986: Passenger Airbag deactivation

[Cbonilla]

without the Porsche Child seat and deactivation bar . In the 2003 Boxsters the only way to safely use a child seat is to disable the passenger air bag, and the entire hardware for this is not readily available. The cars have the software needed to accomplsih this, but it is not activated.

Have a two year old grandson who I needed to occassionally (more like rarely) pick up from daycare and wanted to be able to take for a spin with the top down. Definitly not worth the cost of the official Porsche child seat and deactivation bar, even if they were still available. Yes I know that one can buy the deactivation bar, but the seat itself is long out of production and you need the special buckle that inserts into the bar, it's useless without that buckle. And have you ever seen a 14 year old car seat -- yechh!

Instead, I found online a diagram of the circuitry that's housed in the buckle portion of the deactivation bar and built one. It's only 4 resistors and a switch. If you use a solderless breadboard (normally used for prototyping) it's an easy project, once you figure out the logic of the circuit. Mounted it all in a project box (which could have been a lot smaller, but hey, it works) and it's behind the passenger seat so nobody sees it.

You're know it's working right (and the car is programmed correctly) if when you flip the switch the airbag light flashes for 60 seconds at startup (10 seconds for cars built pre April1, 1999) and the light is off (normal) when the switch is in the off position.

If you want to do as I did and want to check your work, the resistance should be 2.25k ohms with the switch open and 255 with it closed. And I'm an economist not a hardware guy, and this was an easy project. Of course, I refuse to accept any liability for your actions.

See pics at

Boxster 986 Passenger Airbag deactivation switch - Album on Imgur

My indie shop did me a favor and activated the car's computer, so as soon as we get another nice day that little boy is going for a top down cruise. My understanding is that it cannot be activated with a durametric, but they had one of the older Porsche tools

Carlos

[alm001]

what does the plug look like where this connects?

[Cbonilla]

I tried Pelican and they were unable to source an OEM plug to mate with the one under the seat. I ended up just cutting off the plug and using generic connectors.

[Boxtaboy]

I have the original deactivation bar and belt buckle that plugs in. You don't have to use the Porsche branded baby seats... just plug the buckle in. It's cool that you found a workaround though, and great fun to take kids out in the car!

[Cbonilla]

Just did a quick search online and Suncoast Porsche is selling the deactivation bar for $260, without the seat or the all important proprietary buckle without which you can't signal to the car that there is a child seat installed. I built mine for about $25 (and have lots of resistors left over as I struggled to meet the minimum purchase requirements). So it was either build one or buy the bar and start scouting the world for a used seat just for the buckle.

[Boxtaboy]

If I recall correctly, I bought my deactivation bar for $95, and a used PORSCHE baby seat for $49 that had the buckle. I then cut off the buckle to pair with the receptor, and sold the used PORSCHE baby seat for $85 (without the buckle). Not sure why anyone would want just the seat, but someone did. So all in all, the mod cost me $59 (this was in 2008 though). Yours still a better value!

[Fintro11]

A guy in the UK makes a nice switch that I use. You can find it on eBay.

They can't be enabled with any durametric, I pulled some strings at the dealership to get mine enabled.

[Cbonilla]

I remember that UK guy that was selling switches. He was in fact some of the inspiration behind my effort. I decided against buying from him as:

1) If I recall he wanted about $70 for the switch (which I admit was more elegantly packaged than mine). Remember, it's just 4 resistors and a switch. Being the cheapskate that I am, and always welcoming a challenge, I opted to build

2) When I started on this he was no longer selling on ebay

Getting it programmmed into the car was always a concern with a bootleg product. Fortunately my indie shop had no problem doing it.

[Lexky]

I bought the device from the guy in UK on eBay. Works perfectly and I can use my own car seat. Had my local indie shop program the computer for me.