ok im gonna start with why i am asking this then conclude with the question... i work for GM as a low level technician... i recently picked up a pair of after market seats for my tC and was gettin ready to install them today afterwork when one of the older more experienced techs walked up and started talking to me... he told me that some newer vehicles have a pressure sensor in the seats that arm the air bags... this prevents them from deploying if the car is hit when it is parked/unoccupied. he then told me that on some of these cars if you disconnect this sensor it deploys the airbag automatically as a failsafe... i dont know if the guy was messin with me cause i own an import or what but it planted the seed of doubt. so in short...

if i disconnect the wire from my seats will a)my air bag deploy? or b) will it set a code on the ECM?

a prompt response would be awesome seeing as how i would like to get these seats in before the weekend... thank you.

 

air bag should deploy still... but that light that's going to be on i would think you would find annoying...

if you want... remove the sensor out of the stock seat and install in new one.... i've heard it being done before.

 

no the guy said that as soon as i disconnect the wire the air bag will deploy... like right then on the spot

 

what?!
uhmm.. no.

airbag sensors tell airbag to go boom.... the sensor in the seat is not that type of sensor...

totally different... but if you're STILL in doubt... disconnect the battery and wait a few minutes

 

I think that guy is full of crap or doesn't know what he's talking about.
There are people here who have aftermarket seats and I'm sure the airbags didn't deploy when you disconnect the wire.

I checked the owner's manual and repair manual, both only mention a driver seat position sensor.

Just disconnect your battery before removing the seats.

 

I have removed both my front seats 2 times to clean really good the interior for shows and none of the times did the airbags deploy and I mean fully remove the seats out of the car but you can do as Squall siad remove the sensors from the stock seat and install it in the new one so you'll be safe while driving.

Good luck!

PD post pics of the seats when you finish!

 

hey thanx alot guys... i was pretty sure the guy was full of crap but its that seed of doubt that always gets you... as far as putting that sensor back in.... pass. seats to spendy to be chopping them open... that and i am gonna be leaving my stock belts in. one cause i spent so much on seats i cant afford harnesses right now and 2 well frankly 4 point harnesses are really uncomfortable for daily driving. and as far as i can tell the seatbelt light for the drivers side is linked to the buckle... and i talked to WeDriveScions and he said that the passenger side seat belt light just doesnt work anymore if you unplug that seat. soooooo.... after work today i go for broke. i'll get pictures up as soon as im done.

 

there are sensors in the seats...

if you keep the car off, you can un-plug and re-plug the sensors/airbags all day long. it will not cause them to deploy.

if you have the car on...then it could go off.

you should remove the sensor from the stock seat and put it in the aftermarket ones. this will ensure the passenger airbag will deploy if needed.

 

Please keep us posted! I definitely want to know how this mod turns out b/c I was planning on swapping out and changing my two front seats. I thought it would be a simple replacement but I guess not...

 

^^^ you and me both friend... plus to make matters worse i got to lookin at stuff and i reallized that i ended up accidentally not picking up the sliders so the install is being put off for a few more days... damn.

 

No issues other than the light on the dash with my seats.

 

I'm suddenly confused about the sensors. I'm assuming they're the ones that blink when the seatbelt is unbuckled? What are the different workarounds for this?

All good DownhillSpec! Your seat replacements are closer to realilty than mine - I'm still at least a month away! But I'm watching this thread so update as soon as you can!

 

i talked to a friend of mine who has already done the seat swap... this is what he said...

"When you take the seat out and try to get the seatbelt wiring out, you'll have to follow the wiring to it and unscrew/remove it from the stock seat... it's a magnetic sensor that detects how far forward the driver's seat is, to control air bag deployment in an accident. (ensuring your not TOO Close to the wheel).

It needs to be mounted somewhere directly above thick metal to ensure it still picks up the magnetic force to keep the airbag system all happy."

apparently this sensor is on the left hand side of the drivers seat... as far as i have been told... the passenger seat is all fine and hunky dorry becaues once you disconnect the wire from that one that light that says the passenger isnt wearing a seat belt will never come one again...

 

the light will not come on, but are you sure the bag will still deploy??

 

frankly with the amount of time people spend in that seat (almost 0) and the fact that it will have a 4 point (it would have to split you in half at the sternum to get you outta that seat. i find myself strangely unconcerned. but in an even more unnerving twist... i have had not 1 but 2 front end collisions in my tC... i hit a guard rail (passenger side) and a light post (drivers side)... both times i was doin well over 40... and neither of the airbags deployed anyways. so who knows... it may it may not... if i ever hit something (i guess i have to be doin mach1) and the air bags DO deploy i'll let you know.

 

From what my dealer told me, the sensor is there so that the passenger air bag won't deploy if no one is sitting in the passenger seat. So if you take out the sensor, it will either read that someone is always in the seat or never. you have to find out which one it is because the sensor might be activated when you sit down, or it might be deactivated when you sit down.

 

im gonna guess that its going to read that there is never anyone in that seat... because i know for a fact that the seatbelt light for the passenger side doesnt come on when that seat is replaced... so i guess the good news is that if i crash i wont have to worry about replacing the airbag.

 

Ok, allow me to summarize all this (b/c I'm hoping I have everything straight):

PASSENGER seat:
1. Unplug the sensor from the stock seat
2. Remove stock seat
3. Replace with aftermarket seat

Results (With stock seat belts utilized):
1. Seat belt light will not come on for lack of sensor in seat
2. Air bag will not deploy for lack of sensor in seat

DRIVER seat:
1. Unplug the sensor from the stock seat
2. Remove stock seat
3. Replace with aftermarket seat
4. Replace sensor in the aftermarket seat

Results (With stock seat belts utilized):
1. No annoying "Unbuckled seat belt" tone
2. No annoying "unbuckled seat belt" light
3. Air bag will deploy

Did I get that right? Sorry if I'm just further confusing the issue with the questions - I want to do this upgrade badly but I don't want to mess around too much with all the factory wiring for the seat belt lights/tones and airbags. Don't mean to threadjack either so if someone knows, just PM me or something. Thanks again fellow SLers!

Oh yeah, I did a search on seats and didn't really find anything relevant to this problem...just an FYI

 

bump....lookin at seats myself, but cant risk safety....

 

ok... because of the 2 or 3 people whining about "safety" i did this mod today (drivers seat) and retained all of my safety equipment... it took like an hour and a half but what ever... im really tired now because i do auto work all day and i stayed a extra hour and a half to get the driver seat in... so i will post up pics and some "where i got hung up" advice tommorow.