Air bag lights resistors and popsicle sticks

[Morris]

So I changed out the stock seats on my 2012 gt with the 401a package. Never liked them so I went to some corbeau's. I got the vx2000's, they are not very racy and they don't hold you in much better than stock seats how-ever they are far more comfortable on my back for the 100 mile a day shit commute I have to do.

Taking the seats out, and replacing them with the Corbeau's is not hard at all. With a little searching I was able to find a few threads that showed how to unbolt them, take out the harness and deal with the air bag light. Every thing went smooth up to the air bag light and thats why I thought I would post a few more things in regards to the resistors.

When I ran into trouble I hit up DevilDog1679 who had also installed some new seats and solved the air bag issue. Big thanks to him as he even had a very informative DIY on how to do this. Still I managed to screw it up the first few times.

As he informed me I needed a 1.7 to 2.2 ohm resistance on the plug that went to the now non existent side air bag to remove the light from the dash. First mistake was going and getting a 2.2 k ohm resistor, I didn't even note the K on the bag or on the multi meter when I was testing. Stupid mistake number one.

Second mistake was reading about how another guy had purchased five 10 ohm 1/4 watt resistors and soldered them in parallel to make the proper resistance. It didn't make sense to me, as that was 50 ohms but I wasn't sure about the watts and how that played into it so what the hell for two bucks I tried it. As you might suspect that didn't work, perhaps he placed them in parallel, I don't know?

Any way, again thanks to devildog for helping me out and I made another trip to radio shack. Of course they didn't have what I was looking for which the the smaller (1/2 to 1 watt style resistors) to make 2 ohms. They did have some 1 ohm 10 watt resistors and I figured they might work even though they were bigger than I wanted to use. Here is what they look like (that's not the resistor but it looks just like it) and that is the bag they came in with the part number.

So these come two to a pack (you need two packs) and here is how they look once I soldered them together.

If you don't have the part number for that connector it's ford part # XF2Z-14B022-AA. If you chose to use this plug connector rather than soldering to the female side then you will have to modify it. To do that you cut off the top with a dremel, cut off the resistor (it's too high and for the older model mustangs) and then solder on the two resistors as shown.

The wires in the ford connector where you cut out the old resistor are fairly thin and with the heavier higher watt resistors that I used I figured I needed to support them from moving. I did that with some Popsicle sticks. I had a box of them from my kids school project so what the hell, why not. Here is what I did (I put another on the side but left it off for the picture. Also you may have to adjust the sticks but you get the point, its just to keep it ridged)

After I wrapped it up with electrical tape it seemed solid enough to with stand some bouncing around. I plugged it in to both sides and no more light.

I figured I would just post this up for the guys who are looking to do the seat change and wanted a part number for a resistor that worked. As well as to let you guys know that so long as you get 2 ohms it doesn't matter if you have 1/2 watt resistors (like devildog used) or the 10 watt ones that I used, both will work.

 

[skwerl]

How much for you to make me up a couple of those plugs? I suck at electrical.

 

[Morris]

It's not hard at all to do, I'm sure you could do it even with out any electrical exp. What year is your car though? If it's the one in the pic you might only need the connector from the dealer (I think it's the 11 and up that need the lower ohm resistor).

Anyway my dealer raped me on the price of the connectors. I think I got charged 18 bucks each but you can find them for much less on line. The resistors are less than 5 bucks.

If you really don't think you can do it send me a PM and we will work some thing out but in all honesty for the cost of shipping you could get a soldering iron and knock it out your self.

 

[TexasBlownV8]

You dont need that big of a resistor. The sense circuit doesn't push much current (just look at the size of the wires to the connector). 1/2w resistors are more than enough.

As far as the "five 10 ohm resistors", when you connect resistors in parallel, the overall resistance is less than each individual resistor. For example, using 2 10 ohm resistors connected in parallel (both ends connected together), the resistance is half, i.e., 5 ohms.
The formula (if i remember it correctly) is:
R = (R1 X R2) / (R1 + R2)

So if you take 2 10-ohm resisors, the overall net resistance is
(10 X 10) / (10 + 10)
100 / 20 = 5 ohms.

For multiple resistors, just add them to the formula; using 4 resistors IN PARALLEL:
R = (R1 X R2 X R3 X R4) / (R1 + R2 + R3 + R4)

For Series-connected resistors, which is where they are connected in-line, tie one end together, then the unconnected end to your circuit, you simply add the resistance values together. So, two 10 ohm resistors in series, 10 + 10 = 20 ohms total.


Back to the original use, take two 1 ohm resistors, put them in-line in series with each other, and you get 2 ohms.

For power handling, it's a function of the current going through each resistor.
A 12 volt circuit through a 1-ohm resistance would produce 12 watts of power in heat.
(look up Ohms Law calculations and such)

For sensor circuits, like the airbag sensor, there is NOT a full 12 volts fed through the circuit, but in essence, a much smaller current, which the resulting voltage drop across its internal resistance is measured to detect the presence of the airbag connection. As such, you dont need that big of a power-capable resistor.

 

[DTony]

Nice work and thanks for the great write up. Did you do a weight comparison between the new and old seats?

 

[Morris]

TexasBlown, thanks for the extra info, really helps to make sense of things.

DTony, I didn't put them on the scale but they are kind of heavy, if I recall the box showed a shipping weight of 60 lbs. for the two seats. Then you would have to add the weight of the sliders and mounts. I know I saved a bit of weight on the drivers side but not much on the passenger........Hang on Ill weigh the seats right now.

