Hello everyone, I am just hoping a few of you may be able to help me out. I have a 2003 Mazda 6 and the airbag light fails to illuminate at all once the key is turned, it just does nothing. This used to come on momentarily (doing it’s check) and then go off, however now it will not come on at all. Should this light not stay on if a fault is detected in the system, or why would mine be off in this case?

I had the car in for diagnostics and a fault code was found:

B1871 Passenger air bag deactivated

I have since found that this relates to (correct me if I am wrong) the passenger side seat occupancy mat / module. I have checked my seat and have located the module to the very front and was considering disconnecting the mat from it to check the resistance just to see if it is actually faulty via the resistance readings given. Just by getting someone to sit on it and then get out while taking readings via a multimeter, just to find out if it is the mat itself or the actual module.

May I also ask, when working at parts of the airbag system i.e. disconnecting and reconnecting plugs under the seat to check they are fitted and not loose and also then using a multimeter to check resistance, I would first need to disconnect the battery completely and let it sit for approx 20 minutes, is that correct? Just I would not want to activate any airbags while checking plugs / readings etc. My next question is whether disconnecting the battery and effectively discharging the system in doing so, will “upset” (if that’s the correct terminology) any of the other parts of the cars electronics?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Cheers,

Haggler