Air Bag Problems of Chevrolet Volt - part 1

The passenger presence sensor is failing or failed because every time someone sit in there the airbag turns on and off repeatedly every 2-3 mins and gives a service airbag warning and if no one is sitting in the passenger seat then it just stays on. Could be really dangerous if a wreck happens while it’s glitching in the off mode and could cause death. Multiple people have had this problem with the Volts and there is even a thing you can by to completely bypass the airbag going off which shows how common the problem is if there is a solution to eliminate it in an unsafe/not factory manner.

See all problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

Airbag sensor failure in seat.

See all problems of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The passenger occupancy sensor gives a false positive. The only way I can get rid of the beeping is plug in the seatbelt. I have read on reddit forums that this is a very common problem with 2013 Volts, but for some reason there isn't a recall. This is a safety issue. Thank you!.

Service airbag alert popped up.

See all problems of the 2015 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

Passenger presence detection system is malfunctioning, and causing a "service airbag" warning. This is a huge safety issue that could be detrimental or deathly in the event of an accident. This is a common issue among generation 1 Volt owners, and should be considered for a recall or warranty coverage. The passenger presence detection system parts are discontinued, and even if I found the part the dealership cannot confirm for the pricey repair, that the airbag / sensor will not simply malfunction again -- which makes this a persistent safety concern and huge owner inconvenience to say the least.

Passenger presence does not detect people in it and makes it unsafe for passenger without airbags. This got closed and was state that there was a chevy program to fix this as cited in the closing . I have called all over chevy and there is no one who knows anything about this at all. If you know it or if they just started it to make it go away, please tell with with whom I can contact within chevy to start the process.

Front passenger seat sensor intermittently fails, causing the passenger airbag indicator to switch to off (even if a passenger is present) with an accompanying "service airbag" message on the dashboard and illumination of the service airbag light. This occurs usually driving above 25mph, but can happen stationary, and lasts for anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute (more commonly shorter). The issue appears some weeks more than others, usually activating most days a week but sometimes have a week or two where it does not happen.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact became aware that the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed, or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

See all problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

This issue has been reported extensively: NHTSA pe19013. The passenger seat sensor has failed leading to the airbag turning on and off rapidly while driving. This is available for inspection upon request. I worry about the safety of occupants in the car. If the airbag is turned off despite a passenger sitting in the seat that is a problem. The price of repair at a dealer is very high considering that this is a very clear quality control issue by gm that has been acknowledged by both gm and NHTSA. This warning light has turned on before and then went away for a long time. Now it has returned and after some research it is clearly an issue that many other 2012-2013 Volt owners have experienced.

Chevy Volts from 2016 - 2019 all have a manufacturing defect which can prevent the driver from powering - the error message is "shift to park". Gm released a Volt service bulletin in may 2021 but offered no assistance to replace the defective part. On 2/24/24 I was driving home on hwy 17 headed nb from santa cruz in fair weather in the afternoon. This highway can be dangerous with limited shoulders and poor visibility, making it an unsafe place to pull over. While traveling at about 55 mph, the car made an alert sound and illuminated the check engine light and presented a message "shift to park". I was running out of room on the shoulder to pull off safely so I had to make the quick decision to pull off to the left-hand shoulder. I followed the instructions on the display which said to shift into park, followed by shifting back into drive. During this time I had my foot on the brake, but after removing my foot from the break, the vehicle began to roll towards traffic, so I put my foot back on the break. I tried powering the car off/on multiple times and tried to get the car to go back into drive but was unsuccessful. Eventually, I put the car back into park, called a tow truck driver, and waited for over an hour to have my car safely towed off hwy 17. Prior to this, I had not experienced any of these or similar symptoms. An obd code scan was done (screenshot attached). Once at the chevy dealership, they confirmed that the car could, at that time, shift into park and were not able to reproduce the "shift into park" issue. However, they reported that the car was revving high and the transmission would not shift into the proper gear ratio. The dealership was not able to fully diagnose the problem and instead suggested to replace the entire transmission as assembly and then continue investigating. We reached out to the manufacturer, Chevrolet/gm, about the issue(s) and were ed case # 9-12088007445 while they work with the dealership to investigate further.

