Side Airbag

Causes:

  • Firing circuit on the right-side airbag does not work well

Code 10: Seat Buckle Switch, Driver

Signal: one flash, pause

Causes:

  • Faulty seat buckle switch on the driver side

passenger airbag

Code 11: Seat Buckle Switch, Passenger

Signal: A flash, pause, a flash

Causes:

  • Faulty seat buckle switch on the passenger side

Code 12: Lost Battery Feed

Signal: A flash, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Internal ECM fault
  • Lost Battery Feed
  • Low Battery Voltage
  • Faulty RCM
  • Faulty left-side sensor

Code 13: Airbag Circuit Has Shorted to Ground

Signal: A flash, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Airbag shorted to ground
  • Crash data memory full
  • Faulty data from the left-side sensor
  • Internal ECM fault

Code 14: Primary Crash Sensor Shorted to Ground

Signal:  flash, pause, 4 flashes

Causes:

  • Internal ECM fault
  • Primary crash sensor shorted
  • Faulty left-side sensor
  • Open airbag diagnostic monitor ground circuit

Code 21: Diagnostic Monitor Not Properly Mounted

Signal: 2 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty pressure sensor on driver's side
  • Failure on front airbag circuit
  • Safing sensor is not mounted correctly to the vehicle
  • Open circuit on the satellite right-side airbag sensor

Airbag graphical warning and instructions

Code 22: Safing Center Output Circuit Has Shorted to Battery Voltage

Signal: 2 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty pressure sensor on the passenger side
  • Defective airbag circuit on the driver side seat
  • Shorted safing sensor output circuit due to low battery voltage
  • Shorted sensor output due to low battery voltage

Code 23: Memory Clear Circuit Improperly Grounded

Signal: 2 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Memory clear circuit is improperly grounded
  • Defective airbag circuit on the driver side seat
  • Safing sensor input feed circuit is open

Code 24: System Disarm Failure or Internal Diagnostic Monitor

Signal: 2 flashes, pause, 4 flashes

Causes:

  • Safing sensor output feed circuit is open
  • Seat belt lock switched on driver's side
  • System disarm failure

Code 32: Driver-side Airbag Has a Circuit Open or With High Resistance

Signal: 3 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Open or high-resistance driver-side airbag circuit

Code 33: Passenger-side Airbag Has a Circuit Open or With High Resistance

Signal: 3 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Failure in the driver pretensioner circuit
  • Open or high-resistance passenger-side airbag circuit

Code 34: Low-resistance or Shorted Circuit, Driver-side Airbag

Signal: 3 flashes, pause, 4 flashes

Causes:

  • Failure in the passenger pretensioner circuit
  • Driver-side airbag has a shorted circuit or one with low resistance

Code 35: Shorted Circuit or Low-resistance, Passenger-side Airbag

Signal: 3 flashes, pause, 5 flashes

Causes:

  • Passenger-side airbag has a shorted circuit or one with low resistance

Code 41: Open Circuit Right-hand Primary Crash Sensor Feed, Right

Signal: 4 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty right-hand primary crash sensor feed
  • Faulty right-hand radiator primary crash sensor feed

Code 42:Open Circuit Right-hand Primary Crash Sensor Feed, Left

Signal: 4 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty left-hand primary crash sensor feed
  • Faulty left-hand radiator primary crash sensor feed
  • Failure on front impact severity sensor

Code 43: Impact Sensor Circuit Failure, Driver Side

Signal: 4 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Impact sensor status failed on the driver side

Code 44: Impact Sensor Circuit Failure, Passenger Side

Signal: 4 flashes, pause, 4 flashes

Causes:

  • Impact sensor status failed on the driver side
  • Right-hand primary crash sensor is not mounted correctly to the vehicle
  • Right-hand radiator primary crash sensor is not mounted correctly to the vehicle

Airbag warning

Code 45: Left Radiator Crash Sensor is Not Mounted Properly

Signal: 4 flashes, pause, 5 flashes

Causes:

  • Left-hand primary crash sensor is not mounted correctly to the vehicle
  • Left-hand radiator primary crash sensor is not mounted correctly to the vehicle

Code 51: Blown Fuse on Airbag Diagnostic Monitor

Signal: 5 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty circuit on driver safety belt buckle
  • Driver Safety Belt Buckle Switch Circuit Short to Ground
  • Driver Safety Belt Buckle Switch Resistance Out of Range
  • Airbag diagnostic monitor's internal fuse is blown
  • Faulty internal ECM

Code 52: Faulty Back-up Power Supply

Signal: 5 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty backup power supply voltage boost
  • Intermittent lost battery feed
  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Faulty circuit on passenger safety belt buckle switch
  • Passenger safety belt buckle shorted to ground
  • Out-of range resistance on passenger safety belt buckle

Code 53: Primary Crash Sensor Circuits (High Resistance)

Signal: 5 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Airbag tone warning indicator circuit failure
  • Airbag tone warning indicator short to battery
  • Intermittent or repaired airbag circuit shorted to ground
  • Internal ECM fault
  • Front crash sensor has high resistance, or the diagnostic monitor has failed

Code 61: Diagnostic Monitor Not Mounted Properly

Signal: 6 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Faulty seat belt lock on passenger-side
  • Intermittent or repaired diagnostic monitor not mounted to the vehicle properly

