last night driving home with my wife she wanted to recline the seat to sleep. As soon as you reclined it back as much as it would go I got a warning light that the airbag was turned off due to seat position. The seats don't even recline that much due to the fact that the engine is right behind them. Has anyone else noticed this?
Airbag notice came on first time when we took grandson on a ride; that was expected and just fine. Later, when we took an adult for a ride, warning light on dash and on console showed, and that was not just fine. We heard it might have been due to seat positioning, and when seat was repositioned, light disappeared for adults. I guess we just need to make sure that seat is repositioned if warning light/notice comes on, but it does seem strange since sensor was supposed to be due to weight and not seat position. A short?
We saws this same problem during our test drive. The salesman had no explanation.
Ruby
Ive had the same problem as well. Readjusting the passenger seat would make the light go off. Not sure what readjusting has to do with the weight sensor though.
Exact same storyhere...wife and everything.
I could be that the light comes on if your passenger is positioned too far away from airbag for the airbag to be effective. Certainly the seats have sensors to detect whether a passenger is present, so it makes sense that the light would only come on when passenger present + seat too far away
talked to the dealer, he said it is normal, if seat is too far airbag goes off, I think it is stupid as seat barely reclines.
Isn't there a selection switch to turn the airbag from 'auto' to 'on' (or off)? Perhaps 'on' would solve the problem.
Sante Fe,
See my other thread on the mystery item behind Russk's seat, the switch to turn the airbag to off/on/auto is an EXTRA item that must be installed by the dealer, it does not come on the car and cannot be ordered with it.
I've seen this complaint on several boards, and not just with Porsche cars. For them to work successfully, timing of the bag inflation is critical. If your momentum takes you forward 'too slowly' because you are too far away from the dash, the bags will be ineffective - they will already have deployed and deflated. Or if you are too far back, you may be too close to the side bags. Here's Honda's explanation, in case your other car is a mini-van.... :^)
'Like other Honda models, the Odyssey is equipped with seat-mounted side airbags to help safeguard the driver and front passenger from side-impact injury. An innovative occupant position detection system is used to assure that the passenger's side airbag has a clear path for deployment. In the event a child (or a small-statured adult) leans into the deployment path of the side airbag, a seven-segment antenna system built within the backrest signals this condition to an electronic control unit (
ECU
) also located within the seat. The
ECU
then deactivates the side air bag from functioning and triggers a 'SIDE AIRBAG OFF' indicator light in the instrument cluster. After the front occupant returns to a normal seating position, the side air bag module automatically resumes full-functional status.'
It has been my experience that a passenger willfully sits in an upright position for the airbag to work properly, keeping the light extinguished - at least they do when the car is being properly driven - LOL.
LL
My dealer explained to me a plausible explanation for this when I picked up my car......said it came from the master mech. in the service department......
It seems that when the seat is reclined to a point where it hits the engine compartment (even slightly).....it causes the base seat cushion to elevate slightly......hence playing havoc with the airbag seat sensors.
The problem is not the relative position of the seat, ie from upright or from air bag. Problem arises if seat back contacts the engine bulkhead behind it, which removes some of the pressure from the seatbottom sensor, telling the computer the passenger is child weight not adult weight. Solution is to slide seat futher forward or unrecline back until no contact with bulk head.
Greg