 

[Morris]

46 lbs for the passenger and 57 for the drivers. Those weights would include the sliders and mounts since they are built into the seats. If the Corbeau's are 35 lbs each after you add the sliders and mounts (I didn't weigh them, maybe 10 lbs?) I figure I may have dropped around 20 lbs, not much.

Most all the other seats I tested were far lighter and would hold you in far better but were not as comfortable. I figure I could get another more racing type of seat for track days and swap them out. I can have this seat out of the car in less than two minutes, no joke! I have the seat picked out (brain fart can't recall the name of it right now) it fits me perfect and weighs next to nothing (maybe 20 lbs) and it's cheap at 600 bucks a pair.

 

[DDTCM]

Mike........you just made My head hurt.

 

[COYO TT]

This should be a sticky. I see this question often across many forums with no definitive answer.

Great write-up

 

[DTony]

46 lbs for the passenger and 57 for the drivers. Those weights would include the sliders and mounts since they are built into the seats. If the Corbeau's are 35 lbs each after you add the sliders and mounts (I didn't weigh them, maybe 10 lbs?) I figure I may have dropped around 20 lbs, not much.

Most all the other seats I tested were far lighter and would hold you in far better but were not as comfortable. I figure I could get another more racing type of seat for track days and swap them out. I can have this seat out of the car in less than two minutes, no joke! I have the seat picked out (brain fart can't recall the name of it right now) it fits me perfect and weighs next to nothing (maybe 20 lbs) and it's cheap at 600 bucks a pair.

Thanks for the info!! I am at the point where I am willing to buy a set as long as they are lighter.

 

[Full_Tilt]

omg lol @ 10 watt resistor

I also find it hilarious when people act like high school physics electrical knowledge is electrical engineering or something. Ohms law and resistor calculations are dirt simple. You guys that think youre "bad" at electronics have simply never tried to learn.

 

[GeorgeInNePa]

46 lbs for the passenger and 57 for the drivers. Those weights would include the sliders and mounts since they are built into the seats. If the Corbeau's are 35 lbs each after you add the sliders and mounts (I didn't weigh them, maybe 10 lbs?) I figure I may have dropped around 20 lbs, not much.

Most all the other seats I tested were far lighter and would hold you in far better but were not as comfortable. I figure I could get another more racing type of seat for track days and swap them out. I can have this seat out of the car in less than two minutes, no joke! I have the seat picked out (brain fart can't recall the name of it right now) it fits me perfect and weighs next to nothing (maybe 20 lbs) and it's cheap at 600 bucks a pair.

If you have 103lbs worth if OEM seats and 70lbs of aftermarket seats, you dropped 33lbs...

 

[Morris]

60 lbs of after market seats, estimated 10lbs for slider and mount PER SIDE.

 

[devildog1679]

They look good. Does your passenger air bag light come on?

 

[Morris]

I moved the air bladder to the new passenger seat so the passengers air bag works the same as before. The light only comes on if no one is in the seat.

 

[devildog1679]

I moved the air bladder to the new passenger seat so the passengers air bag works the same as before. The light only comes on if no one is in the seat.

The way the passenger airbag works is that it is always on, so the light should be off if no one is sitting in it. The light only comes on when the airbag is off which occurs when it senses weight between a few pounds and 30. When you placed the bladder in the new seats you changed the pressure the bladder was registering. This is why whenever its replaced a reset is needed. I didn’t bother because it still works in detecting low weight and light goes off when an adult sits. The only thing is the light was annoying at first. For some reason mine reset on its own after a few months because now the light is off all the time and only comes on when I put light items in the seat. Either way your good to go.

 

[mr. anderson]

ummm. to calculate for resistors in parallel. this is the basic equation for this problem:

1 / (1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + 1/R4 + 1/R5) = R total

so if you have five, 10 ohm resistors in parallel (substitute values and show work)

1 / (1/10 + 1/10 + 1/10 + 1/10 + 1/1)0=

1 / (.1 + .1 + .1 + .1 + .1)=

1 / .5=

2 ohms

I did this on mine with two packs of five, 1/4 watt, 10 Ohm resistors. think they were $1.68 each.

 

[Morris]

Devildog, I just went out and checked. Lucky for me my passenger air bag is working just as you described. I was wrong the light does not come on when the seat is empty.

I think when I saw it before it was because I had my lunch box and a few other things on the seat. Then when my son sat in it 140 lbs it went out. Here is the test that I just went out and did.....seat empty no light, place a firm hand on seat and the light goes on, sit in the seat and the light goes out again. I think I'm good

Yep Mr Anderson has shown how I screwed up. I placed those five 1/4 watt 10 ohm resistors in series rather than parallel.......I must have misread the post on how it was done. So now every one knows, even a guy who needs work with reading comprehension, math and electrical can get this job done! Popsicles optional.

 

[devildog1679]

Devildog, I just went out and checked. Lucky for me my passenger air bag is working just as you described. I was wrong the light does not come on when the seat is empty.

I think when I saw it before it was because I had my lunch box and a few other things on the seat. Then when my son sat in it 140 lbs it went out. Here is the test that I just went out and did.....seat empty no light, place a firm hand on seat and the light goes on, sit in the seat and the light goes out again. I think I'm good

Yep Mr Anderson has shown how I screwed up. I placed those five 1/4 watt 10 ohm resistors in series rather than parallel.......I must have misread the post on how it was done. So now every one knows, even a guy who needs work with reading comprehension, math and electrical can get this job done! Popsicles optional.

Yep, working as intended.

 

[Morris]

Did you guys sell your stock seats? If so what did they go for?