Seats 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 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

See all problems of the 2015 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

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 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 airbag warning light is lit and the system says the airbag needs service. It appears to require an $ 800 replacement of a part.

See all problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

Airbag service light comes on for unknown reason. This appears to be a very common problem amongst chevy Volt owners (2012-2013). Why no recall for this serious safety issue?.

The passenger side seat airbag sensor is malfunctioning. A message displaying “service airbag” comes up and the airbag light comes on. This happens numerous times during a typical drive (around 20 minutes) the airbag is turned off while the message and light is displayed. This issue has been occurring for about a year or two now. Starting around 90k miles, currently has 111k miles. I’ve done my research on this issue and many other Volt owners have this issue. Which is caused by a defect in the passenger side sensor mat in the seat that can fold over itself with normal use, causing the issue.

Driver seat frame has a loud squeak during normal operation of vehicle. Driver seat is a critical safety item, and my concern is that the seat frame has a manufacturing defect.

See all problems of the 2019 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

Our 2014 chevy Volt began to rarely give an audible chime with a: "service airbag" message on the driver information center display, as well as the "passenger airbag" overhead panel display showing "on"-"off"-"on", spontaneously back in 2018. Again, this was rare, but concerning. This became somewhat more common in the months that followed and is now a common annoyance on every drive. Because of personal circumstances, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, we have not driven this vehicle much over the past couple of years, and we have not taken the car in for service. It has not yet been inspected by any other entity other than myself. The alarms happen whether the passenger seat is occupied or not. I have read on the gm-volt online forum that this is likely caused by a defective passenger detection pad in the passenger seat, but I have personally checked the seat wiring harness and connector, and they appear to be nominal. Obviously, having an inoperative passenger airbag system is a significant safety concern. We ordered the car, and it was delivered new in December, 2013. There has never been a spill, leak, or any damage to any of the seats or airbag system of this vehicle. We intend to report the problem to our dealer, "bob steele Chevrolet" in cocoa, FL within the next week. Our car is readily available for inspection at any time.

See all problems of the 2014 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The vehicle’s service airbag warning light is illuminated. The dealership diagnostic indicates that the passenger seat sensor needs to be replaced. Based on my research, this was also an issue with the Volt’s 1st gen models.

For unknown reason check airbag light came on. No one sits in passenger seat and the seat has not been wet.

See all problems of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The passenger seat occupancy sensor fails was failing. The check airbag warning light would come on while driving with a passenger in the vehicle. This would disable the airbag (when the check airbag indicator light indicating that the passenger airbag is enabled switches to off. ) this is a dangerous failure. If the car knows that the sensor has failed then the �safe� condition should be to deploy the airbags or the �seat occupied� condition should be �latched true� until the vehicle stops. (a passenger cannot suddenly disappear when the car is moving at 35 or 40 mph). This happened repeatedly in 2020 and 2021. Vehicle was taken to dealer to address the issue - was told that the issue was resolved. Shortly afterwards the issue started again. Vehicle was taken back to the dealer April-2021 and I was told that the seat occupancy sensor had failed and needed to be replaced.

The service airbag message appears randomly when in motion. The chevy dealer states that the problem is the passenger presence system. The estimated cost to repair is $1,300.

The airbag for the passenger seat is faulty and turns off and on, took it to the dealership and they said it was a $1000 to fix it. Said it was a bad wiring harness.

Air bag light stays on. Replaced driver seat with no change. Chevy dealership advised the issue now is the passenger seat sensors and quoted me $1000 to fix. They also told me there is only one part available in the USA and they dont know if the holder will sell it. This puts my car and passengers in danger if there is an accident. Chevy needs to address/fix this.

Passenger front seat sensor for airbag system malfunctions, resulting in passenger airbag being turned off while adult passenger is in seat. This occurs when the vehicle is moving or stationary and both in town and on the highway. Dealer indicated this repair would cost nearly $1000 (~$500 in parts and over $400 labor).

Intermittent passenger side airbag warning light illumination. The warning light comes on when very light items are placed on the seat and when a passenger is present.

Date above is approximate. The airbag sensor in the passenger side of the vehicle is faulty and causes a constantly cycling alarm when there is a passenger present. I believe this means that it is not accurately sensing the passenger and is turning the airbag on and off, making for a safety issue in the event of a crash. This is apparently a frequent issue and customers should not need to pay the $1,000 to fix the faulty sensor that could put a passenger at risk. . Read more...

Warning about airbag system not working correctly and told to bring car to dealer within 1 day. Car was in motion on city street with my son in front. I don't know exact parts but I brought it to chevy and they refused to pay for fix (so the car is still there while I appeal). It was something about the system in the seat and possibly dash that controls the airbag.

See all problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The airbag warning light comes on fairly constantly. The dealership says the passenger seat sensor is faulty and needs to be replaced. It is an expensive repair at over $1,000.

Airbag light is on. Faulty seat sensor.

The passenger detection sensor failed which affects functionality of passenger airbag. For some reason this wasn't covered covered under extended warranty.

Airbag light coming on intermittently took car to Chevrolet dealer and was told it was a bad sensor in the passenger seat and the cost would be 900 dollars for part and labor.

The check airbag sensor comes on sporadically, and the car does not seem to recognize when someone is in the passenger seat. The estimated cost of the sensor repair is ~$900 even though the warning is not consistent. This happens while driving. As far as I can tell, there is no known cause.

The passenger airbag sensor triggered a warning (vehicle in motion). Took vehicle to dealer and they tried the typical loose connection check, water damage check, etc. Removed sensor and tested it - not pulling any current, so must be bad and need replacement. Total cost to replace $1,200!! if it's not replaced, airbags are disabled to protect against accidental deployment. I decided to pass and pretend that the car was built in the 1970s (ie, no airbags and just relying on seatbelts).

Air bag sensor pad in front passenger seat is faulty. Dash light comes on and off at random in front seat. May lead to airbags failing to go off. Front passenger seat faulty, air bag sensor pad is not installed beneath the foam in the seat, instead it is on top. Has lead to numerous problems when even just setting a bag on the seat. This is a safety problem. Powertrain issue, battery section 3 failed prematurely due to a $5 temperature sensor failing. Cost to replace the entire battery section was $3000+ dollars for a $5 part.

Air bag sensor inside the seat started failing intermittently. Over 6 months it went from going off and back on once a trip, to multiple times in a trip. Then full on failed. Appears to be a common issue based on discussions here: https://gm-volt. Com/forum/archive/index. Php/t-306433. Html.

Airbag weight sensor issues on passenger side.

Passenger airbag sensor, being triggered intermittently. Sensor is contained within the passenger seat. Sensor is question is called a passeneger presence system module.

Just paid $975 to have the passenger air bag sensor replaced on my 2013 chevy Volt. I was informed by the gm Volt thread that this a manufacturing issue with the chevy Volts and is happening to many Volt owners.