Put factory seats back in, now air bag light?

I recently pulled a set of Recaro SPGs out of my car, and did not have an airbag light, but now that I reinstalled a set of factory seats (not the ones original to the car) the airbag light has come on. Any ideas? Thanks

If you turn the ignition on while the seat belts are disconnected you will get an airbag fault that must be reset with a Durametric, factory scanner, or similar. The seat belt latch sensors are monitored as part of the airbag system.

Thanks. I believe that they are connected. Or are you saying now that they have been reconnected and recognized by the car an error is thrown? Do you have a picture showing proper seatbelt connection?

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Not in my experience. I have only had the error code if I accidentally turn on the ignition while the seats are out. You can mess up the connection, the little square green connector is not notched so it can go in different ways. I have never needed a photo b/c I put a dot with a sharpie on the top of mine. I would think if it were plugged in wrong, at least for the driver, the seat belt indicator on the dash would not go off when you buckle it. The airbag fault, unfortunately, must be reset regardless if it was plugged in correctly or not. It stores in the memory. Maybe try disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes or so to see if it clears, I have never tried that I have a Durametric so I just reset it if it happens.

My understanding is the airbag warning light will not be reset by disconnecting the battery. It has to be done with the Porsche software, Durametric, or an advanced OBDII reader that supports airbag SRS systems. If you reset the airbag warning light and it comes right back on, then one of the connectors is hooked up wrong.

ok thanks guys.

Why would i have not had the airbag error when the recaros were in and the belt receivers were not plugged in?

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No idea. I switch between GT3 euro seats and factory sport seats. If I hit the ignition when the belts are unplugged I get an airbag light.

Are there any watch outs I should be aware of when looking for a used Durametric? Is there an issue with it only being able to be used on one or two VINs?

If you have a 99, the Durametric software doesn't work on the early 99's for the airbags as I recall.....I think they updated the software recently, but can't remember the details, there is a thread here on this.

Its an 02 C4S

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Sounds like the airbag sensor was correctly plugged in when the recaros were installed, hence no warning light, and when you put the factory seats back in, the sensor was not reconnected properly or the key was put in the ignition.

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Thanks, but there wasn't anything plugged into the recaros. Am I missing something, is the airbag sensor different than the wire on the seat belt receiver? A picture of the airbag sensor and wiring would be helpful.

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It really shouldn't be that hard to figure out. You need to describe and take pictures of the connections that you took a parts and the ones you put back. You need to hook up a durametric. It will tell you what's wrong

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hey paul. I bought the car with the recaros in, so I don't know what and how parts were disconnected. i put factory seats back in and believe all connections were made but am trying to understand what error in the connections will throw this code. If the wires that come off the seat belt receiver also control the air bag than maybe that's the issue. If those wires only control a Seat belt light, then they aren't it.

If you have the airbag light on, you'll need the Durametric to turn it off. I have one, but am in Chicago. Would be happy to plug into your car, but there has to be one closer to you than Chicago. Once you pull the code, you'll know exactly what the issue is and can go from there.

I just picked up a Durametric... So, it doesnt work with a Mac??

It only works with Windows, so you could load up Boot Camp or similar and install Windows on your Mac. Or, you could go the route I did and just pick up a super cheap Windows laptop on eBay. I got a used Lenovo Thinkpad for something like $120. Durametric doesn't need a lot of computing power to run. Just double-check the system requirements before you purchase.

I can't speak for Durametric, but I've run similar programs on a mac. I set my macs up to dual boot into either windows or osx. I like to run diagnostic software from bootcamp/windows rather than from a VM (I also use VMWare Fusion and Parallels on my mac for Windows apps). There isn't much out there that I've found that won't work in Windows on a Intel chipped macbook.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I am not that computer literate, so I just used my Surface from the office. I received 3 errors. 03 supply Voltage, 50 Drivers seat belt and 51 Passenger seat belt. I was able to move the plug on drivers side to a different port on the harness, cleared codes, and it did not come back, so I think it worked. Will repeat with pass side this weekend. Thanks, for the help!

Now this makes less sense. If I unplug the belt receptacles and clear the codes they do not come back. If I plug them in to the harness, then faults come back. This then makes me think that when i moved teh plug on the drivers side, I really didnt fix anything because it was not recognized or it thought it was unplugged. Ideas/?

Your car may have been coded to not utilize the seat belt latch monitoring, and if you plug in belts when it doesn't want them, it may be throwing the error. You need to see if your car's POSIP system is properly coded for the USA coding which has airbags plus seatbelt latch sensors plus belt retractors.

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That's an interesting thought. Maybe the PO had done that when the recaros were installed. If that was the case, how do I determine that?

I would use a PIWIS1 or 2 and the POSIP control unit will show you what setting it has been coded for and can then be used to code it appropriately. I do not know if a durametric or other interface can do this.

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PIWIS2: ABS > Coding/adaptations > Total Equipment

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very cool. Thanks! Now where do I get access to one of those systems?? im hoping that's it and it makes sense because if I read correctly the airbag error should happen when the belt receivers are not plugged in, but there are no errors unplugged. however when I do plug them in faults keep coming back. Resistance in ohms for both belt receivers were spot on too.

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Sounds like your car is coded to not have the buckles connected and throws an error when they are. As for that system - it's a factory PIWIS system that requires hardware for it to run with a 996. A quick trip to the dealership can sort it out unless someone near you has a PST2 or PIWIS

Update. Finally had a chance to get the car in and have it looked at. The Indy I took it to utilizes auto logic and did note that belts and tensioners were �turned off�. He selected the coding so that the software recognized that they are present and the air bag light turned off. Success.

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Great result! Autologic is one of the few diagnostic tools that is quite comprehensive for P-cars. Although its fairly expensive and subscription based so not worth purchasing if you're an individual.

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And I thought his pricing was based on a boat he had to pay for... but now I know.

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Probably that too... hahaha After my dealership couldn't figure out how to turn on my CD changer on my CDR-23 for my Dension I took it to another one and they quoted me $400 and then an Indy quoted me $250 - I don't think so bud!! Did it myself with my own PIWIS instead