Codes B0133 and B1100

Passenger side seat belt pretensioner. Bought the truck with an airbag light, didn't scan it, which I should have, but at the time figured it was the clock spring. Unfortunately the horn and cruise control work fine, so not that. Used to be able to clear it and it would go away for a few days. From past experience if I only got the B0133 code, I could clear it, if I got B1100 as well, it'll come right back. Previous owner mentioned they took it to the dealership and from what I remember the dealership wanted to replace the airbag sensor. Not 100% convinced that's the issue, dealerships do tend to prefer to troubleshoot by throwing new parts at a problem.

I've poked around at it, pulled the covers off the passenger pretensioner and looked at it, but haven't actually unplugged anything yet. Hoping it's just a bad connection, the cable, or maybe the seat belt unit. Really don't want to have to replace the airbag sensor assembly under the dash. Any tips on testing it without setting anything off? I know to disconnect the battery and let it sit for a little bit first. I've also read the FSM as well, but wanted to ask here first.

I'm sick of looking at that damn airbag light while driving.

 

Anyone? Other than an occasional P0420 these are the only two codes I haven't been able to get rid of. And that light is annoying the hell out of me.

 

I swear I saw a yellow wire connector next to the seat belt rollout thingy near the bottom of the b-pillar last time I checked. Have you inspected that thing to make sure it's plugged in? Don't unplug it if not already unplugged, remove the negative battery cable first, wait 5 mins before you ever disconnect a yellow or orange connector!

I believe all SRS codes are persistent, and need to be manually cleared by a tool that's capable, not all tools support clearing them. Have you tried clearing the codes to see if they come back?

 

The seat belt unit is plugged in, pulled the cover off at one point and checked it. I have not unplugged it.

I've got one of the bluetooth code readers and I used to be able to clear it while driving and it would go away for a few days to a week, now it comes back after a second or two while clearing the code.

I'm tempted to unplug the battery and try throwing some dielectric grease in the plugs on that wire to the seat belt. I'll check the FSM again and see if there's anything else I can do short of throwing new parts at it. It was an intermittent problem for a long time so I'm hoping it's a connection issue and not the main airbag unit in the dash.

 

Haven't had a chance to pull the battery and start checking all the connections, but I have noticed that I can clear the code again and make it go away temporarily. I bought this truck last winter and that's how the alert used to behave, over the summer it would stay on constantly and only clear for a second or two. First noticed that I could clear it again on cold mornings, and I'm finding it's definitely connected to temperature, so hoping it's just a bad connection at either the seat belt or the air bag module. Preferably the seat belt so I don't have to rip the dash apart.