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Federal filingsHome›Trouble codes› B0020
Diagnostic trouble code

B0020

5 owner reports and 0 manufacturer filings across 4 model years from Infiniti, Nissan.

Body Generic OBD-II code 5 owner reports

Where B0020 shows up

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints
Model yearFiled underBulletinsOwner reportsParts
2017 Nissan AltimaAir Bags—2
2017 Infiniti QX80Air Bags—1
2016 Nissan AltimaAir Bags—1
2016 Nissan RogueAir Bags—1

A model year appears here because the code is named in its record, not because every one of these vehicles sets it. Counts are mentions in the federal files, not failure rates — nobody publishes the denominator.

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What it gets filed under

Air Bags 5

What owners said

Source: NHTSA complaint database

Owners’ own words, one per nameplate, scrubbed of anything identifying. These are unverified reports filed with NHTSA — they are what was said, not a finding that it was true.

Was advised by dealership “ found code B0020 side module open in driver seat air bag, code in past which requires air bag control unit replacement-- note air bag system is disabled while light is flashing, no air bacs will deploy in case…
2017 Infiniti QX80 Jul 14, 2026 NHTSA owner report
I am experiencing an issue with the airbag light on my 2017 Nissan Altima S model, which is showing code B0020
2016 Nissan Altima Sep 25, 2025 NHTSA owner report
The active code from the dealership is B0020 and my personal scan tool code is b0020-13
2016 Nissan Rogue Jun 2, 2020 NHTSA owner report

A code names the test that failed. Not the part.

No manufacturer filing in NHTSA’s file names B0020. Owners’ reports are the record so far — and the model years they came from are above.

Photo: Compagnons / Unsplash

What B0020 means

Source: SAE J2012 / OBD-II

B0020 sits in the generic range of the OBD-II standard, so it means the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States — but WhichTrim does not carry a definition for it and will not invent one. What is on this page is the record: who named it and on what.

A stored code names the test that failed, never the part that caused it. It is the starting point of a diagnosis, not its conclusion — the same code has several possible causes and the cheap one is not always right.

From here

Common questions about B0020

Source: NHTSA files and the OBD-II standard

Can I keep driving with B0020 stored?

Nobody can answer that from the code alone, and a site that does is guessing. A steady light means a fault was logged and the car should be checked soon; a flashing light means a severe misfire — slow down and get it seen as soon as possible, because severe misfire can quickly damage the catalytic converter. The safe read of this page is the mileage and the components, not permission.

Does a code mean the car is recalled?

No. Recalls are filed by campaign and matched by VIN, and none of them are triggered by a scan tool. If you want to know whether an open recall applies to one specific vehicle, check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls — that is the only source that settles it.

Why do the counts here differ from other sites?

Because these are not estimates. Every number on this page is a count of documents in NHTSA's own files: manufacturer communications that name the code in their filed summary, and owner complaints that name it in the narrative. We do not model, weight or extrapolate them.

Will clearing the code fix it?

Clearing turns the light off and erases the freeze-frame data a technician would have used to work out what happened. If the condition is still there the code returns, usually within a few drive cycles, and the diagnosis now starts from less information than before.