Can I just remove the passenger seat?

[Viva]

Thanks to both of you for this info! It all makes sense, as I couldn't really see anything that would "tell" the system that anyone was or was not in the passenger seat.

When my passenger seat is out, I have a plywood box in place of it (bolted down to the seat mounts), and the top of the box is just slightly below the level of the top of the console. I don't plan to have anything any taller/heavier than a map sitting on top of the box when underway, so there will be nothing "in the path" of the airbag to potentially fly around. And of course with the seat in, all is similar.

Whew, now I can never get a newer van because I'd have to learn a whole new system

[michiganman777]

Originally Posted by Viva

BUT, then I saw they sell a "dummy plug." The intended purpose of the dummy plug is that, say you have a code on the passenger seat airbag connector, and you want to try to isolate the problem. You unplug the pre-tensioner half of the white plug, and then put this "dummy plug" into the half of the connector coming out of the floor. If you then have no flashing airbag codes, plus no airbag light on, then you know the system is fine and it was something wrong with the pre-tensioner....

So, I ordered a dummy plug....

At this point I considered three options (seat and pre-tensioner out, so just "half a" white plug coming out of carpet under where seat was, plug has two wires going into it).

1) Cut wire leading to "floor plug" and splice on dummy plug (it's a plastic plug with two spade connectors that go into it).

2) Cut wire leading to floor plug and splice on a pair of bullet connectors. Then splice sets of bullet connectors onto both Ford floor plug and dummy plug so either/or could be plugged in.

3) Source pre-tensioner half of plug with 7" of wire coming out of it, wire dummy plug onto that, and then can plug either this "dongle" into stock Ford floor plug (when seat out) -- or the stock pre-tensioner plug into stock floor plug (seat in).

I had access to a spare pre-tensioner half of the Ford plug with 7" wire leads, so opted for #3 and made the dongle for when the seat is out. No cutting of stock airbag wiring/plugs at all. So far, success! I started van a few times and ran it for a few minutes. Airbag light did just what it is supposed to do (lights up, then goes out, no flashing codes, no solid airbag light). This indicates all is fine and my system (driver's side) is intact. I haven't driven around yet, but I don't expect it to change. (I found via reading that it takes 30 seconds or more to set codes, so you can't just start it up and immediately know.)

When I put the seat back in, I can plug the stock pre-tensioner back in, just as normal and have an all-stock system on both sides.

Viva, thank you very much for all the info provided here. May end up being very helpful for me.

However, I had one question: It seems from the initial statement that the Dummy Plug can simply be plugged into the white plug coming out of the floor/carpet. And thereby fool the SRS system into not missing the missing seat.

If so, why does it need to be "spliced" into that floor plug somehow? Or wired into a dongle (spare pre-tensioner)? As you describe in your three options?

Why can't it just be plugged directly into the floor plug?

Thanks, MM.