Airbag Code 46
 

My 2002 Ford Airbag light is flashing 46. I beleive this is the Drivers side crash senor. I am repairing the left front fender and left front wheel suspension. I have replaced the two air bags and airbag control module.

1. Were is the left front crash sensor?

2. Were can I buy one? Ford wants $165.00

Code 46 indicates on open circuit in the driver side pretensioner. If the air bags deployed the pretensioner will also need to be replaced. Also this vehicle does not have a front mounted crash sensor.

airbags sensor
 

Is there anything special I need to do in replacing the seat belt?

You may need to remove the seat to access the mounting bolt.Also be sure to route the wire the same as it is removed or it can get cut in the seat track. the pretensioner is the buckle end not the belt.

airbags 46
 

Thank for the help

Kind of a late response, but might help the next guy. There is a TSB about "high resistance" in the drivers side pre-tensioner causing the airbag warning light to stay on. The TSB has some taping technics and spray to clean oxidation off the connector. I found the spray at Radio Shack. Wiggle the connector under the driver set, with the car off, and see if that resolves the warning light off. If so this is probably your problem.

WD40 worked perfect for me and the lights now off. I made sure clean by unplugging and reconnecting several times. Finally made sure it was seated firmly on last connection. Thanks guys for the post solutions!

Welcome to FTE.
Good use of the search function. Old thread, but with some good TSB input about the seat belt under seat electrical connector high resistance contact issue, which is a common problem for the passenger side under seat connector also. Good to hear the info proved helpful for you 5+ years later.

Ford Ranger/Explorer seat belt pretensioner
 

Hi guys!

I don't mean to dig up this old thread, but since I was unable to google-fu anything regarding ABS light codes/pretensioners/etc etc, I figured that since I found out the answers, id post it to a thread so other people don't have the same issues.

Please note that I can only say 100% that these work for me (2004 ford ranger XL), and you follow/make the mods listed below at your own risk. they work for me, but you follow them at your own risk.

1. ABS code 19- you need to get airbag module reset. It can be done via OBD2 port, but most code readers do not have the ability. I found somebody local in LA (May 2016) who did it for $80. (if you buy another module, it needs to be programmed to match VIN, so either get it pre-programmed or get yours erased. Erased is easier)

2. ABS light code 46 (driver side pretensioner blown) & ABS light code 47 (passenger side pretensioner blown)

3. the pretensioner just pulls the buckle down ~3" when blown (to lock the seatbelt immediately in an accident). It does not affect the seatbelt's ability in anyway itself; it will still 'catch' in an accident- just have a bit more play.

4. On my vehicle, the driver side connector has 4 pins; 2 pins are used to detect if the seatbelt latched (it goes to buckle receptacle). the buckle shorts the two wires when the buckle is NOT inserted. Once you insert the belt, the circuit goes open. If you cut the two wires (and leave the circuit open), you can disable the seatbelt nag light.

5. When the pretensioner is intact, the ABS module will read the resistance across the pretensioner pins to determine if module is blown or not. on my vehicle, intact (unblown), it reads ~ 2 ohms- once set off, it reads several megaohms. You can cut out the (blown) pretensioner charge and replace it 2 ohm resistor (I got a 1/2W, that's all you need). You just need to cut the two wires to the pretensioner charge and solder in a 2 ohm resistor. In my case, I cut the connector off the pretensioner/buckle module and left the buckle wires open (seat belt inserted), and soldered in a 2 ohm resistor to replace the pretensioner module. I did not touch the pretensioner/seatbelt module itself. I did measure the resistance myself- and no, it did not blow the pretensioner. DMMs put out VERY tiny amounts of current.

6. The only difference between the passenger/driver side pretensioner module/buckle assembly is the plastic shield (which you don't see after its installed anyways), and the fact that the passenger side does not have seatbelt minder pins/wires (the passenger side connector itself is same as driver, just missing the two seatbelt wires/pins which exist on driver side- the connector is identical). The driver-side module will plug into passenger seat connector, and vice versa. The pretensioner/buckle assembly themselves will mount in either seat with plastic shield removed.

