12-29-2005, 09:23 PM
Understand that the procedure discussed in this post is a serious modification that could impact the safety of your vehicle and could lead to severe bodily injury either during removal of the airbag or in the event of an accident. There are specific procedures that must be followed to insure that the airbags are not discharged while work is attempted and the factory service manual should be consulted before any work is attempted on this system.
I finally got around to removing the airbag control unit, wiring harness, and passenger side airbag from my 968. While the driver’s side bag is still installed, it is disabled and non-operational. Ultimately, I plan to replace the wheel with something not equipped with an air bag. I realize I could have left these components in the car and used the resistor method to disable the ‘bags, but I really wanted to take this stuff out of my car.
![[Image: HPIM3605Medium.jpg]](http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c313/sgr100/HPIM3605Medium.jpg)
I’ve done this modification before on track 944’s and even removed the “bags” on my street 944T. I posted the wiring modifications required to do this on the 944 series cars a few years ago and have since seen my info on several websites and know many people have done this modification. I will post the same info for the 968 series cars here. Note that when this modification is done properly, the airbag warning light will be permanently disabled and the car will start and run exactly like it would have had the factory built the car without airbags.
Here is some background on why I removed a supposed safety device from my car. I guess the first reason goes back to 1991 when I first tracked my 1988 944 turbo S. I was on the track with my car for the first time, running a basically stock car with BFG R rubber, a roll bar, and a 5 pt harness. I was at the Streets of Willow Springs and just getting into the first session and braking for the second turn and, BOOM, both airbags deploy and I’m now driving the track through a broken windshield and waiting for the ‘bags to deflate and the dust to clear so I can see again. I want to make it very clear, I didn’t go off the track, hit anything, or stop much harder than you do on the street. Back in the pits, I learned that the impact of the airbag deployment has damaged the dashboard, steering wheel, gauge cluster, and the pressure has also stripped the sunroof mechanism, even though both windows were down! Plus I had some nice burns on my arms and forearms from the sodium azide airbag propellant. Later that day, I learned that this same thing had happened at least once before to another 944TS on the same track and that Porsche bought the repair. To make a long story short, Porsche bought my repair as well and with very little argument since they kind of admitted that the system had some issues. The total cost back then was $8900. Upon bringing the car home after the repair, I completely removed all the new airbag components and pulled out the Porsche 944 electrical manual to figure out which wires to jump so the car would start again (airbag equipped vehicles are designed to stop the engine should the airbags deploy, and for this reason, simply removing the airbag control unit will render the car inoperable).
Anyway, I believe that the first generation Porsche airbags are a liability in a car that sees track use, so I’ve removed them from my older P cars.
I also like to put my young kids in the front seats and certainly don’t want them exposed to the impact of the “love pillow” and sodium azide gas, should the airbags deploy.
Finally, the cost of repairing the car, should the airbags deploy, could exceed the dollar value of the crash damage to the body structure. I don’t want a minor fender bender to ruin a perfect dashboard, windshield and other assorted parts or have the insurance company contemplate totaling my car. I believe as these cars age, unnecessary airbag deployments will occur more frequently.
To make this modification, or to just take the airbag control out of the system, you will need to unplug the 4 pin airbag control unit and then jump two wires on the body side of the 4 pin plug that was plugged into the airbag control. I have listed the pin-out connections for this plug and the required connection. This is a critical connection that supplies power to the DME relay from the central electric socket in the fuse box, so you will want to make a solid, permanent connection. I soldered and shrink wrapped the connection on my car.
- white/black, Airbag warning lamp
- white, buzzer relay, seat belt
- black /red, supply for DME relay
JUMP these two
- black/white, central electric Terminal 15[/B]
- brown, ground
I finally got around to removing the airbag control unit, wiring harness, and passenger side airbag from my 968. While the driver’s side bag is still installed, it is disabled and non-operational. Ultimately, I plan to replace the wheel with something not equipped with an air bag. I realize I could have left these components in the car and used the resistor method to disable the ‘bags, but I really wanted to take this stuff out of my car.
I’ve done this modification before on track 944’s and even removed the “bags” on my street 944T. I posted the wiring modifications required to do this on the 944 series cars a few years ago and have since seen my info on several websites and know many people have done this modification. I will post the same info for the 968 series cars here. Note that when this modification is done properly, the airbag warning light will be permanently disabled and the car will start and run exactly like it would have had the factory built the car without airbags.
Here is some background on why I removed a supposed safety device from my car. I guess the first reason goes back to 1991 when I first tracked my 1988 944 turbo S. I was on the track with my car for the first time, running a basically stock car with BFG R rubber, a roll bar, and a 5 pt harness. I was at the Streets of Willow Springs and just getting into the first session and braking for the second turn and, BOOM, both airbags deploy and I’m now driving the track through a broken windshield and waiting for the ‘bags to deflate and the dust to clear so I can see again. I want to make it very clear, I didn’t go off the track, hit anything, or stop much harder than you do on the street. Back in the pits, I learned that the impact of the airbag deployment has damaged the dashboard, steering wheel, gauge cluster, and the pressure has also stripped the sunroof mechanism, even though both windows were down! Plus I had some nice burns on my arms and forearms from the sodium azide airbag propellant. Later that day, I learned that this same thing had happened at least once before to another 944TS on the same track and that Porsche bought the repair. To make a long story short, Porsche bought my repair as well and with very little argument since they kind of admitted that the system had some issues. The total cost back then was $8900. Upon bringing the car home after the repair, I completely removed all the new airbag components and pulled out the Porsche 944 electrical manual to figure out which wires to jump so the car would start again (airbag equipped vehicles are designed to stop the engine should the airbags deploy, and for this reason, simply removing the airbag control unit will render the car inoperable).
Anyway, I believe that the first generation Porsche airbags are a liability in a car that sees track use, so I’ve removed them from my older P cars.
I also like to put my young kids in the front seats and certainly don’t want them exposed to the impact of the “love pillow” and sodium azide gas, should the airbags deploy.
Finally, the cost of repairing the car, should the airbags deploy, could exceed the dollar value of the crash damage to the body structure. I don’t want a minor fender bender to ruin a perfect dashboard, windshield and other assorted parts or have the insurance company contemplate totaling my car. I believe as these cars age, unnecessary airbag deployments will occur more frequently.
To make this modification, or to just take the airbag control out of the system, you will need to unplug the 4 pin airbag control unit and then jump two wires on the body side of the 4 pin plug that was plugged into the airbag control. I have listed the pin-out connections for this plug and the required connection. This is a critical connection that supplies power to the DME relay from the central electric socket in the fuse box, so you will want to make a solid, permanent connection. I soldered and shrink wrapped the connection on my car.
- white/black, Airbag warning lamp
- white, buzzer relay, seat belt
- black /red, supply for DME relay
JUMP these two
- black/white, central electric Terminal 15[/B]
- brown, ground
(This post was last modified: 02-27-2006, 07:28 PM by orphanowner.)
