# Seat Swap?



## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi everyone,

I'm a proud new owner of a 2018 diesel hatch! One of the only things I didn't get was the leather so I was considering a seat swap

I have a lead of a full set of seats from a 2017 hatch in black leather. Just like mine they are heated front seats with power driver and manual passenger

Has anyone done a swap like this? I hope/imagine that it is pretty much a plug and play ordeal to swap out but hoping someone else might know more before I pull the trigger (getting them shipped is a little pricey)

thanks!


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Haven't done it, but per the factory service manual both seats use the same connectors, and have the same connector population(all wires in same places with same purposes) I'd say it's plug and play. As long as both sets are power, and heated.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Should be a very straightforward swap, as @Ma v e n stated.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

You can always have yours recovered. As I recall, it was about $1000.00 last time I looked.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Ok thanks everyone!

Yeah I mostly just wanted to make sure the wiring was the same so I didn't have to start messing with that. It would make sense of course on a modular assembly line. I don't yet have access to any service manuals to check wiring out myself so glad to see its a match. 

All in with shipping I'm looking at around 600-650 which seems doable to me and probably less than recovering (plus whatever I could get for my original seats which are pristine)

Looking at it the only thing that looked a little scary was the seat belt mechanism that goes into the B pillar (where there is an airbag) I wonder if I would have to mess with that to get the new seats in??


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Nope, there's one screw that holds the seat belt to the seat. You don't need to mess with the retractor assembly


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Ma v e n said:


> Nope, there's one screw that holds the seat belt to the seat. You don't need to mess with the retractor assembly



ahhh that makes sense, I was afraid I'd have to mess with that belt mechanism. I do notice on mine on the drivers seat plastic at the base of the seat it says "airbag" which was making me think there was an airbag in the seat? or do they all say that and just refer to other airbags in the car. I'm always a little more reluctant to mess with airbags (and of course salvaging seats from wrecked cars would pose an issue) Otherwise just sounds like some bolts and a few wiring connectors


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

I recovered a GEN 1 seat, and had it apart down to the springs. If the GEN 2 seats are similar construction to that of a GEN1 make sure that the seat belt retractor has not blown. This is attached to the buckle and with a collision will tighten the seat belt to the occupant. 

The second thing is the airbag on the outside bolster of the seat. Typically you can see if the seat cover is torn the airbag let loose. However unless you've worked on seats before you might not know about the explosive charge in the seat buckle that's part of the seat. 

You probably could move these parts from your factory seats to make this work if you had to, but this lowers the value of the seat's your trying to sell.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Thanks for the advice everyone. I just pulled the trigger and ordered them. $625 for the whole set shipped seemed pretty reasonable for me. Need a little cleaning up but in good shape. 

I'll let you know how the swap goes when they arrive. If everything goes smoothly I'll also have a pristine set of black cloth seats for sale when I'm done if anyone on this forum is in the market.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> Thanks for the advice everyone. I just pulled the trigger and ordered them. $625 for the whole set shipped seemed pretty reasonable for me. Need a little cleaning up but in good shape.
> 
> I'll let you know how the swap goes when they arrive. If everything goes smoothly I'll also have a pristine set of black cloth seats for sale when I'm done if anyone on this forum is in the market.


Take some before, during and after photo's and write us nice How-To: for our collection.

*How-To: Write a Tutorial*

and then post your for sale seats here: 

*Cruze Parts*


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Sure I could probably do that when I get the seats and some free time to install them. 

Hoping to find some other diesel how-to maintenance items if anyone has made any (fuel filter, oil change, etc)


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## HBCRUZE2017 (Jan 25, 2018)

i hate my cruze seats they are one of the most uncomfy seats i have ever sat in...my camaro seats are like big comfy couch cushions lol 

my cobalt ss seats were pretty **** comfy and also had adjustable lumbar support and good side bolstering


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> Sure I could probably do that when I get the seats and some free time to install them.
> 
> Hoping to find some other diesel how-to maintenance items if anyone has made any (fuel filter, oil change, etc)


What we have so far for the Gen II is located here.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi everyone, 

well a good news/bad news post. I had a day off today in large part to be home for the delivery of the seats I ordered. One chore I got done was replacing my air filter while I was waiting for the seats to show up. Once the seats arrived and I uncrated everthing I went to work (even took some pics so I could make a little tutorial as recommended for others)

I only had energy to do the fronts today and will tackle the rear seats some other time. I pulled the old seats and bolted the new ones in. The seat belts and wiring connector all went together fine and the power driver seat worked with no issues as soon as plugged in. Unfortunately as soon as I started the car I had an airbag message and the airbag light stays on. I dug out to get to the battery and disconnected both terminals for a few minutes and reseated the wiring connector for both seats. Hooked the battery back up but the light was still on. 

So I'm trying to figure out what to do next. These seats were from a 2017 hatch and mine is a 2018 hatch. Did they maybe change some of the wiring around between those two years? The seats were in good shape just could use a little cleaning/conditioning; there certainly was no sign of airbags ever being deployed on them. The only thing noticeably different was that the passenger seat had a manual height adjustment that my existing seats didn't (maybe that was a minor model year change or only came with the leather seat package?)

