02 6 way pwr seats w/airbag questions

[Bunchie]

Hey kids, Goldy(02) has full deal leather seats but they are toasted(looks like an elephant used them...a LOT) BTW, I was investigating why the right side slide didnt work/move at all: used 1/2 a can of brake clean to get the handfull of sand out of the track/bearing assy and as you cant actually remove or disassemble those tracks, it was a bit of a bitch but an hour + , many 'goo' covered rags and a liberal application of Moly Dry Lube later, it moves effortlessly.

 

Also removed & checked the condition of the little nylon drive gear-still looks intact unlike the one on the YouTube video. Will chech actual operation later today to see if has solved THAT issue.

 

SO! I Got a set of '98 leather replacement seats but they DON'T have the airbags option.

 

Q: How can I bypass the seat airbag sensor if I install the 98 seats into the 02??? Seems that the airbag light is on currently w/the seats out and connector unplugged...

 

Ideas pls...thx, V.

[Citron]

Is it just a switch? If so, jumper it. I may have done that before with seat belt switches.

[Bunchie]

You MAY have done that before-lol. It's the only yellow connector, all others are white or blue so I'm assuming that its for the side airbag-wire from it seems to go off in that direction. Shows continuity at 0.00 ohms when measured. The replacement 98's seats have no yellow connector or airbags.

 

Im thinking that if that airbag's mechanism works like an alarm system's siren tamper loop-a super low voltage senses continuity and a higher voltage triggers the siren (airbag) what would happen electrically, if the airbags actually deployed. Or should I even give a F, as my truck will have damaged enough to deploy the the bags and unlikely to be salvageable at that point anyway-haha.

 

Ive got the seat pan unbolted-3 easy, one a bioch when seat is all the way back position-may try to swap w/98 seat pan...or if the prior track unsiezing was successful, I might just buy the seat i found at the jy whose forward/back seat motor didn't work-I didnt know about the tapping of the motor trick when I was there last-and try to get it for a song cuz that part is BROKEN, then swap the motor out of the original seat if the tap tap DOESNT work. Will be able to make firm decision once its tested tomorrow.

 

Sorry, I kind of rambled in this post...

[Slartibartfast]

My limited understanding of airbags is that there's just a thin filament inside that fries when the computer puts power to it, setting off the charge. I've seen pictures of people using resistors across the airbag plug to fool the computer into thinking it's plugged into a detonator. Zero ohms on the bags suggests you probably could get away with just twisting wires together, but I'd worry that in the event of a crash, those dead shorts might blow fuses or sap the power that should be setting off the other bags. There might be a safer way... then again, you're tampering with a safety system that can't be tested because it's made of bombs, so I'm not sure there is a safe way of doing that. I don't tend to respect "do not tamper" stickers but I'd also rather not discover, after running into something, that my passenger got hurt because my Red Green solution screwed up the SRS.

 

As much as I hate to say "ermagherd do it right," I'd be looking for a set of seats with bombs in them.

 

... that said, I think it's just the seat back that has the bomb in it, and I'm guessing the bottom of the seat took most of the elephant damage. I don't know how hard it is to get R50 seats apart but I'll bet you could swap the seat backs from the elephant-damaged lowers to the nice lowers. Might even be able to swap covers & foam on the uppers if they're roached too (though I don't know if the later covers were sewn different to allow an airbag to bust through).

Edited August 20, 2017 by Slartibartfast

[Citron]

The R50 has the airbag built into the seat? All of the side air bag systems I am familiar with had the airbag in the B pillar. The airbag seat switch was just an open close switch to let the system know if the seat was occupied. Disregard my previous post about jumpering.

[Bunchie]

Guys: The '02 definitely has a visible airbag tag(black w/white lettering)near the top, door side, of the seat back. My '01 does NOT have that tag on the seat, mind you, they are base model manual seats. It may have been a model year upgrade like the new electronic climate control system, mind you I'm just speculating here but the evidence seems to back this up.

 

Slarti: I agree w/you re the "do it right or don't do it at all" mentality-I truly hate halfassed anything. So as the original seats are truly $#itcanned, I can use the 98 seats for now and in the meantime, either reskin the old seats or see if those 01 seats at the jy are still available....

 

I'll go over to the truck and see if my seat drive motor fix actually worked...will advise.

[Bunchie]

Soooo, the driver's seat right seat track works awesome but not so much(like nothin)on the left side. That funky nylon gear is stripped by the sound its making....sigh. AND the 99's seats dont have the same connector....dbl sigh.

 

I guess I'll be buyin those seats from the jy...heavier sigh.

[Slartibartfast]

Dang. Well, weld up some pipe and put some casters on it and you've got a couple of really nice desk chairs!

[Bunchie]

NOPE that's just one more needless endeavor/idea/plan...I've already got enough of those, thanx.

 

I gotta stick w/the original plan: buy those seats. Try tomorrow, bin nuts all week & 30th anniversary on Wed.... that's more than half my life...sorry, I digress....JK!