2003 E320 SRS light question failed inspection in Mass

[boborann]

I bought a 2003 E320 wagon W210) a year ago and swapped the seat from my 98 E320 (because the seat heaters didn't work).plugged everything in and the SRS light came on and has been on ever since.
Massachusetts now requires that the SRS light not be lit and I failed my inspection yesterday
Also at one time I needed change the directional and had to remove and replace the stearing wheel airbag
I called the dealer to see what would be involved and they want $115/Hr with no guess of the time involved to give me an estimate.

I'm hoping its simply the SRS computer needs to recognize the different seat sensor or the like.

Would appreciate any help as I don't want to spend a lot to fix this as nobody rides in the passenger seat
Thanks in advance

[Gilly]

Did you change both front seats or exactly what was changed, the whole seat or the heater pads or what?
My first impression would be if the passengers side seat was changed around, that the sensor in the seat had that "babysmart" sensor which is now absent and that's tripping it. There might be some other warning light on someplace that mentions "babysmart", might be more noticeable in the dark.
I'd also assume you are getting an error message in the cluster, so just yanking a bulb would be out of the question I assume. Plus they might look to see if the SRS light somes on as a bulb check item when the key is turned on, especially now that they are clued in as to a problem with your particular car.

[Gilly]

Additionally there are switches in the seat belt buckles which might cause the SRS light. They do go bad anyways, plus there is the possiblity I suppose that one of them didn't get reconnected when the seats were swapped.
If you took off the airbag on the stEEring wheel and then turned the key on, this would also log a fault. So you have lots of potential for problems.

[Gilly]

If all else fails you could try covering up the SRS light with a $50 bill!!!

[boborann]

Here is more background ( it was over a year ago)
I changed both seat completely just unbolted them and moved them over. In addition to the two large connectors for teh seat motors The passenger has a small yellow connector which as I recall is the sensor than monitors the weight on the seat.
Immediately upon swapping the seats the light came on. I actually swapped them back and the symptom didnt change so I assumed it was just I'd need disconnect the battery or something.

The seatbelt off light on the console is lit indicating teh passenger seat belt won't work
I tried to get the codes read on teh way to work but coulldn't find anybody open
I'll do that over the weekend and update as I find out more
Bob

[zimm]

if you still have the seat, you could remove the baby sensor and plug it in on the floor.

[Steve M]

Zimm,

At first glance your suggestion sounds brilliant, but fixing the condition that sets off an SRS light does not always reset the SRS light - this can only be done by somebody with an expensive scanner (like the dealer). He'll charge half an hour.

Secondly, those pads are fragile while they are in a seat that rarely gets used (based upon my W220 experience), let alone on the floor where a back seat passenger's feet might kick it.

But I do like the idea - I'd have to try it if I was in Boborann's shoes.

btw, Boborann, the pad doesn't sense weight, it communicates with the child seat via a pair of transponders that indicate the presence of, and correct orientation of, the child seat. Another one of those ideas that only makes sense to automobile designers in the black forest who drink beer at lunchtime.

[OTTOBUNZ]

Something like this happened on my 280...what I learned was:

if you didn't disconnect the battery while doing the seat swap, the SRS could have stored a malfunction code which wont self-clear.

Has anyone tried to read/clear the fault?

[boborann]

I actually tried to swap the old one once the light came on initially and the light stayed on. Prior to the swap both vehicles had the srs light not lit so I assumed it was just a reset or such

I was contemplating buying a new sensor and just plugging it in. but hoped to find that this was a dealer resettable error before I spent the money
boborann
For what its worth if somebody ion Mass has this issue pull the mamp the just check teh light

[Gilly]

Well, the babysmart equipment is a definite problem, seeing what was all done. I agree that the sensor could be removed and installed under the seat. If I am correct about this, you could also install a jumper to the babysmart connection on the harness as well, I thought I read about someone doing that. You can test the sensor to see what the resistance is across the 2 wires and substitute a resistor, in case simply jumping the 2 wires together doesn't work.
Hard to say why the SRS light was on on the 1998 though, that could have been related to the seat belt buckle switches, another common failure. Then of course you had the airbag removed on the 2003, so that can be a problem that needs to be erased as well.
I would assume the seat belt buckles are the same (and the buckle switches) between the 98 and 03. I would almost want to recommend swapping the buckles from the 03 seats onto the 98 seats.
Actually the best bet might be to replace the heater pads on the 03 and put them back in, unless the heater pads are crazy money, I know some seats you have to buy the whole stinking cover to get pads, but most of the time you buy just the pads. Not that bad of a job. Are just the lower parts inop or the backrest heaters too? usually it's just the bottom pads.

[OTTOBUNZ]

My indie read the code with his scanner, didn't need to go to the dealer

[boborann]

Had the code read says bad sensor.
Waiting for price for part plus 2hr pluses install

Saw people offering sensor emulators
Anyone tried these and had them work.
Would rather pay the 25-80 on one of these if they work
Bob

[Gilly]

You can take the sensor on the original seat and measure across the 2 wires, then just buy a resistor at radio Shack for example (if they still do this sort of thing) and connect that to the connector on the chassis

[boborann]

Sory for the delay I was waiting for parts
This is not a simple resistor sensor but some kind of sensor that "talks" to the SRS computer
After getting a $400 ($182 seat pad $200 Install) price from my Indy who confirmed a bed seat sensor I figured I'd try an emulator.
I Bought a multi vehicle one for $26 on Ebay from seller xhixingzhe2011. Came a week and a half later. Had to solder a jumper and add wires to the yellow connector.
Plugged it in and light went out!!
No need to go to dealer
Went back and got inspection sticker
This device supports several vehicle types and lets you set a jumper to say tehre is or is not an occupant and I would recommend it to anyone not using a smartbaby seat
Thanks for the help
BOb