airbag error code 46

[Tigger038]

My airbag light is blinking error code 46 and I can't find anything online about what this error code means. My truck is a 2001 Ranger 3.0L.

[Tigger038]

Does anyone have a list of airbag error codes for an 01 Ranger?

[bbbb51]

U can try here http://www.obdii.com/

[98greenrangerguy]

From what I can tell, that code refers to a fault in one of the crash sensors at the front of the vehicle. You may want to consult the pro's on this one.

[snake]

I haven't looked up the code myself, but if it is one of the front crash sensors, disconnect the battery and pull the connector off of the sensors- a lot of times they get moisture in there and act goofy- then dry them off, put some dielectric grease in there, and plug 'em back in. Then reconnect the battery.

[srteach]

Looked up the code at dealer. The actual code from Ford repair manuals for an '01 Ford Ranger (Page 501-6b) says the code indicates "Drivers' side pretensioner High/Low resistance" (actual code 46 is for both high and low resistance). Code 46 can be set by having something unplugged in the SRS system with the car power on. The first thing recommended is to reset the memory. (Clearing DTC codes doesn't reset airbag codes, apparently) Get to a dealer to reset this code. If it comes back, you actually have a problem. Multiple steps from the book after that.

[Tigger038]

Hey srteach, it's been 3 months and the error code just came back yesterday. Could I get the rest of the info on what they sagest to do next? Or if anyone has access to the info would they post it?

[rg2200]

I know that this is an old thread, but just for information purposes:

We had this error code flashing, after we replaced the driver's seat with one from the JY (ours had a tear in it, and the JY one was in good shape.) The airbag had gone off in the truck in JY that we got the seat from. This code is for the pretensioner that's in the driver's seatbelt receiver. If the airbag goes off, the pretensioner (which tightens the seat belt) goes off and tightens the belt. We just swapped the seatbelt receiver/pretensioner from the old seat to the new one. It's one small screw and one bolt, remove the wire, move it over to the other seat. Pretty simple and straight forward, and fixed the problem. Looking closely, you could see that the pretensioner had gone off, so it actually wasn't safe having that belt receiver in the truck...but problem's fixed now.

[snake]

Nice. Thanks for the update. After I posted my reply up top, I had the same code on my '02. Finally one day a passenger moved the seat forward and the light went on- so I simply unplugged and plugged the connector under the seat one time and the code never came back- just dirty connector.