MK4 Seat Changeover - Airbag Seat

[matk]

Hi All, picked up a pair of spare front seats off a breaker to replace my rather worn ones. The ones from the breaker have just had the seatbelts cut near the mounting point on the seat, so the remaining stub is still attached to the seats.

Im a little bit nervous about tackling this as the seats have the side airbags. Is there a trick to it? How does the switch panel come off? Am I being over cautious? I know to disconnect the car Battery before I attempt unplugging the original seats but is there anything else I need to factor in?

Thanks in anticipation.

[cruisermark]

I replaced my mark 3 seats just like you.

I also removed the front seat one my mark 4 for cleaning

All I did was disconnect the Battery and wait 10 minutes. If I remember correctly there is a small plastic plate where the seatbelt attaches - just remove that and undo the nut holding the seatbelt stub. Other than that it was 4 bolts holding the seat and electrical connections underneath.

When you have unbolted and disconnected everything then tilt the seat backwards so its lying on its back - then rotate 90 degrees towards yourself - this will make it easier to remove.

Would be easier with 2 people but I managed it on my own in small steps.

Just be careful and take your time not to damage trim plastics or wiring.

I even removed the seat in my 430 the same way

Hope this helps and good luck.

[matk]

Thank you for the reply, when I looked closely the answer turned out to be very easy, as you suggested. There’s an access panel in the side plastic in exactly the right place to get to the seatbelt bolt. Prises out really easily and there is the bolt. Just need the rain to stop and I’ll get the seats swapped over.

[matk]

Hit an unexpected prob........

Got the replacement seat into the car and then discovered the yellow airbag plug has a different shape to the one on the old seat, so it won’t plug back into the loom.

Any problems if I cut the plug off the old seat and splice it onto the new seat?

[Britprius]

15 hours ago, matk said:

Hit an unexpected prob........

Got the replacement seat into the car and then discovered the yellow airbag plug has a different shape to the one on the old seat, so it won’t plug back into the loom.

Any problems if I cut the plug off the old seat and splice it onto the new seat?

Mat be careful is there a plug or connector on the wiring actually on the air bag?  The air bag usually have a connector that when disconnected shorts out the input of the air bag. This maybe in the connector you are going to change or on the air bag This is so that static electricity cannot set the air bag off in storage or while being handled. This connector should be disconnected to protect the air bag while you work on splicing the wiring. When done the air bag can be re connected. If the shorting switch is in the connector you are changing to be safe the wires going into the air bag should be connected together (shorted) while you solder on the replacement connector.
It would be safer to get the other part of the new seat connector off the car at the breakers, and fit that to your car allowing the new seat to be fitted without working on the air bag wiring.
I hope that makes sense.

John.

[ambermarine]

The consensus of advice on airbags is not to mess with them in any way they are lethal outside of their safe environment and proper insallation . The liklehood of you getting anyone at a dealership or independant to mess with this scenario is zero so my take on it is put your old seat back in and stay safe.

[cruisermark]

I cant help but think that seat maybe from a Mark 3? - the Mark 3 seats are slightly firmer than the Mark 4 

[matk]

6 hours ago, Britprius said:

Mat be careful is there a plug or connector on the wiring actually on the air bag?  The air bag usually have a connector that when disconnected shorts out the input of the air bag. This maybe in the connector you are going to change or on the air bag This is so that static electricity cannot set the air bag off in storage or while being handled. This connector should be disconnected to protect the air bag while you work on splicing the wiring. When done the air bag can be re connected. If the shorting switch is in the connector you are changing to be safe the wires going into the air bag should be connected together (shorted) while you solder on the replacement connector.
It would be safer to get the other part of the new seat connector off the car at the breakers, and fit that to your car allowing the new seat to be fitted without working on the air bag wiring.
I hope that makes sense.

John.

Hi John

That is info I wasn’t aware of but makes sense. Unfortunately I am not able to get the connector off the scrapped car as I bought the seats as stand alone items.

 

2 hours ago, cruisermark said:

I cant help but think that seat maybe from a Mark 3? - the Mark 3 seats are slightly firmer than the Mark 4 

That might explain it, the seats are definitely firmer than the ones in my car (which is a MK4). I thought that it was only the MK4 though that had seat airbags, did MK3 seats have these too?

All things considered I’m now swaying towards giving up with these seats and live with my original interior for a while until I can come up with a definite known MK4 interior.

[matk]

And I’ve now confirmed they are MK3 seats, so I’ve decided to move them on and source genuine MK4. Now listed in for sale. Thanks for the advice and help.