Sonic Active Hood Fault Airbag Light

Whoa, that sounds familiar! I had something similar happen in my Sonic. The 'active hood' is part of the pedestrian safety system – it's designed to pop the hood up slightly in a collision to provide more cushioning. If you're getting that error and the airbag light, it's definitely related to the car's safety system. Have you had any work done on the front end recently, or been in any minor fender-benders? Anything that might have triggered the impact sensor?

Thanks for the reply! Nope, no accidents or front-end work recently. That's what's so baffling! You mentioned an impact sensor – where exactly is that located? And what exactly did you do to fix it? I'm hoping it's not something crazy expensive. Is it worth taking it to a workshop?

The impact sensor is usually located somewhere behind the front bumper. Honestly, in my case, the dealer traced it back to a faulty acceleration sensor, which is used to detect sudden deceleration and trigger the active hood. Given that your spring actuators have triggered, it seems like a similar issue. I would say that, with the airbag light on and the active hood seemingly deployed, it's definitely worth taking it to a workshop. These safety systems are complex, and messing with them yourself could be risky. A diagnostic scan should pinpoint the exact problem.

Thanks a bunch for the advice! Turns out you were spot on - took it to the shop, and they said the acceleration sensor was defective. They replaced it, cleared the errors, and now everything seems to be working fine. The bill came to 315€, which is annoying, but at least it's fixed. Really appreciate the help!