Hi All,

I recently bought some 'new' front seats for my 2001 P38. They went in a treat, except for the airbag connector. The seats are out of an older car, 98 or 99 I think, and sometime between then and 2001 LR apparently changed the SR connector. The one on the car is smaller than the one on the seats. Both 2 pin yellow connectors, just different sizes. Is there a converter I can get from one to the other or, failing that, could I jam a resistor between the pins on the car side to shut off the SRS warning on my dash? I don't want to fiddle about splicing the wires together as I don't really fancy setting the airbags off.

I’m not 100%, Wasn’t it 99 onwards that had side bags, hence different connectors, can you not pus the connectors out, normally just a tiny driver pushed in releases the spade connector

I don't have the correct connectors for the seat side to replace them with.... and I'm really nervous about fiddling with the seat connector at all, I don't want an airbag going off in my face. It would ruin the seat :D

If it goes 'bang' it might ruin the seat of your pants..... but it won't if you turn off the ignition first of course...

'Jamming resistors in' is nor really recommended, having a working Air Bag is !

TallPaul wrote:

I don't have the correct connectors for the seat side to replace them with....

What about the connectors on the seats you are taking out? Or just cut both connectors off and replace them with something else. As long as the ignition is off (although I have read somewhere about making sure it's been off for more than 10 minutes), or if you are really worried, disconnect the battery, it isn't going to go off. I've changed and air bag on a Merc before and it was only after I'd done it that I read that you are supposed to disconnect the battery but I hadn't and there was nothing untoward happened.

Be nice to know why LR changed the connectors.

As they are both two pin connectors its possible that the 2001 airbag trigger outputs are incompatible with the '98 - '99 airbags so the connector sizes were changed to prevent mis-matched connections.

Clive

Fair comment Clive603: There are connectors on the later ones (post '99) to cover seat air bags/belt pretensioner which may well be incompatible.

http://www.graysquirrelphoto.com/Range%20Rover%20Photos/SRS%20connector.jpg

Pre-99 didn't have side air bags or seat belt pretensioners so no connectors at all under the seats. Maybe the side airbag an pretensioners didn't arrive at the same time?

Yes, that's what I meant - is the connector identified actually the airbag one.(?)

Airbag connectors have a special mechanism to short the pins together when removed
to prevent accidental/dangerous operation - such as someone with a multi-meter....

Hmm, I'll try to grab a picture of the connectors this evening. Cheers everyone!

Okay, here's the connectors (sorry for the delay, been a busy couple of weeks!). On the left is the smaller connector coming from the car. On the right, the larger connector is on the seats.

Hi guys,
Reviving an old thread, for what's probably a simple question - but googling and searching has thrown up conflicting advice.

If I want to investigate, unplug, clean, reconnect etc the yellow SRS plugs under the driver's seat, do I need to disconnect the battery, or just have the ignition off? I've even read somewhere that the battery needs disconnected, and then wait 15 mins.....

Common sense tells me it can't be that risky, as then if you move the seat back and forward, and the connection gets disturbed, the airbags would go off - which would be a 'bad thing' - but just want to be sure what the story is.

Ta.

There's no power to the system when the ignition is off so turning the ignition off and waiting 15 mins is no different to disconnecting the battery and waiting 15 mins. I've worked on SRS systems on both the P38, a couple of Mercs and a Renault and never managed to set off an airbag yet.

Thank you. Just shows the danger of the internet - lots of odd advice. I appreciate the reply.

It is always recommended to disconnect battery, but I've done at least a hundred removal/refitting of steering wheels and seats with battery on, and never an issue or dreadful explosion.
You need to deal with the inevitable airbag fault, though ....