See all problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

I have a 2013 Volt. Passenger presence pad in the passenger front seat caused the "airbag service" warning light. It is very common. So many people have suffered from it. It cost over $1000. But it is not a recall.

Front passenger airbag sensor is off even when there is no person sitting in the front passenger seat. It is off also when adult passenger is seating in the seat. It looks by pages of manual folded that previous owner had similar problem. That could possibly impact non-deployment of air-bag in a case of collision. My google search shows there was a recall of Volt 2013 models for that problem.

See all problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet bolt. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the "service air bag" warning light would intermittently appear on the instrument panel. The contact notified a dealer about the failure and was given a diagnostic fee. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and was given the same information. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA action number: pe19013 which the contact linked to the failure, the NHTSA investigation was later closed. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.

The service airbag indicator and airbag light illuminated on my dash. I took the vehicle to the dealership and was told the passenger presence module needs replaced. Without this repair, all airbags in the vehicle are disabled when the light is on. Yes, its been reproduced by the Chevrolet dealer.

Airbag sensor harness underneath the passenger seat comes disconnected from moving the seat back and forth causing a warning on the dash. Gm has a TSB about this and should rewire the harness for free. The passenger presence module is undetected when the seat moves forward but is detected when moved to its full rearward position.

In September 2019, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe 19-013 to assess the malfunction of the passenger sensing system (pss) in the 2012-2013 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. Due to that malfunction, the air bag system malfunction indicator light is activated. This could cause the passenger airbag to be suppressed in a crash. In July 2021, the odi closed pe 19-103 after gm instituted a cost reduction program for the repair/replacement of the pss in the subject vehicles. In July 2023, I took my 2012 Volt to a local dealer to correct this problem, only to learn that the necessary replacement part has been discontinued by gm and is no longer available. That is, frankly, unconscionable. I am requesting that odi reopen the investigation and take further action to compel gm to make this repair available.

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the front passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the front passenger’s side air bag passenger sensor system was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that the part to repair the vehicle had been discontinued and no repair was available. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the part was discontinued. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Airbag sensor service light keeps going off. Passenger side.

Passenger airbag sensor mat is malfunctioning leaking water from passenger side ac, drain line or structure.

According to NHTSA's own filing - action pe19013 - gm's response to the action was to "establish a cost reduction program". I have now had this exact problem diagnosed, and repaired at a cost of $1,133. Neither gm, nor the Chevrolet dealership where I had the repair done had any information or provided and discounts or cost reduction. Either NHTSA has lied in its report, or gm has lied to NHTSA in order to close this incident. I should have the cost of this repair "reduced".

Passenger airbag sensor is faulty. It is available for inspection upon request. My passenger is at risk if the airbag does not deploy in case of an accident. Yes, I found out that the sensor had been replaced before, which did not resolve the issue. No. I got notifications right away after purchasing the vehicle. This appears to be a very common issue for gen 1 and 2 Chevrolet Volts. 2012-2013 Volts have a recall for this system, but I found online that lots of people with 2014 Volts are having the same issue.

See all problems of the 2014 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

With only 80,000 miles on my Volt, the dash is intermittently ringing and telling me to service my airbag, and turning off passenger airbags even though the car is clean accident free and damage free. Apparently this is a know issue, and very common. I’m confused why this $1000 repair and safety issue is not being recalled to be serviced by chevy. It’s very hazardous and costly, as well as incredibly common. I’ve read of at least 100 people having this identical issue.

Passenger airbags failed to engage when occupied during accident, drivers side activated. Results in injured passenger.

Passenger airbag sensor intermittent error. Says service airbag. Goes off after someone has been sitting in vehicle and exits vehicle. Not reliably reproducible but seems to be happening with greater frequency.

