ahriman

on the 4th gen 4runners, anyone know how to disconnect the flashing seatbelt indicator lights on the dash and in the center console? is this just a fuse disconnect? and no, i do not wear my seatbelt ALL the time so none 'a you wiseacres tell me to put my seatbelt on...

FirstToy

put your seatbelt on.
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haha! j/k

There are sensors in the seats. When I put something heavy in the passenger seat, the center console seatbelt light flashes. I think disconnecting that light might be tied into the airbags or some other passive safety situation so I wouldn't mess with it.

ahriman

10k comedians outta work...and firsttoy is looking for work. to seatbelts.

same thing happens to me in the passenger seat. i put a stack of cds there the other day, and guess what came on? sensitive sensors.

User 051420

In my friend's 01 Highlander, there's just a simple 2 wire connector under the seat. Unhook it, no more light.... Not sure if it's the same on your's though. I don't see why not.

ahriman

seems reasonable, i will take a look.

ahriman

ok, got them disconnected. on the passenger side, you were right gapguy, there are wires connected to a connector in the middle of the underside of the seat. disconnect the yellow wires from the connector (push the tiny tab in and pull apart) and presto! no indicator. on the driver's side, it was more of a challenge. WARNING: THOSE OF YOU W/LARGE HANDS, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT ATTEMPTING THIS THE WAY I DID IT. i was crammed enough w/my medium hands; those w/large will have to work around this -- maybe even have to remove the seat. what i did was take the seat belt receiver off the seat (14mm wrench), pop the cap off (not as easy as i make it sound), and yank the tiny biscuit board out. it has 4 wires attached to it: red, black, blue and yellow. the board has a tiny white plastic slider on it which looks like it shifts the voltage from one circuit to another. i tried sliding it back and forth to fool the circuit into thinking it was closed -- circuit too smart for mongo.... i had to cut the wires and hardwire them together -- blue to yellow, black to red -- and this got rid of the flashing indicator. now the fun part, putting that 14mm nut back on...

and that concludes the story of the flashing seatbelt indicators. good night

ahriman

never mind my "fix" ... turns out that by disconnecting the wires from the seatbelt receiver, i _do_ get rid of the flashing seatbelt led, but now the air bag led is permanently lit :pat:

i am re-connecting the wires now. so back to the original question: anybody know how to disconnect the driver's side flashing seatbelt indicator?

User 051420

Open the dash and poke out that pesky bulb!

ahriman

in my new approach to life i am trying to be a bit more elegant in my approach to things, lacking that i will rip 'er to pieces!

Tacoma Dude

Just FYI, the CHP and city agencies are cracking down on the seatbelt violations. Actually, if I remember correctly, it's a nation-wide campaign.

You may consider me an ass for saying it but click the damn thing on. I'd rather be a jerk and annoy my friends/associates then watch them die or severely injure themselves.

I shall now step off my soapbox and continue browsing through yotatech

WT

Just as a FYI I think most new vehicals now have airbags as safety equipment and most are some how wired into the seatbelt switches too, some even go as far as knowing when there is weight/someone in the seat before they will deploy, guess thier trying to make things smarter than the drivers LOL, but maybe I'm just wrong... who knows
I would think there maybe a way to short out the wires that actually goto the switch in the seatbelt unit but I say just wear your seatbelt just my .02

Horseshoeing

In GA it was the law that everyone HAD to wear their seat belt or pay a fine or go to jail or run and hide. All but truck and suv's. I still think its that way. So if your in GA, don't wear you seat belt. You might want to check on that first. Big trucks don't count. The feds tell them they have to wear theirs.

sgirt

I am for taking the light out.

As for seat belt use, my wife is waiting on the liver transplant list, so I am all for those who do not wear their seatbelts. And especially those who ride their motorcycles with no helmets. They make the best donors! If you insist on driving without a seatbelt, at least become a donor to give life to someone you may not know.

bamachem

Take a step back, think out of the box, and do it the EASY way. Go to a junk yard and get a couple of seatbelt latches that matches yours. Just cut the seatbelts and get the latchs only. Plug them into your seatbelt receivers, and wha-la, no more lights... :pat: