Acura RSX, ILX and Honda EP3 Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

SRS Light bypass from removal of stock airbags

Tags
airbags bypass light removal srs stock
Jump to Latest
90K views 117 replies 70 participants last post by  Bonehed  
C
#1 · (Edited)
well here it is boys and girls... the solution to that awful srs light that haunts you and prevents you from buyin those recaro's u've been wanting since you bought the car. but before i start, i must post a disclaimer. anything you do to your car, as well as any damage done to your car or you, is NOT my problem. i hold no responsibility whatsoever for any actions you do according to my DIY guide. and thanks/props to rsxdude for helping me along with my project.

ok... now thats over with... on to the good stuff. keep in mind you will ONLY need the passenger seat to work with because thats the only seat that actually has the side airbag sensors in it

supplies needed that come from the stock passenger seat:

stock seat sensors (3 of them)
stock opds unit
opds unit extension harness

additional supplies needed:

2- 2 watt, 2 ohm resistors (i have 4 available for sale, so if a couple of you want to buy them just pm me)

now for the directions...... its a little hard to describe considering i dont have a stock seat to rip apart again and show just where to reach your hand or what to unscrew, but u get the picture. i'll make due with what i have and you'll have to be satisfied as well

reference pic:
Image


step one: unbolt stock seat (held in by 4 bolts. if you really cant figure it out type in "seat removal" on the search page

step two: unplug all sensors and seat belt tensioner plugs

step three: remove seat from car

step four: unzip the back of the seat, slide off the plastic connecting piece on the bottom. its long and it goes along the very bottom edge of the back seat fabric. you'll see what i'm talking about when you get to it

step five: "unwrap" the inner side part of the seat covering to expose the opds unit cover. it is white. remove the cover (there are a few simple clips. it comes right off) and expose the opds unit. the unit will be grey in color and have a few harnesses plugs on it.

step six: unbolt the opds unit and unplug all plugs that run to it. set the unit aside

step seven: remove airbag..... to do this you will have to kind of look into the seat as if you were int he back seat looking at the passenger door. there will be a single bolt/screw holding the airbag in place. you'll see where it is when you look. when you unbolt the airbag, it will kind of just hang there, so be careful not to rip the wires out of the airbag unit itself. to get a little slack, you can remove the plastic pieces holding the airbag harness to the bottom of the seat. once again, sorry i dont have pictures but you'll see it when you investigate your seat.

step 8: slide the airbag assembly THROUGH the actual seat cover so that you can slide the seat cover over the side of the seat. you can see in the cushion backing just where the sensor harnesses run to. this is the easiest way to "feel" for the sensors so that you can remove them. the side sensor was the easiest. carefully start peeling the sensor off the seat foam. be very gentle, although the sensors themselves are pretty strong surprisingly, so dont baby it if it doesnt wanna budge in a couple spots. once you have removed the sensor off of the foam, you'll have to pull the sensor through the seat foam and out of the back of the seat cushion

step 9: remember the long black plastic piece that was connecting the back seat cover to the seat?? you have to slide that between the seat backing and the seat cushion. (see pic of stock seat. the bottom red is where u will pull it through) this is very difficult, and it seems like it wont go through, but it will. once again, just be gentle and it will find its way through. once you have this through that space, you have to lean the seat backing all the way back. reach your hand up in there and you'll feel the big sensor. just as you did with the side sensor, gently lift it off of the foam, once completely removed, you can either pull this one out the front or out the back, it doesnt matter. its easier to pull out the front.

step 10: remove the upper sensor. this is the hardest to reach because you literally have to fist your seat. be careful not to stretch the leather or cloth seat cover towards the top of the seat. remove this sensor from the seat just like the other 2

step 11 (almost done now): remove the little harness extension that went from the opds unit to the front of the seat. there will be a few zip-tie lookin things holding it to the seat springs. they come off easily

ok....... now this is when you have to REINSTALL the sensors and opds unit into your new seat. keep in mind that i have a civic si seat, but your recaro, sparco, cobra, etc seat may differ. you have to find placement for the sensors and the opds unit, but be careful that the smallest sensor is not being pressed on with any weight. the smallest amount of pressure could give you a "side airbag off" light sometime down the road. as you can see in my pic, its just dangling there.

Image


Image


so...... reinstallation is a bit easier. all you have to do is find a place for your sensors, find a place for your opds unit. plug them all up. run the opds unit harness extension thing to the front of the seat, plug it in.

Image


then, take two resistors (one for each side) and complete the circuit in the airbag harness. please do this with your battery unplugged just in case so you dont set something off. look at my pic and its easy to understand. remember, the ONLY thing air-bag-related you have to do to the drivers side is the resistor. it has no sensors.

Image


once you have everything lookin all neat and pretty and all zipped back up and ziptied down and bolted in and taped and yadda yadda yadda, you must reset the srs light. reconnect the battery and follow this link on how to reset the srs light. from here you should be good to go! --->>http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59139&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

i hope this helps some of you ease your worries about getting new aftermarket seats

additionally, if you dont want to rip the sensors out of your stock seat, you can just as easily buy the seat backing cushion from honda or acura. any of the sensors from the odyssey, civic si (not a non-airbag one of course), or an rsx will work. from www.acuraparts247.com you can find the seat backing for around 230 dollars. but..... i wanted to be careful with my stock seat and just save 230 bux. if there are any additional questions, please post them and i'll do my best to help.

i have no clue how to fix steering wheel related srs lights!! so dont ask! dallastypes is the guy for that. hah. good luck guys

edit: since i got civic si seats, i didnt have to replace my seat belt tensioners..... the unit is the same between the 2 cars. so..... more than likely you have to remove these from your stock seat as well. not too sure about that one though....
 
#3 · (Edited)
If this works right, it means I need to start saving for a bride seat!!! Will the airbags still go off in an accident? Will this work if I only want to put in a new drivers seat?
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
C
#4 ·
yes the front airbags *should* go off in case of an accident. but just in case, i'd go to the acura dealer to have them check for any codes left in the srs computer. if you only want to change the drivers seat, the only things you'll need are seat belt tensioner's and a 2 watt, 2 ohm resistor. just leave the passenger side alone
 
H
#5 ·
I still don't know why anyone who uses the RSX as a daily driver would want to change their seats and lose the side airbags. I understand the aftermarket seats kick ass but wouldn't you rather have piece of mind knowing you have a side airbag to protect your ass when you get hit by the soccer mom in the excursion?

I personally am going to have my seats reupholstered, this weay I get all the benefits of the airbags and a better looking seat. Just thought I'd share :)
 
K
#7 ·
I asked in another thread, but here it is again-why not just get the srs computer out of a non-side airbag 02-03 SI. both cars have the dual stage front airbags, so the plugs should be the same. the cars are both built off the civic platform, should be the same. i imagine that the SI w/side airbags probably has the same computer as ours, and since the si can be configured with of with out side bags, ours should be pretty much the same.
 
#8 ·
thats an idea about the SI computer, but you need to find someone willing to try it out.

Also about the new seats. I personally just want a new drivers seat. I never thought I would need another seat (since I really like the stock RSX seats), until I went to a drift event and they had the bride brix seats to sit on. I have never sat on anything as comfortable as that seat. I was sold instantly.

So if someone else does this with just the drivers seat, can you post in here to let us know how it turns out?
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#9 ·
just like corso28 said, you only need the 2watt, 2 ohm resistor for the driver seat. plus your stock seat belt buckle attach to your bride seat rail or track so that your whole srs *would/should* system still work (just without the driver side airbag). I tried it already and it works like a charm. No SRS liight on the dash. Just remember to remove the battery terminals and wait for 15 mins before removing all the plugs and driver seat.
 
C
#10 ·
kjac081 said:
I asked in another thread, but here it is again-why not just get the srs computer out of a non-side airbag 02-03 SI. both cars have the dual stage front airbags, so the plugs should be the same. the cars are both built off the civic platform, should be the same. i imagine that the SI w/side airbags probably has the same computer as ours, and since the si can be configured with of with out side bags, ours should be pretty much the same.
Click to expand...
sure that would work, but this is more cost-effective. if you feel like spending 5-600 dollars on an srs computer, then thats your decision. i just feel this is probably the best, although nto the easiest, alternative to the srs light.
 
P
#13 ·
I heard that if you get:
1. JDM steering wheel and little computer that comes with it...
2. And another little JDM computer that goes to lower center of the dashboard.....
the front airbags will work.
I'm getting blue recaros this week and I'm gonna try to get these computers if it's possible...
 
#14 ·
This is a wonderful diy... It cost like $1.80 for the two resisters, and thats it. Taking the sensors out is WAAAY easier than I expected and putting them back in is even easier. The seat looked like I never even touched it once I put it back together. This is the easiest cheapest way to have airbags work when you don't have the stock seats in. I offer my help to anyone that is gonna take this on... By the way this should be a sticky.
 
M
#15 · (Edited)
ok i did mine in my ITR recaros today. You don't need to buy the 2 watt resistors i used 1/2 watt and they are working just fine (2 watt can be hard to come across). Also to make the removal of the sensors a little easier i got some hog ring plyers and some new hog rings and took the front of the seat cover off so the whole sensor thing took me about 15 min. There is one thing i am wondering though is if the seat belt pre-tensioner is needed. Ya'll know the thing i'm talking about, its long and black and is attached to the belt buckle. I figured a way to bypass it also without throwing a srs light. I took it apart and the only thing it does is add extra clamping force on the belt buckle when you are in a wreck so it doesn't pop out. Because i was thinking i could get the black female ends out of an older car without them and hook them up and bypass the tensinor, the reason i want to do this is because the damn tensioners stick out to far and scratch the center console. well thats my story and i'm stickin to it haha
 
R
#21 ·
baddkar said:
This is a wonderful diy... It cost like $1.80 for the two resisters, and thats it. Taking the sensors out is WAAAY easier than I expected and putting them back in is even easier. The seat looked like I never even touched it once I put it back together. This is the easiest cheapest way to have airbags work when you don't have the stock seats in. I offer my help to anyone that is gonna take this on... By the way this should be a sticky.
Click to expand...
I will probably need your help soon if you don't mind. I just need to get the sliders and brackets for my seats.
 
S
#22 ·
kjac081 said:
I asked in another thread, but here it is again-why not just get the srs computer out of a non-side airbag 02-03 SI. both cars have the dual stage front airbags, so the plugs should be the same. the cars are both built off the civic platform, should be the same. i imagine that the SI w/side airbags probably has the same computer as ours, and since the si can be configured with of with out side bags, ours should be pretty much the same.
Click to expand...
Did you ever find out if this would work?

-Carl
 
S
#23 ·
does anyone know if its possible to use a resistor, so I don't have to hook up the OPDS computer? Is there any way I could find out. I tore one of my sensors for the OPDS computer, and I can't get rid of the SRS light. I imagine we could use a resistor to do the same thing as the SRS airbag resistors except do it on the OPDS computer.
 
Acura RSX, ILX and Honda EP3 Forum
posts
30M
members
182K
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to Acura RSX, ILX and Honda EP3 owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, troubleshooting, K24 swaps, turbo kits, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Member Show-Off RSX Turbo RSX Problems & Solutions RSX General RSX Discussions Bolt-On Basics: RSX (Base)