audijim113

If the driver seat belt were connected all the time (ignition off), would the air bag deploy if someone bumped into the front of the car while it was in a parking lot with no one inside?

For those of you who don't know, the seat belt buckle (the part that the belt insert into) has two contacts. One which is a simple (on/off) is to turn off the seat belt warning light. The other is to signal the computer that someone is sitting in the driver seat and that in the case of an accident, the air bag will deploy. The contacts for the air back aren't just on/off but adds resistance to the circuit for the computer. I've been digging into the seat belt issue for several days now and discovered why there were two pairs of wires and two connectors on a 1998 D2 in the seat belt receptacle. This is not the case on a 1997 donor seat belt buckle.

Since the plastic thing was broken on the buckle of 98, I got a donor seat belt buckle from a 1997 donor car. The 97 has only one pair of wires and one connector. I'm sure the 97 had airbags but not sure how the computer knew someone was sitting in the driver seat.

The buckle from the 97, now installed in the 98 car works. When buckled, it turns off the seat belt warning light. However, the "air bag" light stays one. It's a PITA to replace the receptacle cause the seat has to be removed. My solution is to "fool" the computer that someone is in the driver seat. I'll do this by taking the electric connector from the 98 buckle then closing contacts for the 'sitting-in-the-seat" sensor. I would then connect the wires to the connector and plug it in. This would be wrapped in black tape and shoved it under the seat and out of the way of seat movement mechanism.

This will extinguishes the air bag warning light but as mentioned, fools the computer to think someone is sitting in it. Hence, it can theoretically deploy the air bag if no one is in car and parked in a lot. I guess, the big question is, "does the ignition have to be on for the air bag to deploy?