Now my hope is that it is just a matter of the computer seeing the circuit disconnected and now the code just needs to be reset (and that might not be cleared with the battery disconnect or I didn't have it disconnected long enough) Yeah in hindsight I probably should have disconnected the battery before doing the job (although that would make it a little tougher since the power driver seat I moved back and forth to get to the bolts) All I have for a code reader is a cheapo little bluetooth adapter that goes to my phone; fine for most engine codes but I don't think its fancy enough to do SRS/ABS codes (I couldn't pull any codes with it)

I'm wondering if this is the push I need to finally invest in a higher end code reader to read/reset the airbag codes? One of my other cars has an ABS light on occasionally I'd like to pull a code for.

I'm eager for any advice anyone has. I guess I could try swapping one of the seats back in to narrow it down as a low tech measure but having to pull the seats back out again is not my first choice at the moment. Sigh not the best day; Just made yet another trip to the secretary of state to try to get my plates and they are still having some issues with the title; last night I spent a few hours there but was sent home after their computer system went down


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

We're the seats from a car that was in an accident? The pretensioners may have gone off.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Don't really know the history I can try asking the seller. It's reasonably likely though that the car had an accident involved hence parting it out. I suppose that means any accident wasn't severe enough to deploy the airbags in the seats. 

I guess I'm trying to understand more about the pre-tensioners. Wouldn't that be in the seatbelt mechanism that is in the B pillar of the car? I didn't do anything with the belts except bolt the existing seatbelt to the seat. Assuming there are no wiring surprises has anyone ever scanned for Airbag/SRS codes on these cars? Could a good code scanner find a code for the pretensioner? As I mentioned I'm thinking of buying a better code scanner than might zero in on what the issue is. I also tested and the seat heaters work as well as the power drivers seat so it would be strange if they only changed the wiring for the pre-tensioners/airbags between the two model years. I haven't found any wiring schematics for these seats. 

If it is in fact the tensioners is that a part that's possible to locate/replace (preferably without sacrificing my old seats which I'd like to sell)

Really hope I can get these working properly as I realize like the seats


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Original Poster- 

I've had the GEN 1 cruze cloth seats pulled apart down to the seat springs to add heat. GEN 2 may or may not be similar to GEN 2. 

I'm not sure I'd jump to a code scanner yet. 

First I'd verify the color and number of wires in each connector, between the seats you pulled out and the new seats. The new seats may have heated seat pad wires, but everything else probably should match between the two. 

The seat buckle, sitting in the drivers seat, this is on the outside of the seat near the door. This buckle is attached to a cable. The cable is attached to the pretensioner. If you take the plastic off the side of the seat you'll see the pretensioner tube and explosive charge. 

Picture someone sitting in the seat. When they get in an accident the buckle pulls downward to tighten the slack in the belt. There's also an explosive charge in the door frame where the seat belt rolls up. This also blows, often times shooting steel marbles down a tube, that winds the seat belt tight. Then there's a side airbag in the seat. 

When the pretensioner buckle blows the cable attached to the buckle gets tight and it's game over for that tensioner. On the gen 1 seats the tensioners were attached to the seats and could be replaced. 

Taking the side of the seat apart can be a little challenging without an exploded diagram. 

I had pictures of my seat teardown on a photo site, but honestly no one got into seat repair, and they complained my thread was not complete, so I stopped editing it. 

I will look for the pictures of the GEN 1 seat. It may take a few days, send me a PM with your e-mail address. I had a lot of photos. 

I can't believe the construction of a GEN 2 seat would be that different from a GEN 1. Anything is possible I guess.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Have to do some digging.. 

Here's a link to the 2017 power seat.. I see they have another for non power.. This diagram might help..

https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline....402&ukey_driveLine=12298&ukey_trimLevel=28075


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Here's one with the pretensioners.. 

https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline....402&ukey_driveLine=12298&ukey_trimLevel=28075


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Passenger seats.. 

https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline....402&ukey_driveLine=12298&ukey_trimLevel=28075

But it does look like each seat contains modules.. I don't remember modules in my seats. Are they dumb modules that just need to be plugged in, or do they need to be programmed? 

Either that or your swapping just the seat covers and keep your physical frames. I can't remember if you had power or manual seats.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

If I recall I used a thin feeler gauge to remove some of the access covers over the bolts on things like the back rest adjuster handles that have to be removed in order to remove the plastic side panel of the seat. 

There's all sorts of plastic snap covers that hide fasteners. Take your time if you start pulling them apart..

