seat belt warning light

[jmp]

I took my instrument panel apart to replace my clock, and now that I've gotten it back together, my seat belt warning light is always on.

Any ideas on why this might be so?

Any ideas on how to track the problem down?

As far as I can tell, the light should be on if there ignition key is on acc (or the car is running) and both seat belts are not in use. I think there's a weight sensor for the passenger seat that is used to deactivate the passenger seat belt sensor if there is nobody in the passenger seat.

 

[JohnZ]

No sensors - just push the button below the light and it'll go out; it comes on every time you start the car.

 

[jmp]

Uh... no buttons! Not on my 72 anyway.

 

[Chas]

i have a problem like this .... kinda...my seatbelt light goes on and stays on until i buckel the seatbelt...and only if its in drive...the light shouldnt burn till you shift.....if you have that covered , it may be the sensor under the seat...it tells if there is weight on the seat....if there is ,the light will burn till the belt is clicked....i had my seats out for some work and noticed that the pass. seat sensor was disconnected...so i put it back together and the sensor was bad in that side....the light stayed on wether the belt was buckeled or not....so i had to disconnect it and now the light only reacts to the driver side....im going to fix the sensor if i can...just not very high on my list. hope this helps pal.....


ps....make sure the right light was put back in....the back side of the cluster details which one go where....

 

[jmp]

some more info...

FYI...

When I took apart my instrument cluster, I didn't remove anything except the window wiper connection, the clock, the clock lamp, and water temp connection (not sure why I did that last one :confused ). I didn't touch the seatbelt warning lamp.

The warning lamp worked prior to my changing the clock.

I haven't touched the seats in anyway.

I did take the parking brake console off, as well as shift the center console (around the gear shift and temp controls). Maybe there's a wire running along there that I've disturbed?

My car is a standard. I understand that the seatbelt warning light behaves differently with an automatic.

The light doesn't go off ever -- even if I'm driving and even if both seatbelts are fastened and even if both seats are occupied.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

On the 77 the wire for the driver's side seatbelt comes from the seatbelt lock on the floor and under the center console. Sounds like you may have hit the wire causing it to be on all the time, possibly a ground but I'm not sure on that.

 

[Guy]

On my 82 the seat belt light was always on when I bought it. In my case, there is a warning module/buzzer that plugs into the side of the fuse panel. The module was bad and the light stayed on until I replaced it. If the 77 is similar, could you have knocked the module so it's not making a good connection? Sometimes the module connections get rusty and need cleaning.

Just a thought
Guy

 

[tonyk72]

I just got a '72 and the buzzer shuts off only when I buckle up...but then again I haven't even got it outta 2nd gear yet or gone over 5MPH or had a passanger...The car is still "new" to me.

 

[jmp]

I just got a '72 and the buzzer shuts off only when I buckle up...but then again I haven't even got it outta 2nd gear yet or gone over 5MPH or had a passanger...The car is still "new" to me.

I believe that is correct behaviour. My problem is that the light does not ever go off.

A second problem is that my buzzer never goes on, but I'm leaving that issue until later!

 

[Guy]

I believe that is correct behaviour. My problem is that the light does not ever go off.

A second problem is that my buzzer never goes on, but I'm leaving that issue until later!

Same symptoms as my module above. Light always on and the buzzer does not work. I'll bet none of your buzzer warnings work (lights on after engine off, etc) because it's the same module.

Guy

 

[jmp]

Same symptoms as my module above. Light always on and the buzzer does not work. I'll bet none of your buzzer warnings work (lights on after engine off, etc) because it's the same module.

Guy

Yup, you're exactly right -- I never hear any buzzing except if my keys are in the ignition and the door is opened, IIRC.

 

[Guy]

Yup, you're exactly right -- I never hear any buzzing except if my keys are in the ignition and the door is opened, IIRC.

All the warnings work off the same buzzer, so in your case, maybe a connection got jarred and the module needs to be re-seated or a wire got yanked a bit while working beind the dash. Again you might find a rusty connector on the module. My case was easy since the buzzer stopped working all together. Once I bought a replacement (used) all connections we good, the light went out and all the buzzers worked. Hope this helped.


Guy

 

[gooney0]

On my 72...

The light comes on when I turn the key. To turn the light off I either pull the seatbelt out a few inches (like i'm putting it on) or set the parking brake.

My buzzer doesn't work for either the key, or the seatbelt. Where is the buzzer?

-Gooney

 

[jmp]

Finally found the problem -- well, my mechanic did.

I had looked for wires going from the seats to see if I had a short, but I couldn't see any wires of any sort. Since I was taking the car in for my wipers, I decided to get them to check out the light too.

The problem? The seatbelts are not from a 72 'vette, and thus have no wiring harness to deactivate the seatbelt light!

My guess is that while I had the console apart to fix the clock, I reconnected the seatbelt light, and hence it is now always on.

Now I'm looking for correct seatbelt replacements, at least for the driver's side!

 

[ChuckG]

Although I'm not 100% sure about this, I think that your original 72 seats had metal strip "sensors" in/on the springs. When you sat down, your "butt weight" engaged/disengaged the sensor switch. I'm no 72 guru.

My 69 doesn't have this system. It simply has a "push the button" seat belt switch on the gauge cluster. It comes on every time you turn on the key regardless of whether you're sitting in the seat or if you have the seat belts connected or not. Chuck

 

[jmp]

The sensor is only on the passenger side. It detects weights over 50lbs and turns the light on if the seatbelt is not fastened.