What does it mean?
B1490 is a Body (airbags, seat belts, body electronics) fault code. It indicates: PODS (Passenger Occupant Detecting System) Sensor (Bladder) Defect .
Symptoms
- Airbag warning lamp on
- Passenger airbag OFF indicator lit with a normal adult in the seat, or ON with the seat empty
- Occupant weight reading in scan data stuck at a fixed value
- Passenger belt reminder chimes with nobody seated
- Code reappears shortly after a calibration attempt
Likely causes
- Leaking or deflated fluid bladder inside the passenger seat cushion
- Failed pressure transducer at the end of the bladder tube
- Damaged or disconnected sensor pigtail under the seat cushion
- Aftermarket seat cover, seat heater pad or an object wedged under the cushion loading the bladder
- Cushion foam collapsed or crushed, so bladder pressure no longer tracks occupant weight
- Sensor never rezeroed after seat, cushion or trim work
- Water intrusion into the sensor connector under the seat
How to fix it
- Remove seat covers, floor items and anything stored under the cushion, then retest
- Watch bladder pressure or occupant weight in live data with the seat empty and then loaded, and compare to specification
- Inspect the sensor connector under the seat for corrosion, moisture and backed-out terminals
- Wiggle the pigtail and harness through the full seat travel while watching the live value for dropouts
- Check the cushion foam for collapse, tears or a crushed bladder tube
- Perform the zero calibration procedure on an empty, undisturbed seat
- Replace the bladder sensor or cushion assembly as a unit if the pressure signal is dead or out of range, then recalibrate