Airbag Fault Code 45

[UtahWJR]

Pulling into parking lot at work Friday morning my airbag warning light turned on.

Running Durametric I read the folloing faults:

Airbag B05

=========

3

Supply Voltage

45

Belt Buckle, Driver

Suggestions for fix?

Thanks,

Bill Richardson

1999 2.5L Boxster

5 speed

[Loren]

Read the TSB on this here

[UtahWJR]

Is there anyway to tell if the TSB has been done in the past?

[Loren]

Only if the grounds under the seat have been soldered and re-taped.

Your car is 13 years old - how many times has the seat belt buckle been buckled and un-buckled in 13 years? Not to mention corrosion from moist and dirt.

Belt buckles wear out - even the newer style with gold contacts eventual wear out.

Some folks have gotten a little more out of them by cleaning them with electrical contact cleaner. Sorry, but sooner or later it will need to be replaced.

[UtahWJR]

Thanks for the info.

BTW - is ther anyway to print the TSB's you have posted? When I try and print one it askis me for a password. This is on a Mac.

Edited March 26, 2012 by UtahWJR

[Loren]

Thanks for the info.

BTW - is ther anyway to print the TSB's you have posted? When I try and print one it askis me for a password. This is on a Mac.

I sent you a PM.

[UtahWJR]

Side question - Am I reading the VIN rane correctly in the TBS?

My VIN is 980XU62xxxx.

Am I correct that my VIN falls between 986WU62xxxx and 982YU62xxxx?

[Loren]

Yes, but pretty much all Boxsters (986 series) and Carreras (996 series) MY2001 and older suffer from this problem.

The My2002 cars started using the gold contacts in the buckles but we still occasionally see problems with them too.

[1schoir]

Bill:

Here's a fairly simple explanation of the seat belt contacts problem and repair procedure:

When diagnosing Airbag Warning Lamp on and the fault codes are DTC 44, 45, 46, or 50 Drivers side and/or DTC 47, 48, 49, or 51 Passenger side, the faults may be caused by poor connection at pins B7 and B8 of plug connections X16 and X17. The wiring connections have been corrected as of VIN WPOCA2983WS620157 and the belt buckles as of VIN WPOCA298XWS620138.

The latest Porsche fix involves replacing both seat belt buckles, splicing and soldering in four leads with "gold plated and greased" contact springs and substituting them for four of the original contact springs in the 8-pin connector under the driver's (left) side seat (positions B5, B6, B7, & B8), doing the same but with only two contact springs on the 8-pin connector under the passenger's (right) side seat (positions B7 & B8), and then splicing and soldering beefier leads with cable lugs in place of thinner leads all leading to a ground point under each seat.

After that, you must substitute new plug caps on the the 8-pin connectors, which now include a tab that is used to securely fasten all of the wires exiting the 8-pin connectors with cable ties, and add cable ties to the female 8-pin connectors on the undersides of the seats and you are almost done.

Again, it's a straightforward job once you decipher the descriptions and language in the TSB, which is a special chore in itself.

Then you have to reset the airbag light with your Durametric, PST2 or PIWIS and that provides a "permanent" fix.

Regards, Maurice.

[UtahWJR]

Have new buckles and looking at the manual for removing the seats it says to disconnect the battery first and then move the seats back/forth to get to the 4 bolts holding down each seat. My car has power seats - how do I move the seats with no battery?

Am I right in assuming that I can un bolt the seats and then disconnect the battery?

Thanks.

[Loren]

Have new buckles and looking at the manual for removing the seats it says to disconnect the battery first and then move the seats back/forth to get to the 4 bolts holding down each seat. My car has power seats - how do I move the seats with no battery?

Am I right in assuming that I can un bolt the seats and then disconnect the battery?

Thanks.

Yes, the issue with the airbag light happens when you unplug the connectors.

[UtahWJR]

That's what I thought but wanted to be sure.

Thanks!

[UtahWJR]

Pulled out the passanger seat with no problem. Drivers seat has an additional black plastic box attached to it that has 2 plugs on it. In the attached pictures can you tell me how to pull out the white plug?

Thanks,

Bill