U0454: Invalid Data Received From Side Restraints Control Module — Right
What to do
The airbag warning light here means the side airbags and curtain on the right of the car may not deploy in a crash.
Everything at U0453 applies: ask whether that door has had any work — a skin replaced, a window mechanism or lock repaired, a speaker fitted, a hole drilled — because on many cars the side impact is detected by the pressure spike inside the door, and anything that changes how well the door seals changes what the sensor reads. Water from blocked door drains is the other common cause.
If warnings have appeared for both sides at once, that is worth saying. Two separate units failing at the same moment is unlikely; something feeding both of them is the far better explanation, and chasing each side separately wastes the diagnosis.
Do not have the light cleared, do not accept a second-hand airbag module, and refuse any offer to fit a resistor in place of a sensor.
What this code means
The right side restraints module is broadcasting data that cannot be accepted as true. Everything at U0453 applies unchanged — how side impacts are sensed, why door sealing matters, and the restraints safety rules at U0452.
The one thing worth adding is that left and right are not symmetrical in service history, and it is useful when deciding what to suspect.
The kerbside door takes the wear. On a left-hand-drive market that is the right-hand door, and on a right-hand-drive market it is the left. The kerbside door is opened by passengers rather than the driver, is the one that meets bollards, posts and other cars' doors in car parks, and on many vehicles is the one whose lower edge collects the most road spray. So minor accident repair and trim disturbance are simply likelier on one side than the other, and that is the side where a repair history is most worth asking about.
Where both side modules report at once, look past them. Two independent units failing together is far less likely than one thing feeding both — the restraints module at U0452, a shared supply, or a bus fault — and the symmetry is the clue rather than a coincidence.
Likely causes
Start here
- Impact sensor disturbed during body repair · moderate
- Blocked door drain letting water into the module · moderate
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
- Broken wire in the door harness boot · moderate
Less common
- Faulty restraints control module · specialist
- Damaged data bus wiring · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
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Community experience
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