Air Bag Light on with 2 Ohm Seat Resistors

[jayhawk261]

On my 2011 Mustang GT I swapped out the seats with aftermarket. I have resistor plugs (the yellow modules) on each side with 2-ohm resistors. Each side reads on the ohm meter at 2.1 - 2.4 ohms which should be correct. I am still getting the airbag light. The overhead shows airbag light off lit up because I haven't had the bladder calibrated for the new seat, but I'm assuming I wouldn't need to do that to turn the dash cluster airbag light off.

Any thoughts on why the light would still be on? Do I need to re-set the computer?

 

[EF1]

Not sure if you found the answer you were looking for, but it is probably the seat track position sensor. Ford started using them on the 2011 cars for the adaptive air bags. It tells the computer how close the seat is to the steering wheel and adjust the air bag deployment accordingly. Most people either ignore the light or transfer the seat track position sensor over to the new seat track.

 

[jayhawk261]

I did put the seat track position sensor on the bottom of the seat and zip-tied it. It doesn't do anything, but it is plugged into the harness.

 

[EF1]

Did you have the battery disconnected while you were plugging/unplugging the connectors? If not, it may need a reset.

 

[jayhawk261]

I don't think I did, but the battery has been removed/reinstalled since then with enough down time (days) for the computer to have reset.

 

[EF1]

I had my car out today to start getting it track ready for my first planned track weekend that is coming up at the end of March. I took a little time to look into the airbag light issue that you are having. I had my stock seats back in for the off season. I unbolted my passenger seat in preparation for installing a race seat. I previously only had one on the passenger side. I disconnected the battery before unplugging the airbag and installed one of the resistors that I bought from Watson Racing before reconnecting the battery. I do not have an airbag light. After removing my drivers seat and installing the race seat with the resistor I have an airbag light, but I have not moved the seat position sensor over yet. I did measure the resistors with an ohm meter and I get 2.5 on both resistors. I can't help but think it is either the resistors you are using or the seat position sensors. I don't want to cannibalize my stock seats just yet, so I will look for a couple of used seat position sensors to install with the race seats to eliminate the light that I am getting. I will give an update after obtaining the seat position sensors and figuring out the wiring.

 

[trmkars]

Hello, I just did this about two weeks ago. I found a thread on another mustang forum with a person talking in detail about how to do this.

It was suggested to combine two "4.7 ohm Resistors 1/4w" into one, which will result in a 2.4 to 2.5 ohm value. I did this and it worked for me -- in a 2014 Mustang GT.



I also bought a Ford Seat Airbag plug - I think it was made for testing the airbag circuit. It is for 2005-2007 GT and it has a different OHMs value so it won't work as is in a 2014. We removed the existing "resistor" from the test plug. Cut off the wire connectors and then soldered the two 4.7 ohm resistors in place of the single resistor. Then reassembled the plug as shown below.



Here is the plug in car prior to seat install:


But for now the modified yellow plug above simulates the seat airbag being ready, so no lights on the dash and stability control works again (if you want that).





Resistors on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HDFK5N4/?tag=tmo302-20

Test plug for 2005-2007 on LMR:

Mustang Side Airbag Light Eliminator Plug (05-07) XF2Z-14B022-AA

Pick up this 2005-2007 Mustang side airbag light eliminator when installing aftermarket seats to keep the airbag light off!

lmr.com

My source for some of the details I followed - the topic was was getting the "Restraint Control Module" working again:

Restraint Control Module blown... Ford want's a lot, now what? - MustangForums.com

4.6L General Discussion - Restraint Control Module blown... Ford want's a lot, now what? - Ok so I hit a pretty bad pot hole the other day and bottomed my car out. I think I have code 19 from the airbag light that came on now, which indicated my RCM went off and has to be replaced. Ford is...

mustangforums.com

Picture of two resistors someone else soldered together:



As for the factory driver seat belt. I removed (unbolted) the seat belt and position sensor from the factory seat. I secured these under the new seat with everything connected. At some point I hope to figure out how to bypass the seat belt sensors too.

Your experience or situation might be different, but this is what worked for me. Hopefully someone finds this helpful!

 

[trmkars]

Also -- I re-read your question.

Once you do get everything back in place it might take a number of drive cycles for the system/ECU to clear the prior faults.

For myself I did have the factory seat back in the car for couple weeks prior to modifying the airbag plug and it took around 8 to 10 drive cycles to see everything normal again.

Again hopefully this helps someone.