Clearing Diagnostic Trouble Codes

Retrieve/Clear Continuous DTCs

During vehicle operation the air bag control module will detect and store both intermittent and hard failure DTCs in its non volatile memory. The DTC strategy employed by the air bag control module 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 air bag control module will detect it. For the air bag control module 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 diagnostic tool using the retrieve/clear continuous DTCs option. Any DTCs stored in the air bag control module will be displayed on the diagnostic tool along with a brief description of the DTC. If no DTCs are present, the diagnostic tool will display a SYSTEM PASSED message. This option can also be used to clear DTCs from the air bag control module memory, as long as the concern no longer exists. Once 100 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 diagnostic tool to the Data Link Connector (DLC).
2. Turn the ignition switch to position II.
3. Select the MODEL YEAR and VEHICLE.
4. Select DIAGNOSTIC DATA LINK.
5. Select RCM.
6. Select DIAGNOSTIC TEST MODES.
7. Select RETRIEVE/CLEAR CONTINUOUS DTCs.
8. After pressing START, 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.
9. To clear the DTCs, press ALL.
10. The diagnostic tool will retrieve DTCs again after clearing DTCs, and if any remain they will be displayed. Hard DTCs will be displayed again after clearing DTCs since they cannot be cleared from the air bag control module.