I understand that if a passenger is leaning their weight against the side of the seat, the light will come on.

BUT, my light also comes on AT RANDOM, with nobody sitting there.

I even try and squeeze the side airbags with no luck.

Anybody else have this issue?

 

My airbag light doesn't come on when the seat is leaned on. I think you possibly either have a switch or a sensor problem somewhere.

 

do you have anything on the seat either... or a cell phone near it? I know that my lunch (a sandwhich, can of soda, and water [maybe 4 lbs]) will make the light go off if it is sitting there. Or, if you have a phone near it, it may set if off also. But if neither of these are the issue, you have to take the car to get it checked out as there may be a problem with the system.

 

^^^ Strange...

 

yeah. your not kidding. my light kept going on and off randomly, and i was thinking wtf?? So i smacked the seat and still nothing. I then took my lunch off the seat and off it went. I didn't think it would have been that sensitive, but I guess it was.

 

The system is the OPDS. Occupant position detection system. There is a set of wires in the seat back which have a 120,000 hz A/C signal generated in them. The presence of the water in your body creates a voltage drop in the wires. The wires are positioned in such a way that the control unit can tell if you are not sitting in the middle of the seat.

The purpose of the system is to prevent the side air bag from going off if you are leaning against the door, sleeping. You could be killed by the airbag!

If something near the sensor creates a voltage drop that the control unit suspects is a person not sitting properly in the seat, it will disable the side airbag and trip the indicator. A wet seat or humidity in the car can cause this as well. There really shouldnt be a problem with the system unless the actual SRS light comes on.

 

Interesting

 

Where did you get this info from?

I need to check my service manual....

The light goes off when I give the seatback a few good whacks..

..temporarily.

 

I'm a dealership technician. I learned about it at school.