Ram airbag codes and what they mean

What Ram calls the module and where it lives

Chrysler calls the airbag computer the Occupant Restraint Controller, the ORC. Older truck manuals call the same box the Airbag Control Module and say plainly that the ACM is also referred to as the ORC, so both names turn up in the same paperwork.

On the trucks it mounts to the floor pan on the transmission tunnel, under the center console or the center front seat section, held by three nuts to a welded bracket, with a molded moisture cover that has to go back on. An arrow on the top label points to the front of the truck, because the ORC contains its own impact sensor and safing sensor and has to sit square. It also holds a capacitor with enough charge to fire the restraints for about a second after the battery comes off. Location notes are on our Ram airbag service page.

How Ram airbag codes are organized

Learn the suffix and most of the list decodes itself.

• -11 circuit shorted to ground, -12 shorted to battery, -13 circuit open
• -2B the two wires shorted to each other
• -49 internal electronic failure in the sensor
• -87 missing message, the ORC is not hearing that device
• -00 a module-level condition with no circuit variant

Base codes fall into three groups. Firing loops run from B0001, driver frontal squib 1 control, through B0010 and B0011 for the passenger stages, B0021 and B0029 for the curtains, B0020 and B0028 for the seat squibs, and B007E and B007F for the belt pretensioners. Sensors sit in B0090 and B0095 on the radiator crossmember, B2761 through B2765 in the pillars, and B2767 and B2768 inside the front doors. The third group is the ORC talking about itself.

That third group matters most after a collision. B2207-00 and B2208-00 are Occupant Restraint Controller Internal 1 and 2. B220B-00 is Firing Stored Energy. B2722-00 reads ORC Unlocked, All Deployment Disabled. Those are latched module states rather than live wiring faults, and a module-level crash data reset is what addresses them.

Scan tool notes for Ram

A parts-store OBD2 reader sees none of this. Generic OBD2 only exposes emissions-related powertrain data, and the ORC lives in manufacturer-enhanced body space. The factory tools by era are the DRB III, StarSCAN on the mid-2000s CAN trucks, and wiTECH from roughly 2011 forward.

A replacement ORC is not a plug-in part. B2205-00 is Original VIN Missing or Mismatch and exists specifically to catch a module carrying another truck's VIN. B2204-00 is ECU Configuration Mismatch and B223B-00 is Vehicle Configuration Mismatch, both of which catch a module set up for a different build. Writing the VIN and running proxy configuration is dealer-tool work. There are also separate ORC part numbers for light-duty and heavy-duty trucks and for trucks with and without side curtains, and the sensors inside are calibrated to the vehicle.

What we see on Ram vehicles

Driver squib codes usually trace to the clockspring. Chrysler's own probable-cause list puts the clockspring ahead of the airbag and ahead of the ORC, because the coil flexes with every steering input, and any driver airbag deployment calls for the clockspring and column on the post-deployment parts matrix.

The other Ram pattern is water. B2767 and B2768 are pressure sensors mounted on the door module carrier behind the trim, with a water shield over the sensor port, and the B-pillar and C-pillar acceleration sensors sit low in the pillars under the sill plate. On a truck that lives outside with a torn door vapor barrier or plugged door drains, that is where the -49 and -87 codes come from. Crew, quad and mega cabs carry four side acceleration sensors instead of two, because the C-pillar pair covers the rear row.

Keep reading:

• Ram
• Crash data reset
• Airbag module reset
• Impact sensor
• Clock spring