2005 Hyundai Elantra GLS Airbag Light Related To Passenger Weight Sensor

23646 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by sundug, Jun 26, 2016

icupn

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2012

I have a 2005 Hyundai Elantra GLS. My airbag light has been turning on and off intermittently at first, but now pretty constant. I took it to a dealership and they scanned the SRS system and said the code pointed to the weight sensor in the passnger seat. I went to a salvage yard and picked up a used sensor of the same exact model. I installed it in my vehicle and the airbag light is still on and acting same as before. I decided to test the weight sensor. It's nothing more than two magnets separated by a gap. As the seat (or other magnetic metal) slides between the gap the resistance increases from about 500ohms to 1Kohm. Both the original and salvage yard sensor yealded the exact same results when tested. So my understanding of the sensor it to vary the voltage on the line by adjusting the resistance of the sensor. My next thought was to measure the voltage at the 2 pins from the connector that plugs into the sensor. I measured abot .5 volts across the two pins.

I want to know what the measured voltage should be, or if it is supposed to be tested from a reference point to each pin, or if testing across the two pins is correct. The other option I am considering is bypassing the weight sensor and keeping the airbag on regardless of passenger or not. No children ride in the front seat. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you very much in advance.

icupn

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SuperGLS

· #2 · Mar 6, 2012

One of the common problems with the airbag light is having crap under the seats that somehow mess with the wires/connections.

Clear out anything from under the seat and see if that helps.

Welcome to EXD!

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silversharkXD2

· #3 · Mar 6, 2012

you already know way more than i do about what you just posted, so im no help...lol

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icupn

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 6, 2012

There is nothing under the seat and all the connections look good.

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froqq

· #5 · Mar 7, 2012

I've had an airbag light on for a year or so. I tried all the connections, followed the wiring back, to no avail. Luckily in NY you can pass inspection w/o airbags. So unless you care about your passenger, or that little red light is annoying, I wouldn't pursue it too much further.. Airbags are a complicated and expensive en-devour. Besides the dealer could charge you 1500, just to find out they couldn't figure it out either. Dealer wanted over $100 just to diagnose mine.

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lycan28

· #6 · Mar 7, 2012

icupn said:
There is nothing under the seat and all the connections look good.

I had the exact same issue with my 2006 Elantra GLS back in 2008. My airbag light was staying on. I ran the code and it was coming from the passenger side seat sensor. Even with someone seated and nothing under the seat it would stay on and the "passenger airbag off" light would stay illuminated. I took it to the dealer. They called me that same afternoon and said thier was a factory service notice on those seat cushions. They would have to replace the passenger airbag as well because it only comes as a set. So I ended up getting a brand new seat cushion and new passenger airbag.

I did get a nice suprise when I went to pick it up after the repair was done. My balance due on the paperwork was $0.00.The dealer didn't charge me. They replaced it for free under the electrical warranty. I only had about 2,000 mi left before it expired which I had completely forgotten about. I sure was happy when I drove away that evening. I treated myself to a nice dinner at red lobster that night

froqq said:
I've had an airbag light on for a year or so. I tried all the connections, followed the wiring back, to no avail. Luckily in NY you can pass inspection w/o airbags. So unless you care about your passenger, or that little red light is annoying, I wouldn't pursue it too much further.. Airbags are a complicated and expensive en-devour. Besides the dealer could charge you 1500, just to find out they couldn't figure it out either. Dealer wanted over $100 just to diagnose mine.

I went to Autozone and they pulled the code for free. I gave the dealer the code and they pulled up the service bulletin about that issue. They still ran it anyway and charged the diagnostic fee to Hyundai. It was all covered luckly under the electrical warranty. That's why I always go prepared with the codes. My check engine light before was for bank one lean. Supposedly they didn't know what it was "yeah rigght" and wanted to charge for another one. I found online it was a dirty MAF sensor. I clean it with can of MAF spray and the light never came back

One more note. I don't exactly remember if it was a service bulletin or a factory recall so in any case Hyundai may replace it at no cost. Check at a Hyundai dealer and see.

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froqq

· #7 · Mar 7, 2012

Excellent response lycan. I have an '01 and they claimed I was no longer able to take advantage of the recall. I'm not sure if they just didn't want to deal with it or not but I generally ride solo so I gave up on the issue. If my own airbag doesn't deploy I'm not at all worried because in such an event I'm positive I'll be traveling at reckless speeds

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Alton

· #8 · Oct 28, 2013

not to beet up an old forum but i just found the part to fixthis problem on ebay they are selling 04 05 06 elantra airbag seat sensor emulators it fixes the problems we re having with the airbag light being on do to the fact the seat sensor is broken there is a solution . from this seller on ebay fixourairbaglightnow you can buy theseat sensor bypass unit for like 120.00 better than buying the whole seat for 600.00

fixyourairbaglightnow

fixyourairbaglightnow

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Alton

· #9 · Oct 28, 2013

ill post back when I get my emulator installed and tell all if it works as good as the people that sell it says it does

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sundug

· #10 · Sep 17, 2015

Alton said:
ill post back when I get my emulator installed and tell all if it works as good as the people that sell it says it does

Did it work?

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Elantra2005

· #11 · Sep 18, 2015

SuperGLS said:
One of the common problems with the airbag light is having crap under the seats that somehow mess with the wires/connections.

Clear out anything from under the seat and see if that helps.

Welcome to EXD!

Not only , I had the same problem with old Mazda I used to have.

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sundug

· #12 · Jun 26, 2016

OK, I know this is an old thread, but as I undrstand it, it just deals with the center of dash light saying passenger airbag not working. My problem is the red dash lite infronto of the driver staying lit saying just "airbag". Any help on that? Thanks, Doug

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