removing seats and carpet

[hollysprings]

Just bought 06 KJ Sport to replace my old Cherokee. Highest and best use will be camping, canoeing and fishing, so my first step is to remove the carpet and all seats except driver (need to retain option to re-install passenger seat for some trips but 80% of the time I only need one seat), so that I can carry more gear and not worry about getting things muddy and wet inside.

I got the passenger seat out and disconnected the electrical connector on the bottom, and also the little connector on the seatbelt on the right side. And here I run into my first problem. Now I get a warning light on the dash that says “air bag” and the 3-chime “tut, tut, tut” warning thrown at me at inconvenient moments. There’s a light elsewhere that says something like “passenger side air bag off”, which is as it should be.

I had expected to run afoul of the automatic systems at some point, but I’m a little surprised to have hit a problem so soon. I would think that the disconnected coupler would tell it that the seat has been removed and that no air bags should be deployed on that side, even absent a signal from the seat-occupied sensor. Then, when I reinstall the seat for temporary usage and I plug up those 2 connectors, it should be able to guess that the seat is back and to start looking for the seat-occupied sensor again.

So, how do I tell it to ignore the absent seat? Is there a way to disable the warning chime altogether?

Also, looking ahead, are there any other problems I will encounter? How is the carpet held down, it’s not glued anywhere is it? Are there any places with permanent rivets (as opposed to removable bolts)? Are there drain plugs already in the floor like on the Cherokee and Wrangler?

 

[JeepJeepster]

The passenger side seat has a sensor in it so it will know if someone is in the seat and how much they weigh. It will not deploy the air bag if no one is in the seat or if the person in the seat doesnt weigh enough for the air bag to be used. It also looks at the position of the seat so it knows how fast to deploy the air bag. Not sure how you could get around that.

There are tons of wires under the carpet.

 

[hollysprings]

There are tons of wires under the carpet.

Hmmm, I was kinda afraid of that. My XJ was a 92, which was still mostly before the explosion of Big Brother circuits everywhere keeping tabs on everything. That's partly why I kept it so long.

I guess I'll tape down all the wires and make sure all the connectors are taped onto side walls up off the floor and water-proofed. Then I can attach strips of wood or small boards to surfaces where wires are taped so cargo that's slid in and out doesn't abrade the wires. I'd like to be able to load up the jeep by pretty much throwing stuff in (mostly in containers, sometimes wet and dirty) and then clean it up by hosing down the floor, or at least use a sponge and bucket and rinse type of approach.

Has anybody else here gone carpetless? I've seen some you-tubes of some pretty deep fording KJs, wonder what kind of floors they had.

 

[hollysprings]

Wow, never thought I’d hear THIS from Jeep (from my owners manual):

"WARNING! Unapproved modifications or service procedures to the front passenger seat assembly, its related components, or seat cover may inadvertently change the airbag deployment in case of a frontal crash. This could result in death or serious injury to the front seat passenger if the vehicle is involved in an accident. A modified vehicle may not comply with required Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The following requirements must be strictly adhered to: • Do not modify the front passenger seat assembly or components in any way.• Do not modify the front seat center console or center position seat in any way.

Really, no mods? Yeah, right.

Them’s fighting words.

 

[Jeffrey]

Wow, never thought I’d hear THIS from Jeep (from my owners manual):

"WARNING! Unapproved modifications or service procedures to the front passenger seat assembly, its related components, or seat cover may inadvertently change the airbag deployment in case of a frontal crash. This could result in death or serious injury to the front seat passenger if the vehicle is involved in an accident. A modified vehicle may not comply with required Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The following requirements must be strictly adhered to: • Do not modify the front passenger seat assembly or components in any way.• Do not modify the front seat center console or center position seat in any way.

Really, no mods? Yeah, right.

Them’s fighting words.

How did this work out for you? did you end up removing the seat? I already removed mine to reupholster it and i'm wondering if i'm going to encounter problems now.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

There are tons of wires under the carpet.

The wire looms run in channels right in the center of the seat tubs and are clipped down. I think you'll find it very difficult to move the looms as there is very little slack - your best option is finding some way to cover the wire so it doesn't get damaged by your hunting & camping equipment.

I tore my carpet out to do a deep cleaning (P.O. had dogs and the Libby smelled like a dirty kennel... :disgust: ) and was surprised at the amount of wiring on each side of the tub. There are drain plugs in the tub but the wire channels sit lower than the drains so the water will tend to settle in the channels rather than flow out if you happen to dunk your Jeep.

Keep us posted!

Bob

 

[theroofable]

The wire looms run in channels right in the center of the seat tubs and are clipped down. I think you'll find it very difficult to move the looms as there is very little slack - your best option is finding some way to cover the wire so it doesn't get damaged by your hunting & camping equipment.

I tore my carpet out to do a deep cleaning (P.O. had dogs and the Libby smelled like a dirty kennel... :disgust: ) and was surprised at the amount of wiring on each side of the tub. There are drain plugs in the tub but the wire channels sit lower than the drains so the water will tend to settle in the channels rather than flow out if you happen to dunk your Jeep.

Keep us posted!

Bob

Any pics of this?

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Any pics of this?

Sorry, no...

Was one of those projects that started out small and before I knew it I had seats, carpet, console and other parts scattered around the garage and driveway. Ya know how you just get started then all of a sudden...? arty52:

Bob

 

[Jeffrey]

Now I get a warning light on the dash that says “air bag” and the 3-chime “tut, tut, tut” warning thrown at me at inconvenient moments. There’s a light elsewhere that says something like “passenger side air bag off”, which is as it should be.

mine is an 05, got the seats out to be reupholstered, and the lights came on. once the seats were back in the car and connected the lights turned off again. i never had any chimes ringing at any point, perhaps that's an 06 and up thing? i only hear chimes when i don't have MY seat belt on. never hear them if the passenger doesn't have one on though.

 

[speedracerbubba]

mine is an 05, got the seats out to be reupholstered, and the lights came on. once the seats were back in the car and connected the lights turned off again. i never had any chimes ringing at any point, perhaps that's an 06 and up thing? i only hear chimes when i don't have MY seat belt on. never hear them if the passenger doesn't have one on though.

My 06 yells if my passenger isn't wearing the belt.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[Phil + Neela]

I'm not sure the year it started, but the Libby got a pressure sensor in the passenger seat. The purpose is to deactivate the passenger airbag if it:
A: doesn't sense anyone in the seat
B: activate the seatbelt chime if it does detect weight, and then deactivate the air bag if the seatbelt is not buckled (eg: cargo in the seat)
and
C: deactivate the airbag if the seatbelt is buckled, but the passenger does not meet the minimum weight requirement for airbag deployment.

Just another safety/cost saving device. Repacking those airbags is thousands of dollars and "total" a lot of vehicles, so preventing them from deploying unnecessarlarly makes things a lot cheaper in the long run.