passenger airbag sensor

Is there a way to disable this sensor?  My sensor went out in the passenger seat and gm wants me to purchase an entire new seat to get a working sensor.

There is really no way to disable without it causing more problems and it dangerous driving without them. What makes you think they are replacing the entire seat.

i called the dealer to see if we could just replace the sensor but were told we would have to buy a new seat.

Do you have any warning lights on.

If I recall correctly, the physical sensor was a mat like piece of plastic that fit over the actual foam on the top side of the seat bottom and under the bottom side of the seat cover.

Back in 2004, I switched out my 2003 cloth seats for factory leather take offs. The process for removing the seat bottom was rather straight forward and mildly tedious. Since this involves part of the Air Bag System, I'd suggest you disconnect the battery before you proceed.

By removing the fascia on the seat bottom door side, you should have good visual access to the areas involved with the seat bottom cover removal. Some of it was attached with velcro. I'd have to dig really deep into some hard drives to see if I still have the photos. I doubt that I have those drives any longer.

I do not know what the actual sensor would cost, but it just clipped on to a wire pigtail.

My guess for the seat bottom removal time would be 45 to 60 minutes off and on total unless you stop to take a bunch of pictures or have to find bandaids and dressings for the nicks and cuts.

I don't recall specifically now, I may have taken my passenger side seat out. If I did, it wasn't that difficult. I was more concerned about the proper torque when I reinstalled the seat.

I don't know what year Avalanche you have. If it is a multi adjustable type, obviously there would be more wiring than I ran into with mine. But, it should not be a factor with just removing the seat bottom material.

The other option would be to take it to an upholstery shop. They would most likely take the seat out, 5 minute or less job for them, another 5 to remove the seat bottom cover, R&R the sensor pad, and reassemble all over again. Less than an hour and what $50 - $75.

Do it yourself and you may be surprised at some other stuff you'll run into.

I'd be surprised if the actual unit failed. It could just be the connector or wiring where it goes into the carpet or over to the dash.

Good Luck

I'm trying not to talk to myself, too much anyway.

I changed out my seats, cloth to leather back on 6/22/05.

It appears I did not remove the front seats at all. (I did remove the inboard front nut sometime later for a non related purpose, but not the for the seat cover stuff)

All the pictures are now gone from the post.

What I was looking for was my description of the Seat Bottom Air Bag Sensor. "Anyway, the Passenger Side Seat Bottom is off. The battery is disconnected and I think I understand how to disassemble the Seat Belt. There are a few wires, but not the unscrewing of stuff like the back seats had. From what I can tell, if they mess one of the front seats up at the factory, it probably has to go back for some kind of diagnosis and check out for the Air Bags and Sensor Function. Hence the change out instead of on site replacement/repair.

I did take some more pictures of the seat and what appears to be either the device that senses whether a person is sitting in that seat or a very elaborate bubble cushion for extra bottom comfort.

This really isn't too bad of a job if one takes their time doing it."

The bubble cushion was not on the driver's side front seat bottom. The one mentioned in my thread did have wires.

I don't believe there would be much more in the thread to assist you. What helped my out was having the replacement seats in hand to know where to look for the specific places to remove the cloth from.

with that in mind, I'd revise my estimate for the time for this job to 2 hours or so. Most of that would be looking under the seat from all angles and assessing the options.

The thread was partial titled "Switching Cloth to Leather". A search with that term should pull it up if you need it.

with the sensor not acting right, it will activate the air bag on the passenger side even though no one is using the seat, the passenger seat buckle light is on on the dash when the sensor starts acting up.  if i could buy a replacement sensor for it and change it out i would to it as im not afraid of a little work i just don't want to have to spend a ton of money to stop an annoying dash light.

I'm not sure why they are replacing the seat, all they have to do is replace the bottom seat cushion. PS the cushion with the sensor is over $400