Any Auto Mechanics or well read car guys here?

[dmw16]

I have an annoying little problem with my car. My seatbelt sensor seems to have gone nuts and even when my belt is on, the fasten seatbelt light will come on...now this doesnt really bother me. It is accompanying beep from that little warning speaker that drives me nuts. Now I've looked at both fuse diagrams for my car and they didnt yeild any help. The dealer wanted $200 to fix the problem and I refuse to pay $200 for something like this. My car is a 1994 Mazda Protege and here is my question. Does anyone know where that little speaker that makes that beep is located? I know it is somewhere under the dash on the driver's side cuz I can hear it. But something more specific would help. Also, if I can find it, I was going to just disconnect the speaker, is there any real damage that this could cause? Please help...Im going nuts.
thanks,
-doug

 

[flot]

Don't pay $200 - this is not a complicated problem.

Your seatbelt has a switch inside of it, which is either closed (grounded) when the seatbelt is inserted, or is open (ungrounded) when the seatbelt is inserted.

The $0.00 fix:

Find the two wires leading into your seatbelt. Cut them both. If the buzzer goes away, then the circuit was open when the belt was inserted, problem solved. If the buzzer/light stays on permanently, twist the two wires together - it will stop.

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you screw that up, forget to put your seatbelt on, or manage to set your car on fire doing this. But I would be *astounded* if that didn't fix the problem. If it doesn't, then the problem is likely a short in the wiring or the control unit itself.

 

[notfred]

I hate those stupid beeping boxes. there's a little box under the dash, you can jsut pull it out, and it will stop chiming. It also gets rid of the annoying "door ding" sound when you leave the door open.

I've pulled it out on all 3 of my last cars. jsut leave the dorr open and start snooping around under the dash till you find the exact source, it will jsut be clipped on.

 

[flot]

notfred, that's a bad idea if you're prone to leaving your lights on etc when you turn off the car... SOMETIMES the chime is a good thing. If he has a bad sensor, better to bypass the sensor. (unless someone honestly thinks of the seatbelt light as an important safety feature hehehe)

 

[dmw16]

thanks guys. I was ready to drive my car off a bridge...I was going nuts. I will look for the wires first and then the box. The box will probably be easier. I guess its just a matter of crawling around.
thanks again,
-doug

 

[arigato]

This happened with my '93 Mazda Protege and I was able to have it fixed at the dealership free of charge three or four years ago due to a recall they had. It was a common problem for Proteges from 92-94 or so. I never found a way to turn it off before the dealship took care of it and it was really annoying. Hope you find a way to fix it.

 

[flot]

No, there should be two wires clearly going into the bottom of your seat belt buckle... this is strictly for the sensor, there's nothing magic inside a seat belt...