'03 996 Turbo. I've searched a bit but have not found the answer I am looking for, any help appreciated. I am installing aftermarket FIA race seats and 5 point harness with harness bar.

First, wondering if airbags are disabled once the stock seats are removed and the seat electrical disconnected?

If so, any way to enable the airbags, or is this not recommended with race seats?

I already removed the passenger seat and so far it is only a minor annoyance to acknowledge the airbag light at each ignition start.

I noticed more connectors associated with the driver's seat, still working on the seat install, so I have not started the car yet.

Maybe it's no problem, just need to acknowledge the light, and airbags are still active??

Thanks!!

 

You can leave the seat belt buckles in and connected and it will work. Lots of people actually leave then fully installed with the race seats. Then you can still use the factory belts for quick drives. Sometimes it needs a little spacer, depends on seat and bracket.

 

Thanks for the reply Sam, in my case the OEM seats have the 'female' side of the front seat belt integral to the seat. When the seat is removed there is no way to use the original belts.

 

A resistor could probably be used to fool it, I'd use trial and error or tech specs to arrive at a value though and NOT multimeter on the airbag :-O

 

How about the weight sensing in the seat bottoms, ehh??

 

you unbolt the seat belt receptacle and fish the electrical harness out of the factory seat. then plug it into the harness on the floor and tie wrap so it stays hooked up. then bolt the seat belt receptacle to the new bases for the racing seats. mine have been this way for 3 yrs

 

once the seat belt is connected the pass air bag is armed. i believe the sensors in the seat are for disarming the airbag if a child is in the seat

 

Thanks 32Krazy for the info. I replaced the driver seat with a race seat over the weekend, and there were no problems, just have to acknowledge the airbag light which I assume means the airbag is inactive.

After talking to others, I think it is typical to disable the airbags when using harness anyway, so this is no problem for me. I was a bit worried that there would be a seat belt buzzer going off, but it did not.

I'm not sure there is a need for airbags if a harness is used?

The only downside from other posts is that it seems I should have disconnected the battery before unplugging the seat, and since I did not I may need to have a dealer reset when I put the OEM seats back. I will find out this fall.

 

If you had disconnected the battery there would be no light. Dealer or shop with pwis to turn it off