B1C49 is the occupant restraint controller reporting that the first row passenger seat belt retractor pretensioner circuit is open. With the ignition on, the ORC measures the resistance of that circuit continuously. When the reading goes open, or high enough that the module treats it as open, B1C49 sets and the airbag lamp comes on. Most of the time the break is in a connector or a wire, not in the module.
The passenger retractor pretensioner is the charge built into the belt retractor that pulls slack out of the belt at the start of a frontal impact. Two wires run from the occupant restraint controller to it. The ORC measures that pair against a resistance window and logs B1C49 when the circuit stops answering.
Chrysler splits the same circuit into three codes by failure mode, and reading them as a set saves time. B1C47 is that circuit low, B1C48 is high, and B1C49 is open. The buckle side of the same seat gets its own trio at B1C4C, B1C4D, and B1C4E, so check which component the code actually names before pulling a seat apart. Retractor and buckle are separate parts on separate circuits.
While B1C49 is stored, the module has flagged that pretensioner as unavailable. The belt still latches and still locks mechanically, but the pretensioner is out of the system until the circuit is repaired.
Circuit. The ORC retakes this measurement every key cycle, so repairing the circuit is what makes the code stop setting. There is one overlap worth knowing. A vehicle that has been through a frontal collision has a fired passenger pretensioner, and a fired pretensioner reads open forever. On those vehicles B1C49 sits alongside the deployment record already written into the controller, which means two separate jobs: the belt hardware, and the module's stored record.
Not by itself. Restoring a module's memory does nothing for a disconnected plug or a spent pretensioner, and the code returns at the next key on. Work in order. If the belt fired, the retractor gets repaired or replaced first, through our seat belt pretensioner repair or with a replacement seat belt retractor. Once the hardware and the wiring are right, an airbag module reset handles the stored record in the ORC. If B1C49 is the only code and nothing deployed, repair the circuit and the light goes out on its own.
The B1Cxx block belongs to the occupant restraint controller used across Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, and the wording is the same on all four: 1st row passenger retractor pretensioner circuit open. Mitsubishi uses the same number for the same circuit on the models it shared with the group. Read the code from the restraint controller rather than from a generic list, because other manufacturers number their belt circuits differently.
Turn the ignition off, disconnect the battery, and let the system's reserve power bleed down before unplugging anything in the restraint system. Then start at the passenger seat. Look at the connector at the retractor and any inline connector under the seat, check that the retainer clips are seated, and inspect the terminals for corrosion or a pin that has backed out. Compare what you find against the driver side, which uses the same design.
If the connections are clean and the code holds, the retractor is next. Codes worth reading in the same session are B1C47 and B1C48 for the same circuit, and B1C4E for the buckle tensioner on that seat. When you need the part and cannot find it listed, send us the year, model, and part number.
Related codes: B1C47, B1C48, B1C4E, B1B0A
Keep reading:
Code scope: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram. 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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Chrysler parts and codes · Do not see it listed? Request a part or call 501-988-0611.