Code 62: Intermittent or Repaired Safing Sensor Shorted to Battery Voltage

Signal: 6 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Faulty seat belt lock on passenger-side
  • Intermittent or repaired diagnostic monitor not mounted to the vehicle properly

Code 63: Improperly Grounded Intermittent or Repaired Memory Clear Circuit

Signal: 6 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Faulty right rear seatbelt lock
  • Intermittent or repaired memory clear circuit not adequately grounded
Passenger airbag on light

Code 71: Faulty Seat Occupancy Detector 2

Signal: 7 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty seat occupancy detector
  • Faulty internal ECM

Code 72: Seat Armrests Locking Without K-Bus

Signal: 7 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • High-resistance or open intermittent or repaired airbag circuit on the driver's side

Code 73: Seat Armrests Locking, Driver's Seat Module

Signal: 7 flashes, pause, 3 flashes

Causes:

  • High-resistance or open intermittent or repaired Airbag circuit on the passenger's side
  • Short circuit between the squibs
  • Faulty driver's seat module

Code 74: Seat Armrests Locking, Passenger's Seat Module

Signal: 7 flashes, pause, 4 flashes

Causes:

  • Low resistance or shorted repaired airbag circuit on the driver's side
  • Faulty passenger seat module (armrests locking)

Code 81: Faulty Sensor on Left Side Airbag

Signal: 8 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty sensor on left side airbag
  • Faulty right-hand radiator primary crash sensor feed

Code 87: Faulty Coupling Sensor, Left Side Airbag

Signal: 8 flashes, pause, 7 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty coupling sensor

Code 91: Faulty Crash Telegram Memory

Signal: 9 flashes, pause, 1 flash

Causes:

  • Faulty crash memory

Code 92: Incorrect Coding

Signal: 9 flashes, pause, 2 flashes

Causes:

  • Faulty internal ECM
  • Faulty internal coding

Quick Fix For Airbag Codes

Check All Airbag Placements

Depending on your car make and model, you can find the airbags on these locations:

  • Steering wheel (driver)
  • Upper left side of the dash (passenger side)
  • Lower dash
  • Seats
  • Seatbelts
  • Roof pillars
  • Roof structures

Check and Replace the Wire Harness If It is Damaged

  • Disconnect the black terminal on your car battery.
  • Open the cover of the airbag module you want to work on to see the wire harness.
  • Push the protective corrugated housing away from the wire that needs replacement, then cut the wire harness behind the wire connector housing for easier reconnection.
  • Strip the ends of the existing and new wire harness, overlap them, then cover with a blue pressure contact sleeve.
  • Crimp the middle of the pressure contact sleeve to close. You can see the text "Close Here" so you won't crimp wrong.
  • Protect the joined section with silicon tape. Push back the corrugated housing, then reassemble the airbag module to its original position.

Replace Defective Airbags

  • Disconnect the negative battery terminal, then let it discharge for 30 seconds before working on your airbags.
  • Remove the airbag module, depending on its location. When working on the steering wheel module, special care should be taken to know its alignment when you reassemble it.
  • Disconnect the airbag connections, then remove the defective airbag.
  • Reinstall a new airbag, reset the sensors, then return the SRS modules to their original position.
  • Do a test drive to see if your airbag light is gone.

Replace the Faulty Diagnosis Sensor Unit

  • Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
  • Find the airbag sensor inside the front bumper or the fender and near where the other airbags are.
  • Run a full scan of your OBD2 scanner. Choose one that also reads ABS and SRS codes to see where the defect lies in your SRS module.
  • Check your airbag sensor with a multimeter. Its current should not exceed 10mA.
  • Disconnect the electrical connections on your SRS module to remove the faulty sensor.
  • Replace with a new sensor, then reassemble the module.

Airbag Deployment

Airbags work with a sensor technology that detects various accidents, from frontal and side collisions to being hit into an object or taking a fall. 

Along with identifying the type of accident, sensors detect when speeds are slower or how many passengers require airbags. As soon as the sensor detects an inevitable accident, it triggers and deploys in 50 milliseconds.

Facts About Airbags

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that faulty Takata airbags have resulted in more than 180 injuries worldwide since 2008.
  • Airbags should not be replaced unless they are deployed or visibly damaged.
  • Airbags work only for adults. It may cause severe injuries to children under 5 feet.
  • Airbags only work if you're adequately strapped in your car seat.
  • Airbags are now used for extreme sports like skiing and cycling to protect the neck and head of the users.

Most Common Injuries From Faulty Airbags

Common airbag injuries are:

  • Abrasions, contusions, concussions, and fractures to the upper body
  • Damage to internal organs
  • Burns and injuries to the upper extremities
  • Brain and spine damage
  • Airbag dermatitis
  • Allergic reactions to airbag gases
  • Eye injuries
  • Hearing loss
  • Internal bleeding
  • Injuries on pregnant women and their fetus

Common Causes of Airbag Injury

  • Failure to wear the proper seat belt
  • Children riding in the front seat
  • Children without appropriate car seats
  • Seats too near from the airbag deployment area

Conclusion

It's always important to stay on top of any potential issues with your airbags. If you notice that the warning light is on or other problems, it's best to have a full OBD2 scan, then fix your SRS module. 

Have you checked your car’s airbag codes lately? Let us know in the comments.