I purchased a 2005 F150 XLT Supercrew last week, and have a question regarding the passenger side airbag. When i turn on the ignition and crank the motor, the "Passenger Airbag Off" light comes on (above the radio) for about 3 secs then goes off. This happens whether someone is in the passenger seat or not. Shouldn't this light stay on if the passenger seat is unoccupied? I'm not getting any code or indication of an airbag problem from the gauge panel area (speedo, tacho area) itself.

My wife's Xterra has a sensor in the seat that will automatically turn the passenger airbag on/off depending on the weight in the passenger seat. I assumed my truck was similar, but since the airbag light never shows a constant "Passenger Airbag Off" light, i fear that it's on 24/7. Is this normal for the light to come on/off regardless of passenger seat occupance or is there a seat sensor that i should check?

 

That's normal.

 

What factor makes it turn on/off? No weight/over 35lbs = On, 5-35lbs=Off? (just threw in some numbers on that one).

 

Sounds normal... my 47 pound dog causes the airbag to shut off.

 

I honestly don't know if the 05 is like my 03, but on mine, the only way to turn the passenger bag on and off is with a key. The light is on for a few seconds on startup while it's going through a readiness test - same as the master airbag light in my cluster.

 

My 02 Chevy had a key for the airbag on/off, but my F150 doesn't so i was concerned. I sometimes have my nephew ride with me, and my wife and I are expecting our first child in 2 months so i'm trying to find out what shuts it off

 

I understand - have you looked in the owner's manual? (If you don't have it you can download it)

 

Thank you for this! Found it, page 131 of the "5th printing" manual...

https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenan...ls/results.asp

 

Just remember is an American truck not a Nissan Works a bit differently.


But yea it will turn on and off depending on the weight in the seat. I think its like 45 pounds mabey? not sure on the weight.

But it turns on for 3 seconds for a self check of the system and when it checks out it turns the light off and the airbag is now active.

 

It's normal. If you drive around with something 20 to 40 lbs or so in that seat, that's when the light will stay on and the airbag will be off.

 

i found the deciding factor with the light to be the seat belt. I had 4 dvds in the front seat, no light (airbag on). I latched the seat belt in the passenger side, light came on (airbag off).