7.I took a chance and bought a 2007-11 ranger module on the off chance that it would fit my 2004 (it does. same buckle, and same pretensioner design). The passenger side had a different connector, but the pretensioner/buckle assembly itself was identical. I was able to use the old connector (with pretensioner blown) and splice it into the unblown 2007 assembly. It installed without any issues, and got rid of the ABS light (code 47: passenger pretensioner blown).

If you want to see if you can find ebay replacement pretensioner modules, you might ask the seller to send you pics of A: the seatbelt receptacle itself (if it looks the same as yours, it probably is). B: closeups of the pretensioner module (if it looks the same, it probably is), and C: connector.

Again, I needs to stress that for me, at least, the above-mentioned information is true. I cannot say that it is true for others. (interestingly, the seatbelt from my 2012 impreza will latch correctly into 2004 ranger receptacle) so I think there is alot more cross-pollination than people realize. (why re-invent the wheel when you can license it).

If you found this post via google, i hope this helps!

Hey llmogen,

I actually did find this post via Google this morning and had a question for you as it seems you've dealt a lot with pretensioner related things. I hope it is fine for me to ask here. (Shortened your quote so this wouldn't be too big of a block of text)

I ended up replacing my 60/40 cloth seats in the front of my 2002 ranger ext cab with a set of leather bucket seats I got a great deal on out of a 2007 ranger. The seat belts on my door didn't fit into the 2007 female end and the pretensioners mounted differently between the years so the only thing I could do was replace my whole seat belt unit with the 2007 one. All that went smooth but then I was stuck with the 2007 pretensioner wiring on the seat and (unfortunately) a very different 2002 truck-side wiring and plug. The plug on the truck side is four pronged and with two wires. The 2007 seats have many more wires and prongs. I was hoping I could somehow cut the truck side plug off and re-solder on the 2007 truck side plug (I got that with the seats) but don't have the slightest clue which wires are the same as the two 2002 ones and if all the remaining wires are needed for anything.

I hope what I'm asking makes sense. Tried to keep the terms as consistent as I could, haha. Before starting the replacement I didn't even know any of this existed and assumed any wiring wouldn't have changed from 2002-7.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and Iook forward to hearing back.

-Clark

I don't know how much help I can be since I don't have much info about the donor seats, nor about any differences between your truck and mine. You appear to have two different issues with the seat belt- truck side & seat side. Let's (try) to separate them.

Truck side:
I did not touch the truck side seatbelt assembly on my truck; however, from my research, there did not appear to be any wiring that attached to them on any pictures I found. HOWEVEVER, on some vehicles, the pretensioner module/charge is built into the truck side seat belt assembly and not the seat side assembly- if that is indeed the case, then you will have (multiple) wires in the truck side assembly that did not exist with older designs. If you're lucky, the newer truck side vs older seat side pretensioner module have the same pretensioner explosive charge (resistance/voltage/current wise)- in which case you could conceivably run the wires that originally went to the seat side pretensioner to the truck side pretensioner. You know what they say about ASS-U-ME ing anything (dont assume anything).

Seat side:
newer vehicles all have pressure sensors built into the seat pan itself (it might even be weight sensitive) so that the car knows, if incase of a crash, if the passenger seat airbag needs to deploy, and if so, with high (normal) or lower (child) force. My 2011 car (not a truck) take this info, and if it detects weight on the seat past a point, (kid or backpack) it'll beep at you to put on seatbelt. (it's assuming it's a person). You should try to follow the connector wiring back from the connector to determine where they go (don't rely on color!)


