Racing Seats vs Passenger Airbag

[ChaunceyM]

I'm at my wits end. I've tried pretty much every resistor value b/t 2.2 and 3.3 ohms, plus a couple higher, and cannot get the f'n passenger airbag error to go away. Driver side was easy, knocked that out a year ago using the value found here. But the passenger side is being a whore.

I've seen people use 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.3 and get it to work, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Cause it just keeps flashing the 1-6 code.

I'm now this close {holds up thumb and index finger really close together} from ripping the airbag unit out of the stock seat and just wedging under the racing seat so I can plug it in and be done with it. Gotta get this fixed so I can pass my way overdue inspection.

[Code Monkey]

I know some NC Miatas use 2 ohm 1.4 watt resistors, may be worth a shot.

[nekret]

Have you considered measuring the resistance of the passenger side airbag and using a resistor that matches?

[ChaunceyM]

I did try that, but it essentially showed a dead short. Which, if the inflator is just a simple heating element, kinda makes sense. It's just a wire that gets really hot when you dump 2-3A across it.
But if that's true, and if I assume the inflator is no different from everyone else's, and the driver's side, why doesn't it work with the same R values?
I'm going to make a set of resistors of increasing values from ~1 ohm to ~8 ohms and go through methodically.
I may also connect the stock seat back up just to confirm nothing else in the system is bad and confusing the issue.

Is it necessary to jumper any of the other connections? I haven't seen anyone jumper the weight sensor or anything else, but maybe that was left out of the write-up.

[ChaunceyM]

Awesome, now things are really f'ed up.
Good news, the airbag connector in the seat has a self-shorting feature, likely to prevent accidental discharge, which is why it ohms out as a dead short. Once I opened that up I measured the heating element at 2.1 Ohms.
When nothing in that range got rid of my 1-6 error, I reconnected the stock seat to confirm nothing else was broken and promptly got a 4-9 error, whatever the fuck that is.
So now I'm fucked. It's likely I'll need to reinstall both stock seats and belts so I can have the airbag light cleared and inspection passed. And since I lost my connection at a Mazda dealer, this is likely going to be a giant ass raping. Nurtz.

[SSinstaller]

You might want to call an inspection station and check, but I'm pretty sure you can pass the inspection with your airbag light on. The seatbelts must work properly, but you can remove the airbags and still pass.

[Code Monkey]

Can't you just pull or mask the airbag light bulb?

[ChaunceyM]

@Tomas; I just dug up the 2-y-o post where you mentioned you couldn't get the light off. Did you ever find a fix?

And according to the shop manual, 1-6 is "seat weight sensor calibration error", which may mean I've been barking up the wrong tree this entire time.