B0018Center Frontal Stage 1 Deployment Control
- Generic OBD-II code · Body
- How the car detects it
- In the J2012 order of seating positions (driver, passenger, center, then second and third row) B0018 covers stage 1 of a frontal airbag for the middle seat of the first row. FMVSS 208 demands frontal airbags only for the outboard front seats, so such a bag is rare, and no carmaker publicly documents B0018 with this meaning. It is not the GM front center airbag of 2013, which deploys from the inner flank of the driver seat in side impacts (SAE 2013-01-1156). GM did use B0018 itself in older modules: on the Saab 9-5 2006 it reports a voltage out of range in the passenger frontal stage 1 circuit, above 4.1 V or below 1.0 V at module pin 44 for two seconds, and on the Saab 9-3 a short to battery or ground in that loop. Check which module stored the code.
- What you may notice
- Airbag warning lamp on
- Affected frontal airbag stage may not deploy
- Safety note: do not probe the airbag circuit yourself; unplug airbag connectors only with the battery disconnected and the stated wait time observed
- Likely causes
- PossibleOpen or shorted stage 1 loop of a first-row center frontal airbag (J2012 meaning)
- PossibleOn older GM/Saab passenger frontal stage 1 loop shorted to battery or ground
- RareRestraint control module fault
- Repair
- Workshop only · Usually a job for a workshop.Typical cost: €100 – €1,300
- Related codes
Explanation from obdex (CC0), exactly as the app shows it. Guidance only; confirm with a workshop.