Airbag light flashing - dealer says a bad bulb?

So I took my new '09 GT to the dealer to get the airbag light checked. This thing is really confusing me. The light wasn't flashing at all when I bought the vehicle, but started on my way home. It was flashing with a x1 long, 8x short pattern. I searched these forums and several others but wasn't finding anything with that exact pattern.

The service guy at the dealer tells me the problem is the "bulb", and that the airbag pattern is for an "open circuit". They're quoting around $400 to take apart the dash and replace the bulb. Does this make any sense?

To make things more confusing, the light appears to have stopped flashing shortly after leaving the dealer (it was still flashing when I left - I stopped for another errand on the way home and when I got back on the road I noticed it wasn't flashing anymore).

I'm really hesitant to dig into the dash and mess with this sort of thing because I don't have a good track record with anything electrical other than batteries, fuses and bulbs. Has anyone else seen this sort of thing? Any recommendations?

Well, it's back to flashing, so I guess the dealer's the only way to go. None of the indie mechanics I've talked to seem to know what to do with it, or have a better explanation. Hopefully the dealer knows what they're talking about!

Well, it's in at the dealer - supposed to be a 2 hour repair, but they broke a piece of dash trim and now I have to wait till Monday for them to receive and install the part. Yay for service!

Got a CX-9 loaner, which is fun - great vehicle but wow, this thing is a beast! Almost as big as my Nissan Armada! Both are great rides but I'm anxious to get my 5 back.

Should be picking up the vehicle today. For other's information, I did look up the error code finally, and it does agree with what the dealer said:

Code 18: Passenger air bag deactivation (PAD) indicator circuit open or short to body ground

Click to expand...

Again, my airbag light was blinking 1x long, 8x fast - that's what the shop manual lists for that pattern (I noticed finally that the code numbers correspond to the blink pattern - 1 long - 8 short, in this case: 18).

Hopefully this will be the last time this boy visits the dealer for a good while!

Hi, I have a '09 Sport...having the same airbag light blinking issue today. Wondering if replacing the bulb fixed the problem. Thanks!

the bulb is probably a LED on a circuit board. So at $400 they probably just replaced the cluster or an electronic part