[bibbetson]

Can anyone clarify for me if the 3 Ohm resistor trick works for disabling the passenger side airbags as well? If so, does the resistor go into the red plug that is normally plugged into the back of each of the two airbags? It makes logical sense that this would be the case, but I would rather not have to make a trip to the dealer to extinguish the airbag warning light.



Does it need to be exactly a 3 Ohm resistor or will a 5 or 10 work as well? I'm having trouble finding 3 Ohm resistors locally.



I'll post some pictures of how this is done once I'm sure of what I'm ding. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Yes, I know the dangers of removing the airbags. This car is used exclusively for AX and Time Trials so I feel safer with them out of the car than in, but I want to be able to reinstall then if that becomes necessary.

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[Greimann]

While I haven't tried it on the passenger air bag, it stands to reason that it should work. The resistor simulates the ignitor pill, so when the computer does it's diagnostic check, it thinks the ignitor is still in the circuit. The resistor should bridge the connector contacts that were formerly plugged into the air bag.



The 3 ohm is a known value that works. I know someone that used a 2.8 and that worked. 5 may work, but I think 10 might be too far out of the range. This is experimentation.



As far as danger is concerned , these are genreation I air bags, designed to restrain an unbelted 170 pound man. Quite a punch if you ask me. I feel better without mine.

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[flash]

i'm surious to see how it looks out of the car - i'd love to eliminate it, but the finished product is of interest to me - my dash is perfect and want the finished look

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[ds968]

[quote name='Greimann' date='Oct 12 2005, 07:17 AM']As far as danger is concerned , these are genreation I air bags, designed to restrain an unbelted 170 pound man. Quite a punch if you ask me. I feel better without mine. [right][post="11113"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



hmm.. note to self: take 5'2", 98 lbs mother in law out for a drive..

oh wait, I'd have to repair and repaint the front end - dilemma...small price to pay ?! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Eric_K]

my dash is perfect and want the finished look

The passenger airbag can be removed without messing up the dash cover at all. The airbag itself is seperate from its cover on the dash.



Eric

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[flash]

cool enough, but i just wonder what it looks like without the airbag behind it - does it fall inward? change shape from lack of suppoort? how does it attach?



stuff like that - i have a use for the space behind there, but haven't taken it apart to see how it works - pics please when you yank it

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[GuardsRedCoupe]

Both of my airbags are gone. Six years, and no sag problem. There is a bunch of space in there, too.



- Jon

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[flash]

any pics of the inside???

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[bibbetson]

I'll take pics of the process. I will also find 3 Ohm resistors somewhere because I would rather not experiment with tripping the light.



I was amazed at how little information there was about removing the passenger airbag from a 944/968. There appears to be four or six bolts that hold the two airbags to a bracket that is mounted to the dash. Others have said that removal is a PITA, but it doesn't look that difficult to me. If there appears to be any potential for sagging you could fabricate a plate that mounts to the original holes and adds support to the dash cover.



I will report back with my findings.

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[Cloud9...68]

How about just adding a switch to deactivate the airbag, without actually removing the bag? When I was taking my chip in and out, I saw a couple of thin wires hanging down (don't remember what color). Would these be the right ones to tap into to add such a switch? Thanks.

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[Greimann]

I would suppose anything is possible, but the wiring circuit would be more complicated than a simple switch. You would need to keep the computer happy so it won't throw the light.

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[orphanowner]

I've removed and disabled the airbags MANY times on the 944's. The newest year I've done is 1989. Very simple on those cars. The wiring on my 1994 968 is different, but I think if I get deeper into it, I can disable it the same way.



No way do I want my mint dash wrecked or my interior damaged by these first generation air bags. Plus, the cost of the airbag repair to a minor fender bender may push the car to be a total loss. I had the airbags deploy on my 1988 Turbo S for no reason many years ago. Porsche bought that one, to the tune of $9000 in 1992 money.



I will post the procudure for those cars at the end. I will comment also that the airbag can be easily removed form the passenger side with no ill effects.







7 Pin Airbag Plug



Disconnect the 7 pin connector at the SRS computer, and jump the following wires



7- yellow/black, Airbag warning lamp



6- Unused



5- white, buzzer relay, seat belt



4- black /red, supply for DME relay

JUMP 4 and 3

3- black/white, central electric N48



2- red/black, central electric KL50



1- brown, ground

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[flash]

oof - reminds me of a rental car (reliant i think) that blew a driver airbag when i hit a rut - made me veer off the road and wreck the car - not exactly what they had planned (or me for that matter)



looking forward to seeing pics of the empty space and the airbag



no resistor? no airbag light then? did the 944 have an airbag light?

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[GuardsRedCoupe]

Sorry, I can't get a good photo without taking out the glove box, I'll have to leave that task to bibbetson.

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[flash]

any shots of the bag outside the car?

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[bibbetson]

I got the airbag out last night. I did a write-up on it which is attached below. It's quite a simple process and using the 3-Ohm resistor trick worked like a charm. You don't have to mess with any wiring, just insert the resistors, tape them up and put the harness out of the way. With the instructions I would guess that the whole job should be 30 - 60 minutes.

968_Passenger_Side_Airbag_Removal.pdf Size: 569.25 KB  Downloads: 66

Bob,



I made a particular comment about the longevity of the dash in the document. Basically, it's metal so it can't sag. I included a picture of the airbag assembly out of the car. One thing it doesn't depict is the depth of the assembly. The airbag weighs about 5 pounds is somewhere around 16" wide and about 8" deep. I can measure it tonight if anyone wants more exact numbers.



Enjoy!



Bill Ibbetson

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[flash]

i see you used multiple resistors - can you elaborate on that a bit? i have already disabled the driver bag and have a resistor there



yes, dimensions please - i have something i want ot put in there and want to make sure it fits first

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[GuardsRedCoupe]

[quote name='flash' date='Oct 14 2005, 02:48 PM']i see you used multiple resistors - can you elaborate on that a bit?  i have already disabled the driver bag and have a resistor there

[right][post="11242"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



He's got two 1.5 Ohm resistors. In series, the resistance sums to 3 Ohms.



Your single 3 ohm resistor should have the colors: Orange, Black, Gold, Gold.

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[bibbetson]

[quote name='flash' date='Oct 14 2005, 11:48 AM']i see you used multiple resistors - can you elaborate on that a bit?  i have already disabled the driver bag and have a resistor there



yes, dimensions please - i have something i want ot put in there and want to make sure it fits first

[right][post="11242"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



3 Ohms of resistance fools one airbag. Since there are two airbags, you need to disable each of them, so you will need one 3 Ohm resistor per plug. I couldn't find 3 Ohm resistors so I made them out of two 1.5 Ohm resistors. Putting resistors in series sums them (FYI - putting equal resistors in parallel divides them) so I soldered two 1.5 Ohm resistors together in series to create an effective 3 Ohm resistor. When I was writing this, I knew this would be confusing. If anyone does this with 3 Ohm resistors and can send me a good picture of them installed in the plug, I will update the document to remove this potentially confusing issue.

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[flash]

yeah, figured that you used 2 @1.5 on the one end - no confusion there



is the other connector is for the steering wheel airbag? or are there two bags on the passenger side?

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