B1355: Passenger Airbag Stage 1 Shorted

Circuit fault

What B1355 means

The SRSCM drives its own low current test through each firing loop and expects to see only that. Outside voltage on the loop means another circuit has made contact with it somewhere between the module and the airbag. The module cannot rule out an unintended deployment path in that state, so it stores the code and takes the system offline.

Behind the instrument panel, the passenger airbag harness shares space with lighting, HVAC, and accessory wiring. A wire crushed under a bracket or a connector packed with corrosion can tie those circuits together. Aftermarket installations are worth asking about, since a power feed run behind the dash is an easy way to end up in contact with a firing loop.

Common causes

• A firing wire chafed against a powered circuit behind the instrument panel
• Aftermarket accessory wiring run through the dash harness
• Corrosion bridging terminals inside the passenger airbag connector
• A wire crushed under a dash bracket during a previous repair
• Water intrusion at the cowl or kick panel reaching the harness

Crash data or hardware fault?

B1355 is a live fault. The module keeps checking the loop and the code stops being active once the voltage is gone. That is the practical difference from crash data, which is written at deployment, kept permanently, and removed only when the module itself is reset.

Does our reset clear it?

Nothing about a reset disconnects a short. The module will measure battery voltage on the loop again and store B1355 again as soon as it powers up. Find the contact point and repair it. Modules that are locked after a real deployment are the ones our mail-in reset service is built for.

Which makes throw it

Kia uses B1355 for the passenger airbag first stage short to power, alongside a matching code for the driver side. Reading both tells you whether the fault is limited to one loop or shared by the harness they travel in.

What to do next

Pull the glovebox and inspect the harness run behind it for crush points and any wiring that was added after the vehicle was built. Unplug the airbag and check whether voltage is still present on the module side, which tells you whether the airbag or the harness is the source. We carry genuine OEM Kia passenger airbags when the airbag turns out to be the problem. Related codes: B1353, B1362, B1802.