I picked up a 06 MCS checkmate edition last week for a great deal, however the interior needed work. All the seats were stained and fabric inserts frilled up from what I believe was dogs.

I found a local set of 02-06 seats and proceeded to swap them in. All the mechanical parts bolted in. The electrical parts though I'm having issues with the airbag lights staying on for both driver and passenger.

The drivers side all 3 harnesses connected together. But the airbag light is still on?

The passenger side on my car has 4 harnesses. The seat only has 3. If the 3 harnesses are plugged in and the remaining one left open it makes my brake lights stay on when the car is shut off. airbag light is on too, so I've disconnected this seat entirely. At least then the rear brake lights are not stuck on. The car does not have seat heater option.

The harness circled in red coming from the car is the one that doesn't have anything to plug into to the replacement seat. What is this harness for?







Replacement mini seats "02-06" seller description


So why do you guys think the air bag lights are on for both side of the seats? What's the extra harness for and what year exactly do these seats look like? Is it an incompatability issue?

Why was the rear brake lights stuck on with the passenger seat plugged in?

 

Pretty sure you will need the Dealer reset the Air Bag computer. Check to see if your car had the passenger side air bag seat sensor recall performed. You maybe able to get the reset performed for free.

 

Thanks! Anyway you can reset that yourself?

Still curious why this causes the rear brake lights to stay on and what the extra harness was for. Hmmmm

 

Dont think you can reset.

 

You can reset it yourself . . but if you've another problem it will just come on again.

You have all the plugs plugged in (except the one you mentioned)?

Were your original seats heated and are these seats heated?

What year are the new seats from?

The plugs / wires from a pre-facelift R53 are different from the plugs / wires in a facelift R53 - so in my car for example, I have seats from a 2006 in a 2004 car, using my existing wiring, I have a warning light on (seatbelt pre-tensioners) because not all my plugs are connected. In order to eliminate that warning light I need to install the wires / plugs from a 2006.

 

You have a 2006 and you installed 2002-2004 seats. The 2005+ seats are different and have a weight sensor mat in the passenger seat for the updated airbag system — it is the connector missing in your new seats.

You won't be able to get rid of the warning without plugging in a sensor mat, or programming the car to ignore it. Check with Way Motor Works in Altlanta if they can do the programming.

 

If the overhead "passenger airbag off" light is on, the passenger airbag will not deploy and it is a real safety concern. Your easiest action is to program the car to ignore the sensor mat, and the airbag will operate.

 

Yup the overhead passenger airbag is on. That means the dash and pillar airbags are also not working or just the seat? Would a resister that turns off the light allow dash and pillar airbag to if that's the case?

The drivers airbag light is also on. Does that mean the steering and pillar bags on that side also is not working?

 

A resistor won't work. The computer in the passenger sensor mat is connected to the airbag system by a digital data bus. I believe it only affects the front airbag on the dash. It controls the deployment force to avoid injuring the passenger (notably children). This was for new federal regulations starting in 2005.

There is no "drivers airbag light". There is a generic airbag warning light on the dash that covers the entire airbag system. I don't remember exactly but the passenger airbag error might also trigger the general airbag warning on the dash. If you had an OBD reader, it should identify the specific error.

 

Correct, it's a generic safety restraint system light - which includes the seatbelt pre-tensioners

 

I also have the passenger air bag light issue. There's the generic air bag light in the speedo-console, and the overhead airbag "off" light. I called the dealer to see if I was eligible for the recall and I am. The dealer informed me that this is an issue for 2002-2007? The sensor in the passenger seat is the usual culprit. I just have to schedule a date and they'll take care of it for free.

I'm not sure if that will fix your issue though, with the seat swap the issue could be any number of things. Maybe you'll get lucky and the seat you acquired actually does have a faulty sensor.

 

Thanks, learning a lot here. I'll plug in my OBD reader and check the faults to see exactly which airbags are currently not working. The dash airbag light is also on.

Sounds like I have two options, swap over the sensor pad from my old seats to new one, then have the dealer reset the airbag light.

Or

Go to a turner in ATL and have the weight sensor pad disabled.

Someone mentioned being able to reset this light yourself? What's needed to do that exactly, a dealer scan? Any user ECU tuning solutions that can allow me to do all this myself? I know a little bit from tuning my WRX and GTO.

Also, any takers on why having the 3/4 harnesses attached would trigger the brake lights to be stuck on?