How to turn off the front passenger airbag only

[seeh2o]

This is for a road trip we will be taking next weekend. I have a new dog (a former racing greyhound) that takes up so much room that he needs the entire back seat. I need to put my other dog in the front seat (both dogs are secured with the seatbelt harness). I've heard too many bad stories about airbags and small people and dogs being killed or injured from the front airbag and am wondering if there is a way to temporarily turn it off for the duration of our road trip.

[zenMachine]

Under the passenger seat you'll find three wiring harnesses. One of them is for the four sensors to detect if there's someone (or some dog) in the seat. Disconnect that harness and you'll be good to go. The only side effect is that the dashboard will show some icon (can't remember which one). But you can simply ignore it.

I've taken my passenger seat out before, and that pretty much disabled the passenger airbag sensors.

[seeh2o]

Do you know which one of the four I should disconnect? And, are the connections visible from the front or the back of the passenger seat?

Thanks!


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Sep 27 2007, 07:42 PM) [snapback]518818[/snapback]</div>

Under the passenger seat you'll find three wiring harnesses. One of them is for the four sensors to detect if there's someone (or some dog) in the seat. Disconnect that harness and you'll be good to go. The only side effect is that the dashboard will show some icon (can't remember which one). But you can simply ignore it.

I've taken my passenger seat out before, and that pretty much disabled the passenger airbag sensors.
[/b]

[zenMachine]

The harness is connected to four sensors situated at the four corners under the seat (the manual actually has a diagram showing where these sensors are located). When I took the seat out, I did look at these harnesses, but now I can't remember for sure which one is the airbag sensor one, and I don't want to tell you the wrong one.

The best way to find it, IMO, is to unscrew the four floor bolts then lean the seat backward to expose its underside. You can then VERY easily figure out which harness it is by tracing the wires. To release the plastic harness, a small flathead screwdriver would be very helpful.

[zenMachine]

I think I found it. This is a picture I took while I had the passenger seat leaned back.
There are four wiring harnesses under the passenger seat (only three on the driver side).
The grey harness on the right (still plugged in) is the one connected to the four sensors.

[attachmentid=11726]

To test this, what you can do is unplug this harness then turn the car on to see if there's a red
"No Airbag" icon on your regular dashboard. Also, put something heavy in the front seat (like your dog)
and see if the passenger Airbag light comes on. If it doesn't then that means you've disconnected
the right plug.

[seeh2o]

You're great, thank so much. I know what my project for the weekend is...prep!



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Sep 27 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]518868[/snapback]</div>

I think I found it. This is a picture I took while I had the passenger seat leaned back.
There are four wiring harnesses under the passenger seat (only three on the driver side).
The grey harness on the right (still plugged in) is the one connected to the four sensors.

[attachmentid=11726]

To test this, what you can do is unplug this harness then turn the car on to see if there's a red
"No Airbag" icon on your regular dashboard. Also, put something heavy in the front seat (like your dog)
and see if the passenger Airbag light comes on. If it doesn't then that means you've disconnected
the right plug.
[/b]