Safety Belt Tension Sensor

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2007 Mercury Mariner and 2007 Ford Escape. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The safety belt tension sensor is used by the occupant classification sensor (OCS) system to identify the presence of a child safety seat on the front outboard passenger seat, when the child safety seat is installed according to manufacturer instructions. The safety belt tension sensor senses the tension on the safety belt assembly then provides an output to the OCS system electronic control unit (ECU), indicating that the safety belt assembly is cinched. After sensing the weight applied to the seat by the occupant and using the safety belt tension sensor input, the OCS system determines how the occupant should be classified and communicates this information to the restraints control module (RCM). If the occupant is classified to be a child, the RCM will then automatically deactivate the passenger air bag module.

The safety belt tension sensor:

is part of the front outboard passenger safety belt and retractor assembly.
is located at the safety belt anchor point.
is used in conjunction with the OCS system.
is a 3-wire Hall-effect sensor that is part of the front passenger safety belt and retractor assembly.