B1B10: Driver Knee Airbag Circuit Low

Circuit fault

What B1B10 means

Knee bolster airbags sit under the steering column and fire downward to hold the driver in position. Like any airbag, they are fired by a squib, and the controller checks that squib's resistance continuously. Low means the reading came back under the minimum, which usually points at two conductors touching somewhere they should not, or at a squib that has shorted inside the module.

Where this circuit runs matters. It leaves the controller in the center of the vehicle, travels under the dash on the driver side, and ends at the bolster module above the pedals. That is crowded territory shared with steering column hardware, dash brackets, and whatever aftermarket wiring has been added over the years.

Common causes

• A pinched wire where the knee bolster harness passes a dash bracket or the steering column
• Aftermarket wiring tapped into the harness under the driver dash
• A shorted squib inside the knee airbag module
• Connector terminals pushed together or bridged by corrosion under the dash
• Damage from previous under dash repair work such as pedal, column, or HVAC service

Crash data or hardware fault?

Low resistance is a live measurement, which puts B1B10 in the circuit family. The controller keeps testing and the code goes inactive once the reading returns to normal. Crash data is a different record entirely, written after a deployment and held permanently until the controller is reset.

Does our reset clear it?

Resets are not the answer for a live short. Clear B1B10 with the short still there and the controller finds it again on the next self test. Locate and repair the short first. If the Jeep also deployed and the controller is locked with crash data, mailing us the unit takes care of that portion.

Which makes throw it

Jeep is the make carrying B1B10 in our lookup, on occupant restraint controllers that use the B1B numbering for squib circuits.

What to do next

Drop the driver knee panel and follow the harness from the bolster module back toward the controller, looking for a pinch point or a spot where somebody tapped in. Unplug the knee airbag and measure the loop from the controller side to find out whether the short is in the harness or the module. Genuine OEM knee airbags for Jeep are something we carry. Related codes: B1B0E, B1B12, 0X930901, B1C2B.