Seat Belt Warning Light

[911 fly'n]

Seat belt warning light on dash not lit when ignition turned on, also air bag light comes on for only 4 or 5 secoconds then goes out (ignition on , car not started),

with car running and seat belt not latched ...no gong. any thoughts? 02C2

Thanks in advance, Roy

[Loren]

The air bag and seat belt circuits are different so this is odd. So, my first question is whether any electrical work has been done on the car recently (stereo, OBC hack, etc.). This sounds like something is mis-wired or the instrument cluster has gone bad.

[Scouser]

I have had this "exact" problem for some time now.

I think the air-bag light is supposed to come on at ignition and then

go out soon after but the seat belt light never lights up even at ignition

and I never get the gong. As you know I have done quite a bit of wire hacking on my car but I had this problem befor any mods were done.

I assumed it was a bulb gone. I am waiting for one to arrive to see the outcome.

[911 fly'n]

Thanks for the info, car has never had any electrical hacking, what about the switch in the seat belt receptacle? could that be bad? I've also been told that the ground contact from the seat frame to the body may be poor. What do you think?

Thanks, Roy

[Loren]

Thanks for the info, car has never had any electrical hacking, what about the switch in the seat belt receptacle? could that be bad? I've also been told that the ground contact from the seat frame to the body may be poor. What do you think?

Thanks,  Roy

On Scouser's car there was a TSB for seat belt contacts making poor connection. That problem was (supposedly) fixed on production cars in Sept. 1999. AND, that fault caused the airbag to go on all the time -- not off.

There is a ground under the drivers seat but you must remove the drivers seat to get to it. To remove the drivers seat you need an E12 (external Torx) socket and to be safe you should disconnect the battery so you don't trigger an airbag accidently. Or, since your car is still likely under warranty you could let the dealer trace this down.

[911 fly'n]

Loren,

Thanks for your help I'll have the dealer trace it, still under warranty

Roy

[Scouser]

For me, the seat belt warning lamp was just faulty. I replaced it and it now works. The warning lamp stays on if the driver does not lock his belt.

In the UK, the gong does not sound if the seat belt warning lamp is on.

It is not required here. However, I beleive this feature can be turned on

by the dealer. By default is is turned off for UK spec cars.