B1081 is the air bag diagnosis sensor unit reporting an open circuit on the right front seat belt pretensioner. Nissan service manuals word the monitoring directly: the sensor unit monitors for opens and shorts in the detected lines to the seat belt pretensioner RH. An open means the loop out to that pretensioner is broken somewhere.
The pretensioner is a small pyrotechnic device in the belt retractor or the buckle stalk that pulls slack out of the belt at the start of a frontal impact. It fires on a two wire loop from the air bag diagnosis sensor unit, which is what Nissan and Infiniti call the module other makes label an SRS or restraint control module. That unit checks the resistance of the loop with the key on and stores a code when the reading is not what it expects.
The four codes in the block split the failure by type. B1081 is the open circuit. B1082 is the circuit shorted to a power supply, B1083 is the circuit shorted to ground, and B1084 is the two lines shorted to each other. Knowing which of the four is stored saves probing time, since an open means a disconnection and the shorts mean rubbed insulation.
Circuit, and the reason behind it decides the whole repair. A vehicle that has never been hit sets B1081 because a connector came loose or a wire broke, which is wiring work with no module involvement at all. A vehicle that was in a frontal collision sets it because the pretensioner did its job and burned through its charge. A spent pretensioner cannot be reset and no longer reads as a complete loop.
Nissan and Infiniti store their own collision records as well, B1209 for a frontal event and B1210 for a side event, so a scan after an accident usually shows those sitting alongside B1081.
Not by itself. No module reset reconnects a broken wire or refills a fired pretensioner, so the belt hardware comes first.
If the belt locked and the pretensioner fired, our seat belt repair rebuilds your original belt assembly and returns it working. Once the belt side is right and the collision record is the only thing left in memory, an airbag module reset clears the stored data out of your own diagnosis sensor unit. If a connector or a harness is the problem and no crash ever happened, no module work is needed at all.
B1081 in this form belongs to Nissan and Infiniti vehicles built around the air bag diagnosis sensor unit, which covers most of the lineup from the mid 2000s forward. Factory manuals carry the B1081 through B1084 pretensioner RH block on the Altima, Maxima, Juke, Sentra, Frontier, Xterra, and Rogue among others, and Infiniti sedans run the same numbering. B1086 is the matching open on the left front pretensioner. Other manufacturers assign B1081 to systems that have nothing to do with restraints, so confirm the make before ordering a belt.
Turn the ignition off, disconnect both battery cables, and wait the three minutes Nissan specifies before touching an SRS connector, since airbags and pretensioners can still deploy inside that window. Then move the right front seat far enough to see the connector under it and check that it is seated with clean terminals. Nissan's procedure runs in that order: harness connector, wiring harness, pretensioner, then the diagnosis sensor unit, and on most vehicles the problem is found at the first step.
Look at the belt while you are there. A pretensioner that fired usually leaves the belt tight, slow to retract, or locked solid, and a belt that will not pay out means the retractor is spent. Replacement seat belt buckles and related hardware are listed in the parts store, and anything not listed can go through a part request.
Related codes: B1082, B1083, B1086, 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.