Three problems related to air bag light on have been reported for the 2003 Nissan Altima. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Nissan Altima based on all problems reported for the 2003 Altima.
Owner of a 2003 Nissan Altima - on 2/18/17 while taking my vehicle to a car wash in linden, NJ, I had my vehicle on neutral and when the car wash was completed, I put the vehicle on drive and proceeded slowly towards the car wash employees as they instructed me to stay on my left side, as the other vehicle was on the right side and I had my foot on the brakes. As the two employees placed their towels on my front vehicle to dry out the vehicle, my vehicle immediately started to jolt twice while I had my foot on the brakes and immediately my vehicle accelerated at a high speed. Smoke started to come out of the front hood and the airbag came out. I had to control the steering wheel not to hurt any one as there were several parked vehicles and people vacuuming their vehicles or cleaning out their vehicles. Not sure how many parked vehicles were hit and my vehicle hit a parked SUV. Ambulance arrived and the police. I was in shocked, surprised and cried and told the police about my vehicle taking off so quickly without any warning while my foot was still on the brakes. All I kept saying is OH my god what happened. How could this happen? were there any recalls? I kept saying I had my foot on the brakes and the vehicle would not stop just kept accelerated. There were no warning indicator lights. I had injuries including my right ankle, knee, head, neck, shoulders and back. Police report was taken and not available at the moment as it takes a couple of days.
In October 2010 the air bag light flashing, result: retrieved code b1129-rh side air bag module open circuit, not detected at the time, code was in past tense. May have intermittent fault. Cleared code and light stayed off at the time. In July 2011 the air bag was flashing again retrieved code b1129-rh again. This time they said seat back needs to be replaced and/or needs a sensor unit . I find this a manufacture issue and responsibility, due to the fact that this car has never been in a car accident or abused. The air bag is not a tire to go bad, if one was in a car accident and replaced it at a private place that is another story! it is not fair for the same code (b1129-rh) once they just turned off and once they say you need to replace it.
: the contact stated without incident the airbag light started to blink intermittently. The dealership stated the airbag needed to be replaced.