Cause
Aftermarket seat cover or cushion affecting the occupant sensor
Something added to the passenger seat that changes what the seat weighs or how weight spreads across it — a fitted cover, a cushion, a beaded mat, an aftermarket heater pad, or objects wedged underneath.
It belongs on this list because it is a genuinely common cause and the only one on it that costs nothing to test. The occupant classification system decides whether to arm the passenger airbag by weighing the seat and reading how that weight is distributed, and it was calibrated against the seat as built. Anything added sits between the occupant and the sensors and shifts both readings.
Distribution matters as much as weight, which is why a light cover can still cause a fault. The system tells a small adult from a strapped-down child seat by the pattern the load makes — a person's weight sits in two concentrated areas, a rigid child seat base spreads it. A taut cover spreads it too.
A tensioned cover is the worst case, because it pulls down on the cushion even with the seat empty, and the system may read an occupant who is not there.
So before anything is dismantled: strip the seat back to bare and see whether the light clears. It is a five-minute check that regularly saves the cost of a module. If a cover is wanted, only one made for that vehicle and marked as compatible with occupant sensing should be used.
Typically an easy fix. Often worth checking before paying anyone to look.
Codes this can cause (11)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- B00A0 Occupant Classification System Likely for this code High
- B00B0 Driver Seat Occupant Classification Sensor A High
- B00B1 Driver Seat Occupant Classification Sensor B High
- B00B2 Driver Seat Occupant Classification Sensor C High
- B00B3 Driver Seat Occupant Classification Sensor D High
- B00B4 Driver Seat Occupant Classification Sensor E High
- B00C0 Passenger Seat Occupant Classification Sensor A High
- B00C1 Passenger Seat Occupant Classification Sensor B High
- B00C2 Passenger Seat Occupant Classification Sensor C High
- B00C3 Passenger Seat Occupant Classification Sensor D High
- B00C4 Passenger Seat Occupant Classification Sensor E High
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