I have the failure from pe19013. I read in the closing that "gm has instituted a cost reduction program for the repair/replacement of the pss in the subject vehicles. Based on this cost reduction program. . . ; odi is closing this preliminary evaluation. " I contacted two dealerships who are unaware of this program. I then contacted the chevy support center, who said to contact the dealership when I asked for an alternative contact. I then asked to speak to a supervisor with a promised call back, that did not occur. Attached is the transcript of the chat with chevy support center. The two issues: 1. The safety issue still exists and disables the air bags when occupied by a person of proper size for the airbags. 2. The reduced cost program is something that both dealerships and the chevy support system is unaware of itself. The investigation was closed on the premise of a support system that is impossible to find information on.

The passenger seat occupancy sensor is malfunctioning and needs replaced.

The passenger presence sensor in the front passenger seat is malfunctioning and spare parts to replace it are not available from the manufacturer. The Chevrolet dealership has inspected and verified this issue, and the system is available for inspection upon request. This is the same issue that NHTSA investigated in the 2013 model described below. This sensor failure results in a check airbag signal and prevents the deployment of the passenger frontal and knee air bags, posing risk of serious injury to passengers. The pss may develop a malfunction due to bunching of the sensor mat in the seat trench. The bunching of the sensor mat could cause the mat to repeatedly fold in the same location. Over time, the repeated folding can cause an increased resistance in the sensor mat. An increased resistance in the pss sensor mat is detected as a fault in the air bag system diagnostic. If this fault is detected, a diagnostic trouble code will be stored in the air bag control unit and the air bag mil will illuminate. Further, if the fault is detected, the passenger frontal and knee air bags will be suppressed in a crash of sufficient severity to warrant a commanded deployment regardless of the nature of size of the occupant of the front passenger seat.

The service airbag request keeps showing up and I was told it was the passenger presence module and sensor. This puts people at risk of the airbag not deploying correctly.

The air bag light comes on every day. The passenger sight presents sensor malfunction. Technician says this can be harmful to a passenger if in an auto accident. My significant other can die.

Service airbag warning light comes on and off. Reading message boards for 2014 chevy Volt, is seems that this is a defective passenger occupancy sensor that happens on a lot of Volts. A dealer has confirmed that this is the problem and will cost $1,000-$1,200 to fix. Since this is a safety component and is failing regularly on all Volts, I believe the manufacturer should recall this item to be replaces.

The passenger presence sensor module has developed a fault. The service airbag soon warning pops up when a front seat passenger gets out of the seat. I can manually recreate the problem by pressing down on the seat bottom cushion and then when I release pressure the warning reappears and then goes away after 10 seconds. I will now need to replace the module and get the vehicle reprogrammed, or find a junkyard seat and hope it doesn't have the same problem. You really should have required gm to do more on this issue when you investigated it! from what I understand, there is not a 'cost reduction program' for having the dealer replace this defective part. This seems to be a very common problem that has perhaps gone underreported, but is obviously going to happen given the design of the sensor pad where it develops a fatigue failure.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph another unknown vehicle crashed into his vehicle which went airborne and over the median . There were no warning lights to illuminate. There was not reported a a police report was filed. There was no reported fire or air bag deployment. The contact sustained injuries to his neck and back and medical attention was provided. The vehicle was towed to a body shop who informed him the battery was scratched. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where the battery electronic module was damaged due to being dropped. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

Airbag light is on due to faulty passenger seat sensor that is a known defect by manufacturer. Your investigation was closed with the note that "gm created a program to replace the passenger sensing systems in 2012 and 2013 model year chevy Volt vehicles". I am trying to get them to fix the issue, but they say there is no program for this repair. And the repair consists of replacing full passenger seat for over $1000. It looks like gm is misleading NHTSA that they have a program to correct the problem.

Intermittent warning for front passenger airbag. Module saying service airbag comes on and off when front passenger is occupying seat. Just a quick anecdote just had car inspected warning does not appear while someone is occupying front seat, nor does it appear if someone is occupying rear seats.

From diagnostic report: code b0074, airbag front passenger presence module replacement shorted. Part #22968437.