B1023 stores when the air bag diagnosis sensor unit finds a fault in the circuit for the front passenger air bag off indicator. Nissan names the code FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF INDICATOR and sums up the monitoring in one line: the indicator is wired to the air bag diagnosis sensor unit, and the unit watches that indicator and its circuit for failures. The code is about the lamp circuit.
Vehicles with an occupant classification system switch the passenger airbag off when the seat is empty or holds a small occupant, and report that through a lamp in the center of the instrument panel reading PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF. That lamp is a required part of the system, so the module treats an open or shorted lamp circuit as a fault worth storing and worth a warning light.
The circuit is short. The diagnosis sensor unit drives the indicator directly and reads the load back, and when the lamp is missing, unplugged, burned out, or the wiring is shorted, the return does not match what the unit expects. Code listings for these vehicles word the fault as the circuit being open, shorted to ground, or shorted to itself, which covers the ways a two wire lamp circuit fails.
What B1023 does not say is worth knowing before money gets spent. It carries no judgment about the passenger airbag and none about the seat sensor. Nissan files the occupant classification faults separately under B1017 through B1022, covering the classification control unit, the sensor mat in the seat cushion, and the communication between them.
Hardware on the lamp side, and no collision record is involved. B1023 is a live measurement of a lamp circuit with the key on, and it keeps coming back until the circuit reads correctly.
Where it does turn up after a collision is on a car whose dash was apart for repairs. Panels come out, the indicator gets unplugged, and the code shows on the post repair scan next to the collision codes.
No. Restoring a module's memory does nothing for an unplugged lamp, and the code returns on the next key cycle. Nissan's diagnosis runs in a fixed order that is worth following: check the harness connector, check the wiring harness, replace the front passenger air bag off indicator, then replace the air bag diagnosis sensor unit, and finally the related harness. On most vehicles the fault is found at the first step.
If the same scan shows a collision record from an accident, that half is ours. An airbag module reset clears stored crash data from your original diagnosis sensor unit so it goes back into the same vehicle, and locked belts go through seat belt repair. Neither one touches B1023.
B1023 belongs to Nissan and Infiniti vehicles that use the air bag diagnosis sensor unit, and it appears in factory service manuals for the Altima, Maxima, Versa, Juke, and Rogue, with Infiniti sedans on the same numbering. Other manufacturers use B1023 for their own circuits, so confirm the code came out of a Nissan or Infiniti module first.
Start at the indicator. Pull the trim around the center of the instrument panel, find the lamp assembly, and confirm the connector is seated with straight terminals. If the vehicle recently had an audio unit, a camera, or a dash repair done, that connector is the first suspect. A meter across the circuit tells you quickly whether the lamp or the wiring behind it is at fault.
If the passenger airbag status light behaves oddly with an adult in the seat and no B1023 is stored, the trouble is on the occupant classification side, and B1017 through B1022 are the codes to read. B1001 is the diagnosis sensor unit reporting itself out of order. Parts we do not have listed can go through a part request.
Related codes: B1017, B1022, B1001, B1209
Keep reading:
Code scope: Infiniti, Nissan. 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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Infiniti parts and codes · Do not see it listed? Request a part or call 501-988-0611.