Not a 911, but an infrequent nuisance - Seat Belt idiot light

[Joe Mc]

Today (2nd time in 3 - 4 weeks) after start up and "check gages" light went out, the little red man with the seat belt on lit up? I wondered who the idiot was, after all I had my seatbelt on? So down the road I go it stayed on the whole way and silly me (the idiot) kept making sure my belt was on and latched. I even unlatched & relatched it a few times. Since I had to pick something up and wasn't going too far I figured I'd wait and see what would happen after I re-started. Well it didn't come on . . . . at first anyway. I started her up & about 15 seconds after the check gages light went out there was little redman again. shut it off and restarted . . . same thing several times.



Down the road I go about another 10 minutes or so, poof he disappeared????



Anyone have this happen??? Any ideas??? IS there a contact under the seat to sense weight???



Appreciate any ideas.

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

check the connector between your seat and the center seat. I disabled mine. I put a straight pin through both wires. . no light ever again.



one wire is blk w/red stripe . . I think

 

[CJBoggs]

Yup...

I have a very similar truck (see signature) and I have had the exact same problem. From my experience with my truck, it is intermittent, and I haven't been able to make the indicator light go out until it's ready to go out on its own. The problem recurrs every other month of so and bugs me for about a week, then it stops. It makes no difference whether I have the seat belt on or not. My truck is out of warranty, and I haven't done a great deal to figure the problem out. It seems minor, but a small defect like this on a truck that has had few problems (compared to others) can really become irritating.



If anyone has any information on a possible fix, I would also appreciate it.



Chris

 

[CJBoggs]

Mark,



You brought up a good point: the seatbelt connector could have been modified (bought my truck used). On 99 models, does the indicator light usually stay on until you buckle up? I usually do not wear mine (dumb, I know) and the indicator light has always come on for a bulb check and then gone out until the next ignition cycle. If my connector was modified as yours has been and has now become intermittent, that might explain the indicator lamp's wierd behavior.



Any answers are appreciated.



Chris

 

[pcorssmit]

I have no idea if this is how it works on a Dodge, but I've got the wiring torn apart on my Chevy right now. The seatbelt light/buzzer is a switched ground, on the Chevy removing the wire will disable the circuit. This also means that if the wire is shorted to ground anywhere along its path, the light/buzzer will come on.



Pete

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

I bombed mine because I work around the farm a lot and hate to get in the habit of seeing red on the dash and ignoring it... I need no light to tell me to buckle up. . I do or don't on my own.



a closed circuit (connect the wires) turns off the light. Open circuit leaves it on. If the plug is not seated properly you would see intermittent function.



FWIW

 

[SOOT]

My 99 has the same intermiten "redman" rather annoying since I do a lot of driving at night. It seems to stay on and go off when ever it feels like it

 

[mongoose]

My 99 has done the same thing twice. Have not had it happen in a couple of months, but it will probably do it this afternoon now that i mention it. I have not dug into the problem though, but might look in to bombing the connection that was mentioned earlier.

 

[Joe Mc]

Thanks

Appreciate the input and that me & my "red man" aren't all alone in the world. Will look into the connectors etc. this weekend & maybe try that jump out if need be later on. Thanks a bunch.