crzyjarmans45

On you passenger side air bag light on the dash, does it go out after initial start up?, mine goes out after a few seconds of the truck running, but at times, the light will come back on for a few minutes, then flicker a few times then go back out, Ford says its normal

freddyttt

it stays on when you have a passenger.... or it should!

crzyjarmans45

On my '14, the passenger side airbag light will come on at initial start up, showing "off" after about 3-5 seconds it goes out, which generally means it been activated, but it does this with or with out anyone in the seat, fords telling me this is normal, never had a truck do this, if no one in the seat, "off light" for air bag in lite, indicating airbags is deactivated, once someone or heavy enough weight is placed on the seat, the light goes out, indicating the airbag has activated, been that way with every truck I've owned, my wife '15 focus doesn't do this, hers stays on when passenger seat is unoccupied, I asked ford to show me a ouch that does what mine does, but said they don't have another truck, I pointed to at least 15 I saw on their lot, but said, their not the same, guess I'll have to try another dealership

vitafortis

My passenger airbag "off" light only comes on when I have a small child or decently heavy object in the seat. It appears to have a weight sensor.

Duro

In my 14', the light will only go off if there is nothing on the seat.
As soon as I have a binder, my 25 lbs daughter or my 110 lbs wife, then it starts acting up. It lights up then shuts down, flickers, simply does what it wants.

Being worried about my wife not having airbags while sitting there, I took a video, brought it Ford, and they said there is not much they can do.

I believe its related to the pressure sensor.

vitafortis

Definitely sounds like a pressure sensor error. I'm not sure where the sensor is located, so I can't suggest where to look. You could try looking online for diagrams.

Your daughter should trip the sensor so it doesn't turn on because she's too small to be hit with an airbag and be ok, but your wife shouldn't trip the sensor, she should weigh enough.

chickenwire

Most seat sensors operate on the fail safe that the air bag is off until a passenger of sufficient weight is in the seat. Too light/small of a passenger can be seriously injured or killed by the force of the bag.

Many vehicles now use multiple sensors in addition to the "weight" in the seat to determine the physical size of the occupant also. (Don't know if the F150 does so.)

The seat sensors are usually a "mat" in the seat itself, under the upholstery and/or in the foam. They have multiple points that measure resistance of a voltage as pressure changes over them.

It could be a weak or poor connection such as with a plug under the seat or at the body control module. Or if you have a weight on the seat and hit a bump, for example, it may momentarily think someone is in the seat and the light goes out after a period of time that it considers the seat vacant again.

crzyjarmans45

Thanks for the replies, never had a truck with a "off" light for passenger airbags that didn't stay on when seat was unoccupied, the light would come back on periodically for a few minutes then flicker, then go back out, not sure what the weight limit is to activate the air bag, my wife is about 105 lbs, will need to look up what weight activates the airbag

chickenwire

Federal regulations do not specify a specific weight at which passenger-side airbags must be turned on or off. Instead, automakers must meet a performance standard that in a frontal collision the airbag protects a crash dummy that represents a “5th percentile female” and weighs about 108 pounds.Mar 4, 2010

Sounds like you hit a bump and she's flickering that light!

Have an '07 Solstice and the "off" light stays on constantly. Pretty annoying especially driving at night. Many owners black it out, which is probably not a good idea either. The passenger seat sensor is also prone to failure on the vehicle, probably because it's so small many owners kneel in the middle of the seat when cleaning or retrieving something from the interior.

Probably good practice for owners of any vehicle to avoid doing that - kneeling or putting your elbow in the center of the seat during cleaning or maintenance. (Also, keeping kids from standing on it!)