B0020-13: Driver Seat Side Airbag Open

Circuit fault

What B0020-13 means

This airbag lives in the outboard bolster of the driver seat back. Its firing circuit leaves the control module on the floor tunnel, crosses to the seat, and passes through at least one connector before reaching the inflator. B0020-13 tells you that path is broken somewhere, and the module disables the system until it reads correctly.

Seat mounted circuits have a weakness the dash circuits do not. The harness has to survive a seat that slides forward and back thousands of times, and it has to survive every time somebody pulls the seat out for carpet work, subwoofer installs, or floor repair. The flex section and the under seat connector account for most of these.

Common causes

• The under seat SRS connector unplugged or left half latched after seat removal
• A broken conductor in the flex harness that follows the seat track
• An open igniter inside the seat mounted side airbag
• The harness crushed under a seat mounting bolt or pinched against the rail
• Corroded terminals from water or spills at the driver floor
• Aftermarket seat covers or heaters installed over the side airbag wiring

Crash data or hardware fault?

Live measurement is what puts this one in the circuit family alongside the other squib codes. The module checks it on every self test, so the code mirrors the wiring right now. Crash data is stored history: a permanent entry made at deployment that stays in memory regardless of any later repair and needs a module reset to remove.

Does our reset clear it?

An open seat side airbag circuit is not a reset candidate. Clearing memory leaves the break in place and the code reappears on the next check. Repair the connector or the flex harness, or replace the seat airbag if the igniter reads open. Our mail in reset applies afterward, when the module is holding deployment data from a crash.

Which makes throw it

Ram uses B0020-13 for the left side seat deployment squib 1 circuit. Only trucks equipped with seat mounted side airbags will carry it, and the connector location under the seat varies by cab configuration.

What to do next

Run the driver seat through its full travel while watching the code, because a flex loop that opens at one end of the track will show itself in seconds. Then unplug the under seat connector, inspect for corrosion and spread terminals, and reseat it hard until the latch clicks. Measure the loop at the seat connector to separate the floor harness from the airbag. We supply genuine OEM Ram seat side airbags when the bag is the fault. Related codes: B0010-13, B0021-13, B1B8F.