B0028-13: Passenger Seat Side Airbag Open

Circuit fault

What B0028-13 means

This side airbag is built into the outboard bolster of the front passenger seat back. The firing circuit runs from the control module, across the floor, through an under seat connector, and into the inflator. When the module pushes its test current through and nothing comes back, it records B0028-13.

The passenger seat moves less than the driver seat on most trucks, but it comes out just as often for floor and carpet work and it carries the same flexing harness. The under seat connector is the usual failure point, followed by damage where the harness crosses the seat rail. A disturbed circuit and a failed inflator read the same to the module.

Common causes

• The under seat connector unplugged or partially latched after passenger seat removal
• A conductor broken in the flex harness at the passenger seat track
• An open igniter inside the passenger seat side airbag
• Harness crushed under a seat mounting bolt during reinstallation
• Corrosion at the connector from water or spills at the passenger floor
• Seat covers or aftermarket heaters installed over the side airbag harness

Crash data or hardware fault?

Because the module measures this loop live, the code sits in the circuit family and clears when continuity returns. Crash data operates differently in every respect: written once at the moment of deployment, kept permanently in module memory, and removable only through a reset after the truck is repaired.

Does our reset clear it?

Sending the module in will not fix an open seat airbag circuit, and the code will be back on the first self test. Handle the wiring or the airbag on the truck. After that, if the module is holding crash data from a deployment, mail it to us and we clear the record so the system can arm again.

Which makes throw it

On Ram trucks this code covers the right side seat deployment squib 1 circuit. It applies only to trucks fitted with seat mounted side airbags, and the harness routing under the passenger seat varies with the cab and seat configuration.

What to do next

Unplug the under seat connector and look at both halves under good light, since corrosion and a spread terminal are easy to miss and account for a lot of these. Move the seat through its travel while monitoring the loop to catch a flex break. Measure at the seat connector to place the fault upstream or downstream. When the inflator reads open, the seat airbag assembly is the repair, and we stock genuine OEM Ram side airbags. Related codes: B0021-13, B0029-11, B1349.