Clearing Diagnostic Trouble Codes

Retrieve/Clear Continuous DTCs
During vehicle operation the air bag Electronic Crash Sensor (ECS) module will detect and store both intermittent and hard failure DTCs in nonvolatile memory. The DTC strategy employed by the ECS incorporates a time-out scheme for determining when a concern exists in the system. This requires a concern to exist for up to one minute in the system before the ECS will detect it. For the ECS to determine that a concern no longer exists, the concern must be absent for up to one minute. The actual detection time-outs vary with each DTC. The DTCs can be retrieved with the scan tool. Any DTCs stored in the ECS will be displayed on the scan tool along with a brief description of the DTC. If no DTCs are present, the scan tool will display a SYSTEM PASSED message. This option can also be used to clear DTCs from the ECS memory, as long as the concern no longer exists. Once 126 key cycles have been recorded since the concern was last detected, the DTC will automatically be removed from memory.

To retrieve or clear DTCs, follow these steps:
1. Connect the scan tool to the Data Link Connector (DLC).
2. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN position.
3. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the scan tool being used.
4. All continuous DTCs will be displayed on the screen. Before proceeding with the clearing operation, make note of the DTCs displayed, because once cleared, they cannot be retrieved.
5. The scan tool will retrieve DTCs again after clearing DTCs, and if any remain they will be displayed. Hard DTCs will be redisplayed after clearing DTCs since they cannot be cleared from the ECS.