margie100 said:
Here's what I see: The "OFF" light illuminates when I start up the car when the seat is empty.
You need to understand that the OFF light will illuminate no matter what during the first few seconds after you turn on the car due to the system check. What's important is how it behaves after the first 7 seconds or so after the system check is completed.
If the seat is empty, the OFF light will go OFF AFTER the system check if the seat is empty. Normally, this can be confusing because some people think if the seat is empty, then the airbag should be deactivated, then the OFF light should be on. However, Nissan clearly states in their manual that the OFF light will go out after system check if the seat is empty. My guess on why they chose to do this is because they're afraid even more people would be confused if Nissan leaves the OFF light on an empty passenger seat, causing people to think that there's something wrong with their passenger airbag system and take their cars into the dealer needlessly. Their logic is that if the seat is empty, there's no reason to cause false alarm and undue concern/confusion to people by leaving the OFF light on. The OFF light should only operate IF and only IF there's a passenger in the seat.
margie100 said:
The "OFF" light also illuminates when I start up the car and my husband is sitting in the passenger seat. (Very unhelpful! -- I would have expected to see it in the first case (empty seat), but NOT in the second case (adult in the seat).
Again, the first few seconds of illumination is only for system start up check. It should become unilluminated in a few seconds if : 1) Nobody is in the seat, or 2) an adult is in the seat.
So far, based on your description, the behavior of your OFF light works properly as expected.
What I suggest you do is to put the actual pre-teen you're talking about in the seat, turn on the car, wait a few seconds after the system check, and see if the OFF light remains illuminated or not (after say 10 seconds).
1) If it remains illuminated after 10 seconds, it means that it detects the pre-teen properly and turns off the airbag like you want.
2) If goes unilluminated after the system check, then it means that the sensors decides that your pre-teen is big and heavy enough for the airbag to activate,
3) or it can also mean that your airbag system is not working properly.
If you're sure that your pre-teen is too small and too light and scenario 1 should have happened, then call the dealership and ask them how heavy the passenger weight needs to e before the airbag would activate. If your teen is over this weight, then you're seeing scenario 2 and the system works properly. If your teen is under this weight, then you're seeing scenario 3 and you need to bring your car in to the dealer for a check up (and preferrably your pre-teen to demonstrate the problem if possible).