Installing Aftermarket Seats With No Airbag Warnings (CL9)

Install Aftermarket Seats With No Airbag Warning
CL9 Example

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

This modification explains procedures useful for installing non airbag aftermarket seats into a CL9 Honda Accord with the intent of keeping the SRS system active and having no Airbag warning light on the Head-Up-Display (HUD).

It is important to understand that the original seats have side airbags, which have been designed to protect you in the event of a crash. Installing seats which do not have side airbags affixed is, in essence, altering the safety of the car. The CL9 has a sticker on the chassis when you open the door that says "SRS Airbags" You may prefer to remove the sticker if you are concerned about police identifying that your car is supposed to have seats with airbags.

In Victoria, and probably other states, removing seats with side airbags deems the car un-roadworthy, thus although I have performed this modification, I do not accept responsibility for whatever consequences may result from others attempting this.

In this Honda vehicle and other Honda's, the SRS system is designed so that if an airbag is disconnected, the whole system will not be active. Therefore if you install a seat and do not perform a modification to the disconnected airbag cords, you will effectively be driving with no airbags active. The purpose of this tutorial is to trick the SRS system into thinking that the original seats' side airbags are still in place and more importantly, keeping the system active to activate relevant airbags in the event of a crash.

You will only need to disassemble the passenger seat for the seat sensors and module as the car automatically assumes there is a driver in the driver seat. In our case the driver's side grey cord was not even connected when the original seat were in so I am assuming it will make no difference to the car.

Tools needed:
• 2 x' 5watt 2.2ohm resistor' - I believe you can use either a 2 or 2.2 ohm resistor.
• Ratchet & Nuts
• A friend for assistance or 2 or 3 as it can be a boring process.
• Snacks :D

I have outlined all of the relevant stages to installing an aftermarket NON AIRBAG seat below:
1. Purchase seats + rails (Specific to fit your car)
2. Affix rails to the seats
3. Disconnect negative terminal of Battery
4. Disconnect airbag and seat sensor cords
5. Remove original seats from car
6. Remove original seat back cover and remove 'module'
7. Disassemble original seat for seat sensors.
8. Attach 'module' to seat or other preferred location
9. Install resistor to airbag cords
10. Install seats and connect grey cord

Step 1: Setting up the new seats
In our case the aftermarket rails were already attached to the aftermarket seats' frame and didn't need a full assembly, this may vary depending on where you purchase the rails but there are plenty of tutorials over the internet explaining how to install rails onto the seat.
We removed the original seat belts from the original seats and attached them to the new seats, be sure to check that you match the seat belts to the correct seat. From memory they can only go on the correct way so this shouldn't be a problem.
Test the seat slider by adjusting the position of the seat forward and backward to ensure it has been installed correctly.

Step 2: Remove the original seats.
First thing you need to do is to remove the negative terminal off the battery, this is to ensure that airbags don't blow off when you disconnect the airbag cord whilst removing the seats.
Next, you need to disconnect the two cords connected to the seat. The yellow cord is for the airbag and I am not 100% sure of what the grey cord is used for, but I presume it is to send the seat sensor signals to the HUD.

After that, you can remove the 4 bolts securing the seat in place, 2 at the front and 2 at the back. To access the ones at the back you may need to pry up the plastic covers, by memory there were 3 connections on each plastic cover; one at the front which I released first and then 2 at the back. It can be tricky, hence why I broke the connections on both trying to get them out, so it is up to you whether you whether to take care removing them.
Once the bolts and cords are removed, take the seat out of the car!

Step 3: Disassembling the original passenger seat
Now the fun starts. Firstly, remove the plastic panel covering the back of the seat. To do so, you will need to wedge your fingers underneath it and use strong even force to release the clips, they are pretty big so work your way around till it is fully released.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2873.jpg

The seat module is located on the right side of this seat (left side of pic). To access it you need to release the white tabs securing the fabric to the frame. Hold the fabric open and disconnect the cords connected to the module, by memory it was tricky to do, so pull the fabric back safely to create room for a mate to take out the module. Once it is removed it should look like this:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2874.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2876.jpg

Next we need the cords that were attached the module; they are sensors that detect when weight is on the seat to send a signal to the HUD telling the driver whether the passenger has their seatbelt on or not.
As the sensors are under the bumrest you need to unclip all the white tabs securing the fabric to the frame as was done to remove the seat 'module'. Once this is done you should be able to pull the fabric off the frame. Lift it up and turn the seat over and it should expose the yellow seat foam as seen below:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2877.jpg

Now the longest and most tedious part of the install. To access the sensors you need to remove the black railings that secure the fabric along the seam's of the bumrest (You will understand when you're up to this stage). We removed it by using 2 screwdrivers and wedging the rings open and released them, or twisted them in a way we could release them. There will be railings along all linings in the seat and all will need to be removed using the same process described above. It was very difficult to do this, but once the first was off, we developed a pattern and didn't take that long to remove the rest.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2878.jpg

Once the rails are off this should release the fabric from the foam and the only things left attached will be the sensors. Carefully pull them off the foam as we will wrap these up later on.

That is it for the seat disassembly! Time to put everything together.
Step 4: Finding new home for the module
First we rolled the seat sensors up:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2796.jpg

Then zip tied them so they wouldn't unravel when installed:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2797.jpg

After that we unzipped the bottom of our new seats so we could put the module somewhere to sit nicely, if you are not fussed you could leave everything under the seat but we decided to do this properly.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...0Install/1.jpg

We placed the module in a way that sat snug in between some railings and used foam and zip ties to secure it properly:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2799.jpg

Wires nicely routed and zip tied into place.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2801.jpg

Zip it up and the seat is now finished!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2802.jpg

One final thing to do before installing the seats: Put the resistor on the airbag cord, this needs to be done to both sides (Driver + Passenger). Be gentle when installing these as they use thin wires and may bend or break easily.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2881.jpg

Connect the grey cord.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_2871.jpg

Next thing to do is install the seats in the car and connect the grey cord to the grey cord in the passenger's side of the car. That's it! Test everything works and enjoy!

No Airbag warning - More importantly, an active Airbag System!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...stall/LAST.jpg

Finished!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_1461.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...l/IMG_1460.jpg

NOTES: It would be interesting to find out whether you could use a seat from the wreckers and the module in that rather than disassembling your original seats. Also whether you could cut the wires for the sensors instead of having all those cords. If anyone tries feel free post.

EDIT 05/08/13: Someone has informed me that the module from a different seat does not link with a different SRS system, thus needing the vehicle's original module utilized. Although that is the case, it still may be worthwile buying a spare seat to remove the sensors etc. if you're intending on re-using the original seats.

Credit to Wizzy Wee for helping us with the seat disassembly.

not a bad write up! this will get the hardparkers leaning towards euros now.

only 1 thing i would correct though. The ribbons/weight sensors. might want to wrap them up in gladwrap or something and then rolling it up. they're very fragile n sensitivte to the natural oils in our hands which cost anywhere from $200-$500 to replace once it gets damaged and the Passenger side airbag amber text light wont go away on the dash tacho. (provided you source out from either TSX/Accord/civic/oddessy/crv - dont even ask how much it would cost brand new from dealers >_>)

Sorry to bring back such an old post but is the passenger weight sensor transfer a must?

Is it possible to trick the weight sensor module to think that there isnt any weight on it?