Help! Airbag light constantly lit - where to buy receptacle
 

Dear enthusiast,

My bloody airbag light is constantly lit and I suspect that the seat-belt receptacle needs replacement. The dealer told me that it would cost $600 as they would need to re-do the wiring that's attached to the receptacle. Wankers! Always trying to rip u off.

Nevertheless, I do believe that I can pull this one off. Please point me to an online website that sells this part at a 'cost-effective' price.

Some guy on ebays asking for $48 a piece. Does this sound right?

Please advice and thanks in advance.

PS: Please provide some directions on how to replace this part. CHeers!

The other alternative is to buy the Durametric software and turn it off. I cleared the light some time ago and it has not re-appeared.
AK

I've been looking at the Durametric Software. How do I overcome the fact that my P.C. is like 700 yards from my garage???

Gotta use a Laptop or they sell a very long cable.....................
AK

Now I'm PISSED!
 

Great - Went to lunch today and now my airbag light is on. I'm getting a bit tired of this crap.....

OK, everyone reading this thread needs to do the following:

1) Call your dealer and ask them when you can schedule an appointment for them to replace the faulty seatbelt receptacles AT NO CHARGE because you know there was a TSB on it and the previous owner (or you) must have forgotten to get it done.

... this probably won't work if your car is out of warranty, but it sure is worth a try! I've read that some dealers do it as good will gesture for good customers.

2) Buy the seatbelt receptacles from Sunset and save piles of money... buy one for each side and no, they're not the same (wiring is a bit different) so don't put a passenger's side one on the driver's side or you'll still have that blasted lamp on the dash (don't ask me how I found this out).

3. Disconnect your battery's negative terminal after you've located your radio code.

4. Remove the four bolt holding down each seat, and unplug the nifty locking wiring harness and remove the seats from the car. Then remove the receptacle plug from the wiring harness and then unbolt the old receptacle from the side of the seat.

5. Bolt on replacements for both seats, fish the wire back under the seat cushion and insert it into the wiring harness and put that little blue pin back in there.

6. Plug in harness to car, bolt seats back in place, and re-attach battery and put in radio code.

7. Drive to dealership or friend with PST tool or spend $250 on the Durametric software and get the blasted airbag light off.

8a. Write letter to PCA in Atlanta and gripe ad nauseum as how Porsche has known about this problem for years and STILL puts crappy seat belt receptacles in their cars to this very day!

or...

8b. Have a beer and report back to us as to how easy this really was and how mechanically inclined you now feel since you have removed your seats, replaced something and put them back in 45 minutes or less.

Personally, I tell every other boxster owner I know who has an out of warranty car to buy one for each side and beat the car to the punch on this one. It WILL happen, even if the receptacles aren't used much (ie, passenger side). There's a tiny filament type of wire inside that is just poorly designed and fails.

Hey Randall!
 

Thanks Randall. Boy, I can't wait to spend some money and time on this. I have nothing else to do. WAHOO!

Seriously, any idea of the cost of those suckers?

Don't quote me on this, but I think they're something like $27 or even less.

Don't whine about parts costs on this one... I've got to buy suspension parts this week for my car's front end... it's squeaking like mad. Last time it did this it was a control arm. Ugh.

Please don't take it as whining. I'm trying to sell this stupid thing so I can buy a vehicle that won't keep me up at night worrying about having to spend another $13,000 for an engine. Once is enough. It's just hard to sell something when there's a warning light on.....

Dude! I had no idea you were selling your boxster. :(

Have you already replaced the engine, or just fearful you'll have to do it?

I had to replace my engine 26 days after I bought it. I got a one year warranty on the new engine (which expires at the end of this month). So yeah, I don't need that kind of stress over a car. Once is enough. It's funny how many "other people" LOVE my Boxster and tell me "Porsches are bullet-proof". And don't get me wrong - I love driving it. I love the way it looks inside and out. It's even given me a new appreciation of interior quality (even though many think it's crappy). I just don't think the quality is there on these vehicles. To me, it's not worth it.

I've test drove a few vehicles and hopefully I can pick something up here in the next few weeks (presuming I can get the airbag light off). I'll hate to not have it - but I'm going to be sleeping a whole lot better....

Might make sense to buy a new car or one with a CPO warranty?

Maybe. I don't think I'm interested in spending the kind of money it would take for a new Porsche - I don't think it's worth the depreciation hit. A CPO, maybe. I've been looking at a few 2003 M3s with low miles. Unfortunately, that's still 2x as much as I paid for my current Porsche. Or maybe I'll tough it out for one more year.... We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

I don’t think that BMWs are the paragon of reliability either though. I have never owned one, nor do I really know about their maintenance cost, but I cannot imagine an M3 would be maintenance/ worry free. You may be looking at one with fewer miles, but you have already replaced your engine and will likely be able to enjoy that for a long time to come if you keep your Porsche.

Still though, I know what it is like to lose confidence in a piece of your equipment. Sorry to hear your ownership was not all that you had hoped for.

From my searching on BMW forums, I haven't seen nearly the issues (or at least major issues) I've seen on P-Car forums. Also, with an 03 BMW I'd still have around 3 more years of warranty (6 year, 100k miles).

Airbag light came on about a week ago, took it to the dealership and they reset the light for free. Thay also quoted me $717.00 to replace the recepatcles and wiring harnesses with the gold ones. Since the airbags DO work with this annoying condition I guess I'll live with the light if it reappears. By the way the car has developed a slight RMS leak and the oilpan seal is wet as well. Mechanic said no big deal at this point, just evaluate if condition worsens. Currently about two drips overnight each day.