[GSOZDRIVER]

Hello...I have just joined the Forum and I thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide. Sorry for the length of this post.
Have a 2007 350Z Touring. 63,000 miles. Always garaged, always dealer serviced and ONLY by one tech. About 1 yr ago the passenger's air bag light failed to go out on startup. Tech cancelled the code but it continued to happen after a few starts. Figured I'd be in for a few hundred for a new sensor. Turns out that the sensor is imbedded in the passenger seat cushion. The entire seat assembly from the track up has to be replaced. Cost...$6000. Half the value of the car.
The ignition on-off fix is a Band-Aid. I, as well as my dealership reached out to Nissan for assistance. They would not budge and offered no help either technically or financially even though they know of the design flaw. Guess they're laying out a ton of money replacing their CVTs so they can't be bothered with my issue.
If you have had the same problem, please let me know. Will be compiling this data to present to my state's attorney general, Nissan corporate and the DOT as a safety issue because of possible air bag circuit flaw.
All help will be appreciated.

 

[dkmura]

Never heard of this kind of failure. Doesn't the circuit embedded in the passenger seat cushion just determine whether there's a passenger seated there to turn on the airbag?

 

[GSOZDRIVER]

Thanks for your response. According to Nissan Tech Line, upon start-up, the ECM runs a series of diagnostics. If there is a passenger, the air bag is armed and the air bag light in the instrument cluster stops flashing. If there is no passenger, the air bag is disarmed and the air bag light will also stop flashing indicating that the system is functioning properly. It appears that the sensor in the passenger seat is sending a bad code to the ECM.