Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2013 Nissan Pathfinder owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the front passenger's side air bag and the "solid air bag #2" warning lights were illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the air bag sensor to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V069000 (Air Bags) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 102,000. Consumer has not stated when the incident occured.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. He also stated that the OCS sensor failed to recognize an occupant seated in the passenger's side seat, which would cause the air bag to become inoperable. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed him that there were no recalls on the vehicle. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V681000 (Air Bags) which he linked to the failure. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 149,989
The air bag light indicating that the passenger air bag is disabled does not go off when someone sits in the passenger seat. This matches NHTSA Campaign Number 15V681000 from October 20, 2015 with the description Air Bag may not Detect Passenger in Seat. However, Nissan says that my VIN is not part of the recall. This makes no sense to me since my vehicle has this issue. I do not know exactly when this started as I don't often carry passengers. The date I put in was around the last time I took this vehicle in for what I believe was to address a recall issue. I'm also concerned that my vehicle could have the issue from April 26, 2016, NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V244000, Passenger Air Bag may not Deploy due to OCS Error.
Brought our 2013 Nissan Pathfinder to Naples Nissan because of a flashing airbag warning light and a Warning light that passenger airbag was not working . Dealer fixed other recalls and charged us $179 to tell us we needed 2 new OCS sensors for $1050. We provided copy of OCS sensor recall for 2013 pathfinder (PC216 13V -069. NYB13-035a) which states dealer is responsible to remove OCS sensors and check the lot codes for campaign eligibility . Dealer has ignored the request and simply repeated that the all outstanding recalls have been taken care of and we would need to pay $1050 to repair this important safety problem . Please help us ?
Passenger side airbag does not show as engage due to a faulty (OCS) sensor per inspection by Nissan dealership names #1 Cochran. This is a known problem covered under Nissan's recall PC216. This recall was performed on the vehicle in 2017. The sensor is faulty again. The fix that Nissan proposed is not a long term correction of the problem. Obviously, if the vehicle is involved in an accident with my wife in the passenger seat the airbag would not work due to a faulty sensor that registers no one being present in the passenger seat.
I recently purchased a 2013 Pathfinder with 71,000 miles. My 2013 Pathfinder has a faulty OCS. The RED AIRBAG light is illuminated on the dashboard that will not go off. It also has the PASSENGER AIRBAG light illuminated whether a person is sitting in the passenger seat or not. This light does not go off when an adult is sitting in the seat. There is a recall on 2013 Pathfinders for this problem but my VIN is not showing a recall for this problem even though it has the same issue.
Hi, in 2018, Nissan replaced the passenger occupancy module as part of a recall. That module has now gone bad again (~5 years), and Nissan is charging its customers to replace. Maybe we are unlucky, but wondering if the repair with a faulty part is a pattern that is introducing risk and unnecessary cost to customers. Hoping the NHTSA can review data to determine whether this is a pattern or one-off. Thank you.
While pushing the auto button to slid the passenger front seat to vacuum the floor carpet the airbag sensor broke off. This made the airbag system to be non operational on the front passerenger seat putting any passenger in danger with no airbags. Poor design of such an important safety system that just sliding the seat would break such an important part!
passenger side airbag light is always on (passenger or not) indicating that the passenger side airbag is off. also, when there is no passenger in the seat, the red airbag light flashes. however, when there is a passenger in the seat, the red airbag light is not on.
The front passenger air bag turned off when an adult or teen sits in the seat. The air bag has remained turned off. The warning light also started to flash periodically and now continuously flashes.
Related recalls
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City…
Remedy: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano,…
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima and Pathfinder vehicles, 2013-2014 Nissan Sentra vehicles, 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles, 2014-2015 Infiniti QX60 vehicles and 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid vehicles.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ODS sensors and replace them as neccessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
NHTSA investigations
Occupant Classification System Failure
In April 2014, Nissan North America launched Safety Recall 14V-138 to address problems with the Occupant Classification System (OCS) algorithm in the following vehicles: model year (MY) 2013-2014 Nissan Altima, Pathfinder, Sentra and LEAF; MY 2013 Infiniti JX35; MY 2014 Infiniti QX60 and Q50; and MY 2013 Nissan NV 200/Taxi vehicles.According to Nissan, the OCS may misclassify adult front passenger occupants and turn…
Occupant Classification System Failure
In May 2016, Nissan North America issued a safety recall (16V-244) to address the problem of improper classification of adult front seat passengers in approximately 3.3 million vehicles, including those in the scope of this investigation when it was opened (almost one million vehicles) and additional vehicles, as shown below.Nissan models: certain model year 2013-2016 Altima, 2013-2016 LEAF, 2016-2017 Maxima,…
Airbag complaints in other Pathfinder years
Frequently asked questions
How common are airbag problems on the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder?
NHTSA has 177 complaints about the air bags of the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, 20% of the model year's 890 complaints. The component named most often is sensor › occupant classification › front passenger (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2013 Nissan Pathfinder airbag problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 16V-244 (occupant classification, Apr 26, 2016); NHTSA recall 15V-681 (occupant classification, Oct 20, 2015); NHTSA recall 13V-069 (air bags, Mar 1, 2013). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2013 Nissan Pathfinder airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 11,000 miles, and 68% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 6 crashes, 0 fires and 13 injuries to air bags problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.