This light is on in my mom's Forester...anyone had any experience with this or is it strictly something that has to go to the dealer for diagnosis?

This is just a stab in the dark but, I've been in plenty of newer cars that have an airbag light for the passenger's seat that only goes out (and thus arms the airbag) if there is a certain amount of weight in the seat so you can put a baby seat in the front and not worry about the airbag deploying in an accident. If you mean that it never goes out even with someone sitting there then yeah sounds like a problem the dealer should look at, or at least a shop with airbag experience.

 

Will-

This light is on in my mom's Forester...anyone had any experience with this or is it strictly something that has to go to the dealer for diagnosis?

 

This sounds to me like a problem only a dealer can resolve.

 

~Howard

sensor in the seat, so that if no passenger is in the seat, the airbag is not active. This is so that if there is an accident, and there is not passenger in the seat, there is no reason for the airbag (500$) to explode since there is nobody there for it to save. this helps reduce the chance of a car being Totaled by insurance due to the Hugely expensive airbags.

If you have a light that Never goes out even with someone there, then there is a problem, and yes, dealers only, as it has to have vehicle specific test equipment to read those codes, not something a standard code reader can handle.

24Lbs or more will turn the light off because it thinks a passenger is in the seat.

 

would you have a $500 airbag go off in a empty passenger seat in a crash and make a $500 repair $1000?