So, I got some great news from the dealership today so I was hoping I could get some advice from the forum. I've owned my 07 350Z from day one, and have had no problems with it until now. Over the summer the airbag light started flashing. I figured out how to reset it and it worked for a couple of months. Now it constantly flashes. I went to the dealer today and he said I have bad new and worse news... The bad news is the OCU (occupant sensor unit) in the passenger seat is at fault and Nissan recommends to replace it, the cost would be $1700... The worse news is Nissan does not sell the part and will not 'ever' again(service guy words). Now in my state as I would think in most states, your car will not pass inspection with a blinking airbag light. So why would Nissan not sell a part to a car that's only 7 years old that would prevent it from being driven on the road? I know I could find a used part somewhere but this is so freaking ridiculous. There's nothing wrong with my car, it's pristine condition except for the airbag issue.... Please help my find a solution for this. I've already sent an email to Nissan but who knows if they will ever get back to me. Thanks for any advice.

 

First, consider whether or not your car is covered by a recall on this issue. Sometimes they'll cover an item even though you're outside the warranty period. This article discusses it:

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/15/n...air-bag-issue/

I spent some time looking through the FSM SRS and SEAT sections. I found a "side airbag module" and a "side airbag module harness" referenced in the SEAT section. Is there a part number for this "occupant sensor unit"? I'm trying to figure out the part number to help hunt down something at a better price.

 

There may be a way to bypass the sensor

 

I was reading about that recall while waiting in the dealership. I mentioned that to the service guy and he said my vin was not in that recall. I said "but if my car has the same issue as the recall, shouldn't it be in that recall?". He basically said no... So same exact issue as recall and no fix.

I also read about bypassing the sensor but if I get in an accident and insurance finds out I bypassed an airbag sensor, no coverage for me...

Here's the part number: 873A2. A seat cushion worth gold!!

 

Next step, contact Nissan's USA corporate office and ask them in writing. They may be inclined to fix it under the recall to avoid a possible future lawsuit or the bad publicity that could come out of an incident involving a passenger in your car.......you never know.

Have you double-checked the connections under there? Has anybody been running wiring through or around the seats? Stereo stuff? Any kind of work that could pull something loose?

Failing that, consider going to this website:

http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

A seat out of a junked car should work fine. Could be that you could exchange the offending component from a junk seat into yours. This should be a sensor, not something like a airbag or tensioner that has fired and is no good. This should be a simple matter of connectivity and detecting the presence of a load on the seat.

I think such a part would be fine to get used.....the SRS computer will determine if it is 1) connected, 2) sensing the load, and 3) active in the system. The SRS system is pretty much an all or nothing deal. It either works or it doesn't. If you are not getting a fault light, it's a fair assumption that the system is working*.

I think your fix can be done for significantly less than that quote.

*Exception: Where someone has wired in a resistor of some sort to bypass a part of the system.

 

I would get a second opinion from either another nissan dealership and/or a 3rd party mechanic that is educated on these issues.

 

There is a solution to your problem. You may need to take this issue to Nissan USA. Nissan will not allow one of their vehicles to be "thrown out" because of a safety issue. --Spike