In essence, what im trying to say is that
1. Many newer vehicles have the pretensioner charge moved to the truck side assembly. this may/may not be the case for you (you can research to see if you can find services that 'rebuild' the vehicle side seatbelt pretensioner module (for the year your truck side seatbelt module came out of)- if the module is 'dumb' like mine, then there is nothing to blow/replace/fix in an accident. If they talk about rebuilding the charge, then that means that they did move the pretensioner from seat to truck side- in which case lots of assumptions begin (and I can't help)

2. If #1 is true, the seat side would be left with the seatbelt minder & the weight sensor. since your (truck is older than mine, it likely doesn't know what to do about the seat weight detection- you should be able to cut those out and leave alone. The seatbelt minder, on the other hand might be the same (normally closed, open when buckle inserted) or it might be reversed (normally open, closed when buckle inserted). You need to know how to use a voltmeter to check.

In closing, don't mind the connector- look to see what each wire does, and once you know what each wire does, then worry about splicing in the correct connector.

(By reading/following this post you agree that you take responsibility for everything you do to your vehicle as I have no knowledge of your vehicle and donor parts.)

Hi again,

Thanks for that reply. I can give you a few clarifications.

-The pretensioners are attached to the seat side of the assembly.
-I have a plug with pins coming out of the floor (like all, I think) which connects to the plug with pins running to the pretensioners.
-Also a side note, I checked and the truck side of the assembly has four pins on the driver side and two on the passenger side.

So if I was reading correctly, you're saying that the best thing to do would be to trace the wires back to the pretensioners and then solder those wires to the existing ones on the truck side of the assembly (after knowing for sure which wire is what).

I think you're right about these seats having pressure sensors and that must be some of the extra wires coming into the plug. If that is the case can I just leave those cut since they don't exist in the wiring of the truck side?

I for sure take full responsibility for my own actions on all of this. So far your information has helped me gather my head around this better.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks again,

-Clark

On my truck, the driver has 1 pair (pretensioner charge) only; on the passenger side, it's got 2 pairs (pretensioner charge & seatbelt minder). No weight sensor wires- so I would just leave them unconnected (you have nothing to connect them too anyways). The connector itself (driver vs passenger side) is the same, the driver side just has 1 pair of wires and 1 pair of holes)


As for the pretensioner, that's a *big* decision to make on your part. On my truck, prior to receiving the replacement pretensioners, I cut the wires to the blown pretensioner and replaced it with a 2 Ohm resistor I soldered in (I left vehicle side connector/wiring intact, and cut wires on seat side connector that lead to the pretensioner). That tricked the computer into thinking the pretensioner was not blown (and then turned the light off)


I chose to bypass the pretensioner because A: I wanted the airbags to work (if airbag light is on, airbag *will not deploy* in an accident, and B: the the pretensioner being blown did not affect the seatbelt itself, and C: Dash lights are very annoying reminders!

During my diassembly of the system, I noticed that the seatbelt itself was not affected by the pretensioner safety-wise; it just essentially 'retracted' the buckle by a few inches to 'engage' the assembly faster (in an actual accident, the seat belt's speed-sensitive clutch would still catch and engage anyways).

If you really want to try to wire the pretensioner in (I dont know if I would)- You need to determine if the pretensioner charge really is in the truck side seatbelt module (still unknown). If it is, you will want to measure the resistance across the new truck side pretensioner charge. After you determine the resistance for the new pretensioner charge, do the same with your old, unblown pretensioner charge, compare values and decide if you want to risk running the wiring from under the seat (old pretensioner) to the new truck side pretensioner. If it's 2 ohms, it's *PROBABLY* the same charge, but who knows.
Doing this carries a higher risk of issues, though (you don't know if the voltage needed to set off the pretensioner charge are the same!)

Wiring in a resistor to fool the module is the easiest way to solve the problem- A: the light goes away (so the airbags work in case of frontal accident) and B: the seatbelts *should* catch anyways (try pulling the seatbelt out FAST; it SHOULD catch and engage-most seatbelts have some sort of speed-sensing clutch).


You should definetely read the dash airbag light code; I had to fix one issue in order to know about the next issue- I got codes 1-9 (airbag module full)- After I got that cleared, THEN 4-6 (Driver pretensioner), and after I shorted that (2 ohm resistor bit) THEN I got code 4-7. (your year might be different)

Good luck

Thanks. This will all help. I think I'll bypass it like you said for the time being and then figure out a good fix.

-Clark