2011 Leaf OCS sensor failing, class action

[Lothsahn]

Going on 4 years later ... did anything come of the class action initiative?

When the sensor went out in 2020, I paid for a new seat. Dealer strongly encouraged me to go with a new model instead. (This one works just fine for me, thank you.)

Now the B1018 code is back. Nissan service rep (Bourne, MA) thinks it's out of warranty, is checking with his manager and says he'll call back.

If their aim is to get me to buy another Nissan car, it's not working. Not because of the car. Because of the company.

I am not aware of a class action initiative. I would happily join. I have not replaced the seat. There are companies out there like airbag360 that sell OCS emulators and trick the car into thinking the seat is occupied. These devices are illegal in some locations (e.g. California it's illegal to have it), while other states allow the use as long as it's been installed by the owner. Certainly remove before selling.

If you were to install such a device (and I'm not recommending you do or don't), like others earlier in the thread said, you will have to either always keep the seat belt plugged in while the seat is unoccupied otherwise the car will inform you that the passenger seat belt is not installed. There are seat belt defeat devices that you could use instead (but again, I'm not recommending for/against using them) that you plug into the seat belt receptacle. Total cost of both would be around $100.

[Lothsahn]

I'm having the same problem on a 2013 LeafSL. Few years ago I had the recall done on the OCS, nothing is outstanding now but since I know have the problem again (since they changed the part no. or some BS liket that) the Nissan dealer is giving me the run around to fix the problem and wants to charge $2400 for full seat replacement. I got on to Nissan consumer affairs, they did offer to pay half but this is not enough considering the value of the car!
I am considering the bypass box from the company in Ireland but concerned about it's overall effectiveness and safety.
What did you guys do to resolve the problem? Any info. appreciated.
Nick

What did you end up doing Nick? I've had this same problem since this past summer. I have a 2013 Nissan Leaf SL that started having problems with the red air bag blinking since this past spring. I've been putting off doing anything about it and just not having anyone sit in the front passenger seat, but that is getting annoying. They want to charge me $1000 to replace the OCS control unit and sensor at my Nissan service center. I had them print me out a parts list that they would be charging me for and then looked up those pieces online.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be hard to replace the sensors myself. My only concern is if that does not actually fix the issue. I found all the parts online for about $366.

98853-3JA0A OCS Sensor - $37.82 (Need 2 of these)
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts/n ... 3ja0a.html

98856-5HA0A OCS Control Unit $288.33
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts/n ... 5ha0a.html

23188-3JA0A M8 Nut Flange Hexagon - $0.60 (Need 2 of these)
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts/n ... 3ja0a.html

Total Price $366

MasterCheech did you ever do this.. my 2011 is now in need. Did you need 2 sensors? and did you need the control box to? I wias hoping i could just swap the Sensor only..

The 2013 was covered by a recall and he probably didn't have to do the replacement himself. Should have been covered by the recall. The 2011/2012, as I understand it, uses a different setup and requires an ENTIRE SEAT REPLACEMENT. At least, that's what the stealership told me.

[brycenesbitt]

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2020 ... osed.shtml

June 7, 2020 — Nissan LEAF "passenger airbag off" warnings caused federal safety regulators to open an investigation in 2019, but the investigation is now closed after the government didn't find enough evidence to indicate additional action is necessary.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a petition to investigate airbag occupancy sensor failures in LEAF cars.
The petition led to a formal investigation into 2011-2012 cars with occupant classification system (OCS) sensors that failed and deactivated the passenger airbags.

Nissan didn't include 2011-2012 LEAFs in a 2016 recall of 2013-2016 LEAFs because Nissan said the passenger airbag occupant classification systems were different.

[brycenesbitt]

I've got a 2011 Leaf with the same problem: the airbag light is on as if there's a child seat fitted, but there's not.
The quote was $4500 for a repair.

Could anyone help with a proper parts diagram? Where are the sensors, what are the part numbers?


The parts appear similar to a 2009 Nissan recall described at:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2008/R ... 1-7546.pdf
Tool J-49787 Occupant Classification. System (OCS) Varistor

This would make the seat sensor matt a variable resistor, but there's no indication at what weight what resistance is expected.
Note that the recall notice says
"NOTE: The Service Manual may caution against disassembly of the passenger seat
cushion from the seat frame. It may also instruct that the cushion and frame be
replaced as an assembly. Due to changes in parts manufacturing and availability,
the seat cushion can now be replaced separately from the seat frame on Model and
Year vehicles affected by this campaign. "

Thus for prior years, Nissan made just the cushion available to reduce the cost of the recall.

[brycenesbitt]

I just filed a report at
https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-p ... nformation
On the 2011 Leaf passenger Airbag seat sensor. For prior model years, Nissan made the seat cushion available as a separate part. Because they don't for the Leaf, the repair is more expensive than the value of the vehicle.

THAT is the safety problem -- as my incentive is to bypass the airbag sensor rather than properly repair it.