Dash airbag going from bench to captain

[Dobbingtonio]

Hello all,

Been scouring threads for a while and don’t think my specific question has been asked before.

We have a t6.1 shuttle we’re planning a dayvan conversion for.

I was about to hit the button yesterday on a kiravans swivel for the front bench, when I noticed not suitable for airbag seats… which my passenger bench has.

I’m reluctant to go the resistor route, and would rather keep a passenger airbag if we already have one so I’ve fallen into a bit of a rabbit hole. Seems my options are:

1) go for a vankraft all in one swivel for the double which lets you keep the airbag, but currently out of stock on vankraft and expensive

2) replace the bench with a captain for roughly the same money, then get driver/passenger swivels. Still expensive, but more comfortable and access to the rear from the cab

I’ve sourced a t6.1 passenger captain with airbag, but want to confirm two things:

1) will the seat airbag be plug and play between the bench and captain? From everything I’ve read it looks like connector will be the same

2) will I need to change the dash airbag going from a bench to a single? I’ve seen posts saying you do going from 1-2, but nothing the other way around.

Any help or advice would be appreciated… feel like everything I search just throws up other considerations for what I’d hoped would be a fairly simple DIY job.

 

[Oliwier]

We have just replaced the front bench in our T6.1 Shuttle for a Captain Seat last weekend.

The yellow airbag cable was plug and play between the bench and captain with no faults, just remember to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before disconnecting the seat.

Hope this helps you.

 

[Dobbingtonio]

Thanks, that’s reassuring… did you do anything about the dash airbag ?

 

[Oliwier]

No we didn't change the dash airbag.
We left it as it was.

 

[Paynewright]

No seat airbags in ours - went from a bench to captains and left the dash airbag as is. Its more problematic going from captain to bench!

 

[Dobbingtonio]

Ok great, couldn’t see why it would be an issue… especially we’ve never had two people sat in our bench at the same time!

 

[Dobbingtonio]

@Oliwier took a closer look at the wiring on the seats last night. Planning to switch the seats over at the weekend.

Noticed alongside the airbag connector, the bench has wiring from the base and seatbelts which I assume is occupancy sensors. Until I remove it, I can’t trace round to see how they connect.

The new captain only has a single connector for the airbag. Doesn’t appear to have occupancy sensors unless buried in the seat and connected via the yellow cable.

Was this same set up as yours, and did it cause any issues when making the change?

 

[Pauly]

Only 6.1 has occupancy sensors so guessing your seats are from a T6 and they will be missing, that’s going to cause you an issue

 

[Dobbingtonio]

TAh, so a t6.1 passenger captain would have additional connectors for the occupancy? Alongside the airbag?

How big is the issue? Is it something I could code out (not worried about occupancy itself, as long as airbags can deploy)… or am I going to need a different seat?

 

[Dobbingtonio]

Post in thread 'Seat removal - electrics'

I think (hope!) this may have answered my question…. It reads that the occupancy/belt combo would prevent the airbag firing if someone sat in the seat without a belt on.

No signal (I.e disconnected belt and occupancy) would essentially read the same as occupied and belted and should mean airbag fires.

 

[ben5560]

I am looking for a definitive answer on this... i sold my double bench seat, which from memory did not have occupancy sensors, or any connections at all (no heating, no airbags). I am putting in a captains, which will have a seatbelt wire - but my understanding is, it doesnt need connecting now?

 

[Wakalino]

Im doing the same as you mate, keen to know the answer to your question.

 

[Dobbingtonio]

Doubt you have an issue if the seat has more connectors than the van. They won’t work, but the van won’t be looking for them so you shouldn’t get any faults. If it was me and I had an airbag that didn’t connect, I’d probably remove the airbag from the seat.

I’ve not yet tested the link above. I plan to disconnect the occupancy and belt switches and see if it throws up any airbag warnings… I’ve seen a few posts say it won’t, but I’m not convinced. If it does, I’ll probably look to bridge the switches and occupancy circuits to simulate someone always belted in the seat, which should mean no warnings but airbags deploy as needed.

 

[ben5560]

Just put the passenger seat in, no warnings, no wires to connect anyway

 

[ben5560]

Doubt you have an issue if the seat has more connectors than the van. They won’t work, but the van won’t be looking for them so you shouldn’t get any faults. If it was me and I had an airbag that didn’t connect, I’d probably remove the airbag from the seat.

I’ve not yet tested the link above. I plan to disconnect the occupancy and belt switches and see if it throws up any airbag warnings… I’ve seen a few posts say it won’t, but I’m not convinced. If it does, I’ll probably look to bridge the switches and occupancy circuits to simulate someone always belted in the seat, which should mean no warnings but airbags deploy as needed.

Disconnect which occupancy? I didnt have any at all on my double bench?

 

[Pauly]

The issue is an older seat in a newer van, if the van is looking for occupancy sensors and they are not connected then is it possible the airbag won’t deploy in a crash if it thinks the seat is empty ??

 

[ben5560]

So i just put a T6 seat into my T6.1, on the passenger side - there was no plug to plug the seatbelt cable into at all...