Your Vehicle: 2001 Ford Escort ZX2 L4-2.0L DOHC VIN 3
 
Vehicle » Restraints and Safety Systems » Air Bag Systems » Testing and Inspection » Pinpoint Tests » Test R: DTC B1870 - Air Bag Indicator Short to Battery  
 
 
  Test R: DTC B1870 - Air Bag Indicator Short to Battery  
 

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Normal Operation
The air bag indicator is designed to illuminate for 6 (+/-2) seconds when the ignition switch is turned to the RUN position. This initial 6 seconds of illumination is considered normal operation and is called proveout of the air bag indicator. The air bag indicator is then used to warn the driver that there is a fault in the air bag Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) .

The air bag Electronic Crash Sensor (ECS) module monitors the air bag indicator for short to battery conditions. If the ECS detects a short to battery condition on the air bag indicator circuit, it will store a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) B1870 in memory.

If the ECS detects an air bag indicator failure in addition to another SRS failure, the ECS will send a signal to the Total Warning System (TWS) module to produce five sets of five tone bursts.

Possible Causes
An air bag indicator short to battery condition could be caused by:

  • damaged wifing on circuit 952 (PK/GN).
  • an instrument cluster malfunction.