I have a 2016 Subaru Forester with a persistent “passenger airbag off” message and an illuminated airbag light on the instrument cluster. My current code reader doesn’t have the capacity to read any codes associated with that system, so any advice about an affordable code reader that would work for this particular problem would be welcome. I love buying new toys but affordability is always an issue. Ideas? I’ve tried resetting the light by disconnecting the battery for a few hours but that didn’t seem to accomplish much. There was a recall on the harness that was completed in 2021, but I don’t know if that is the problem again or if something else is to blame.
Does it turn off when the passenger seat is occupied?
Not sure I understand your question. The message about the passenger air bag being off and the airbag light are constantly on, regardless of whether or not there is a passenger. In other words, it appears as if the airbag is always off.
With a properly functioning SRS, the airbag mechanism will, in cars so equipped, automatically shut off, indicated as such on the dash, if a minimum weight is not present in the passenger seat bottom.
Evidently, yours is not functioning properly as the airbag off indication is illuminated all the time
If you are wanting to repair it yourself then you will probably need more than just a code reader, next step would be a scanner with bidirectional control and all module scan, you need to be able to watch live data to see if the seat sensor for example… Check out the XTOOL D7, great reviews and about the best bang for you buck… And right now it’s on sale during Amazons Prime month…
And right now with both being on sale the D7 is only $52 higher than the Innova 5610, the 5610 is a decent little hand held scanner with bidirectional control and live data, but I just checked and it doesn’t seem to support Active Test and Special Functions for your vehicle… My next scanner will be the Xtool D8 (I hope)…
An Autel AP2500 is a plug-in dongle that connects to an app on your phone or tablet that reads those codes. Costs $55 and allows the use forever on a single car. Additional models can be added for a few dollars each.
Wally World has this scanner that can do what you want.
Tester
Thanks for the helpful replies.
If all you are looking for is something to give you the codes then just go by about any chain parts store, they will check the codes for you for free…
Answer is? It’s always off.
It wouldn’t hurt to try, but accessing airbag codes on a Subaru would require the full pro feature set on any scanner, if it even advertised Subaru compatibility in the first place. For Ford, you can buy Forscan which runs on Windows and it does all that.
I like the PC software tools, but many of them now require an active Internet connection for their copy protection. In that case, an embedded device may be better.
I just learned about secure gateways. I’ll start another topic on that.
Disconnecting the battery is not going to reset the airbag. Airbag codes require a scanner to clear even if the issue was addressed. The cheapest way to get the airbag light reset would be Autel AutoLink AL619 which is under $100 but that unit only does like engine and airbag system diangoistic. If you really wanted something full system and dealer level then I would look at Youcanic ucan-ii pro but that is an investment.
As I stated in my 1st post, the Innova 5610 will pull all module (SRS/air bag included) codes on a Subaru, but it does not support Active Test and Special Functions for the Subarus, however the XTOOL 7 & 8 and the better DIYer scanners does support those features…
The parts houses in my area (don’t know about AZ as I don’t use them) typically use the top scanner that they sell for checking codes, at least the Advance and O’Reilly does… The Innova 5610 is/was O’Reilly’s choice when I bought mine right after I retired…
Your area may differ…
Just picked up the XTool D7. We’ll see how things work out. Thanks for the suggestion.
Have you noticed that there is a lack of functional testing for SRS systems?
All the brands I’ve worked on and all the scan tools I’ve used, even factory level, I’ve never seen a functional test for “Deploy Airbags” to verify that they actually work! 
And even if one did, would it be able to reset the deployed airbag back to factory specs?? 
No harder than putting ketchup back in the bottle.
@jdmere Any updates yet???
I disconected the battery for several hours, then reconnected things. After that everything seems to be back to normal. I hooked up the XTool D7 to check on the airbag system and it reads that nothing is out of line. If the passenger airbag goes back to not turning on when I have passenger I’ll see if the tool can reset things, but as it stands now there is no issue.