Front seat removal
 

Hey,

Is there anyspecial that needs to be done when removing the front seats in an MP5 with the side air bags?

Thanks,
k

Re: Front seat removal
 

yes, make sure the key is not on and is not turned on, until the seat is all back in and all plugs plugged back in, especially the airbag plugs, make sure they are properly plugged in, most airbag plugs are kinda funky and can be somewhat confusing if you've never seen one.

If this is not done, a trip to the dealer will be needed, as your airbag dash light will light up and the code will have to be cleared.

to go one step safer, you can remove the negative terminal from the battery while you do the work.

I dunno about all that. I don't have anything plugged into my driver's side seat. I never wear a seatbelt, and I got tired of that stupid ass light in my dash tellin me to put it on. I assume my side airbag connections are in that harness, cause I ain't got nuhtin else plugged in down there. And when I was installing my stereo last week I forgot to plug in my passenger seat after having it out, and I got that stupid airbag light when I turned the car back on. All I did was reach down and plug it back in and the light went off, no trip to the dealer.

thanks,
k

well, i was generalizing a bit, as most cars work this way. But hey, if all ya gotta do is plug it back in fine, cool.

I work with cars everyday, mostly brand new ones and when it comes to airbags, and airbag harnesses and plugs. I take the longest and safest route. I've seen first hand what an airbag can do when deployed and your crouched down working and not in the proper driving position....not a pretty sight...knock on wood, it'll never happen to me.

Ture, true. Always better than safe than sorry.

I'd like to emphasize mazdaspeedwest's point about unplugging the battery.

The shop manual says unplug the negative terminal and wait 5 minutes before messing with any of the airbag connections. Otherwise you risk a very nasty explosion.

Does anyone know if there's any "nice" way to removed the wire clips that attach the airbag wiring to the bottom of the seat? They don't look like the kind of attachments that can be re-used, but I wanted to check before I mangle them up to get the seat bottom out.

wait wait, so if i wanna rip out my seats, i gotta like unplug a ton of crap...i have a 97' pro lx, does that mean i gotta do the whole air bag routine too?

I don't think the side airbags were offered until the last two years or so...so it shouldn't matter.

It should be easy to tell -- just grab a flashlight and look under the seat, and see if there is wiring leading to the back (and side) of the seat.

The airbags are usually labeled, too. At least every one I've seen.

How 'bout replacing the stock seats with side airbags? If I put in an aftermarket seat, is there a way to turn off the airbag light?

Thanks.