B0026 is the code older GM vehicles set when the driver frontal deployment loop measures open or too high in resistance. It is the stage 1 circuit through the steering column to the driver airbag. GM's service data gives an exact trigger for it, which makes this one of the easier airbag codes to chase down with a meter and a load tool.
GM describes the loop as the dual stage steering wheel module, the steering wheel module coil, and the high and low control circuits for both stages. B0026 is the stage 1 open condition. The SDM sets it when it measures loop resistance greater than 4.8 ohms for 500 milliseconds, or when the voltage at the high control circuit drops below 2.4 volts while loop resistance sits at 6 ohms or more for the same half second.
It comes with a family of related codes on the same diagnostic table. B0022 is stage 1 resistance low, below 1.3 ohms. B0024 is stage 1 voltage out of range. B0044 is the stage 2 version of the same open condition. Knowing which of those is stored tells you whether to hunt for an open or a short.
When the code sets, the SDM turns on the AIR BAG indicator over class 2 serial data. A history code on these platforms clears itself only after 255 fault free ignition cycles, so a stored code from a repair someone already made can hang around for a long time.
Circuit. B0026 is a measurement, not a crash record, and GM's diagnostic table for it is all wiring and connector testing. The one caution is that a driver airbag which already deployed reads open, so a collision-damaged vehicle will show this code along with a module holding a deployment record. Sorting out which of the two you are dealing with is the first thing to settle.
No. Clearing module memory does not close an open circuit. Repair the loop and confirm the resistance falls inside spec with the proper SIR load tool. If the vehicle was in an accident and the module locked, that is a separate job, and the module goes out for an airbag module reset after the airbag and coil are replaced. Replacement clock springs for GM applications are in the parts store.
B0026 in this form belongs to GM's class 2 era SIR systems, roughly the late 1990s through 2007, on Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile vehicles. It is common on the Silverado, Sierra, Suburban, Tahoe, and Avalanche of that period. On the GMLAN platforms that followed, the same failure reads as B0012 with symptom byte 04 instead, so the number you see depends on the vehicle's age as much as the fault.
Work the connectors before you buy a coil. Inspect the in line connector for the steering wheel module coil, check the CPA, and look for terminals that have backed out of the body. GM's table then has you test the coil and the airbag with a load tool rather than a plain ohmmeter, which is the safe way to read a squib circuit.
If the vehicle is newer than about 2007 and a scan tool is reporting B0026, verify the tool is not translating a GM code with a generic definition. The equivalent codes to check on those vehicles are B0012 and B0013.
Related codes: B0012, B0013, B0001
Keep reading:
Code scope: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick. The same number can mean something different on another manufacturer, so match the code to your make before you act on it.
A reset clears stored crash data. A replacement part fixes a hardware fault. We have read these codes since the nineties and will tell you which one you are looking at.
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