Passenger Occupancy Sensor

It figures that the day after we buy this used 2010 MKT we end up with issues. Sporadically when we start the car we get a note in the information center that instructs us to remove objects near the passenger seat (even when there is nothing around or on it), the "Passenger airbag off" indicator remains illuminated, and the airbag light in the instrument cluster remains on. I've pulled the diagnostic codes for the airbag system and it has a code for "Passenger Occupancy Sensor" which if I recall correctly is code B1B00, system 9. When I looked it up in the service manual it sent me to a dead end.

Monitoring the passenger seat occupancy parameter, it properly detects if the seat is empty or not. Also, so far, it has never come up with this issue if there is a passenger in the seat, and so far it remains working properly for one ignition cycle after a passenger has been in the seat.

The vehicle is still under warranty so I don't plan to spend my own money fixing this, but I was curious if anyone has any ideas what may be causing this? I have checked the wiring as well as checked for any items under the seat. There's nothing around the seat that should be causing this.

-Rod

I'm suspecting I either have a dirty switch that needed to be cycled, or a loose wire that is currently in position. The MKT has sat in the garage since Christmas, but I drove it to work yesterday and ran a few errands last night, the warning remained off for several engine cycles, and I had my gloves in the passenger seat for one of the errands and my daughter's coat sitting on the seat for a few of the errands.

We'll see if the warning comes back. From reading the related section in the service manual, it sounds like there are four occupancy switches connected to the seat rail and they are not considered "serviceable" other than getting a new seat track. Prior to driving it yesterday, I moved the seat a bit further back and raised it up a bit. That's all that I've changed since the last time it indicated an issue.

-Rod

Eeek, I never followed up on this thread. A couple of years ago I did raise the passenger seat to the highest position so I could get a good look underneath while everything was still connected. I found several (I don't recall if it was 3 or 4) micro-switches near the seat track. I used Caig DeOxit followed by Caig PreservIt to clean and lubricate the switches. That seemed to do the trick, no further instances of an occupied passenger seat that wasn't.

-Rod