I drove for 1 week with no passenger seat. The airbag was on because I had the seat out of it. Put the seat in and the light went off. No need to reset with a scan tool.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi guys,

thanks for the help so far. I did email the seller to ask if he had any info on the car these were pulled from but haven't heard back. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if there was an accident that caused the car to be parted out in the first place. Of course I was fishing for an excuse to buy a better code scanner anyway so I just ordered the bluedriver device that will hopefully arrive tomorrow (as a side note boy trying to shop for a good OBD2 scanner is tricky, there are an underwhelming number of modes out there. The bluedriver seemed to get high marks and was less expensive than a traditional scanner so hopefully I chose well)

Once that arrives maybe I'll get lucky and it will at least point me in the right direction (like which seat or both is the culprit). I'm hoping its smart enough to narrow the issue down to the airbag, pre-tensioner, or even something else (seatbelt sensor, passenger weight sensor, etc) so I have a good starting point before pulling seats back out. The low tech thing I may end up doing is putting the original passenger seat back in to narrow down the issue one seat at a time. Admittedly I was kind of pressed for time when I installed them so I didn't really check to make sure all the conditions were tight and clean before putting the seats in. I guess if my airbag system is disabled anyway I could live without the passenger seat for now (I'm not driving it much currently anyway since I"m still trying to get the registration/plates done)

I did consider trying to just swap the covers but I'm afraid that might be a tougher job. If push come to shove I can salvage components from the old seats; maybe someone would still want them they'd just have to do the same. I did read briefly that at least with GM products they don't reset the SRS light just with a battery disconnection? I haven't ruled out maybe the car just threw the code when it was disconnected and needs to be reset with the OBD2 tool; that would be best case scenario.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

There's 2 main reasons the light is on. I e is as I mentioned the buckle side pretensioners been deployed. These can be replaced relatively easily and separate from the rest of seat. The second is that the passenger presence sensor is calibrated to a different value on the "new" seats than the original ones. So the Airbag module is now seeing an unexpected value. And setting a code.

A code reader with "SIR"/Airbag capabilities will tell you what the car thinks is going on.

Plugging your old seats back in will verify whether or not the issue is installation error, or perhaps if a terminal or wire was damaged during install. 

Am airbag light will go out as soon as the fault that caused the code is no longer present.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Thanks Maven! that was one thing I looked for on my OBD2 scanner search is one that had SRS/ABS capabilities that the cheaper units typically don't. I consider it it good investment since I do a fair amount of wrenching on a handful of cars. 

Yeah I even considered it could be that either a connection came loose underneath or some wiring got damaged; those would be easier fixes as well. Planning to pull the codes when the scanner arrives then report back. If i Need to pull seats back out I'd rather wait to see what the scanner says first. 

One thing I'm a little puzzled about (I don't know a ton about airbag systems) but from my understanding if the seatbelt tensioner was deployed wouldn't that most likely mean the airbags went off as well; the whole point of them seems to be to maximize the effectiveness of the airbags so it would be strange for one to go off without the other? I can only assume there is in fact an airbag in the seats so if the car were in a serious accident wouldn't it be obvious if they deployed?


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## Drmilr (Mar 28, 2016)

They probably only deploy with a side impact. Maybe was in a front or rear hard impact


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The pretensioners can deploy independently of airbag deployment. There's a lower impact threshold for the belts than there is for the bags.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Ma v e n said:


> The pretensioners can deploy independently of airbag deployment. There's a lower impact threshold for the belts than there is for the bags.


I was pulling a set of leather seats today from a wrecked 2012 2LT and the seat belts were very tight. I assume that means the pretensioners are blown? Where can I send them to be rebuilt?


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Blasirl said:


> I was pulling a set of leather seats today from a wrecked 2012 2LT and the seat belts were very tight. I assume that means the pretensioners are blown? Where can I send them to be rebuilt?


I'd take the pretensioners off the seat rails of your existing seats that your removing. Maybe someone does these cheap.. Check E-bay.. 

I'd be pulling the factory ones off the old seats, and putting the rebuilt ones in the seats your selling.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hmmm well my new BlueDriver scanner just arrived and I was eager to look for codes. I had high hopes for this scanner but it didn't pull any codes for any of the systems! If the airbag light is on it should come up with some kind of code even if its a fairly generic one right?! I'll probably return this if its not up to the job. 

So if the code scanner is going to help I'll have to start with lower tech diagnosis and swap one of the original seats back in. Its raining out today so it might not be the best day to do that. Is there some visual clue that the pre-tensioners were deployed on the seat side?


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

Just compare the belt anchor points on the two seats. 
The deployed pretensioners will have the anchors scrunched down lower. 
It usually runs $40-60 to have a pretensioner rebuilt, but if you're removing seats with unblown pretensioners from the car, just swap your good ones to the new seats. 

If you're taking the seats out of the wrecked car, it's easy to tell if the belt reels are locked, which means the pretensioners on the seat anchor points are blown too.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

I'll compare them to see if they look different visually to indicate being deployed. If I had access to the donor car I could check the belt mechanism as well (I'd assume if they were deployed both ends would be affected) but unfortunately I don't

I'm more frustrated that I couldn't pull any codes to support my hypothesis; shouldn't there be one if it detects any issues? Anyone know if the pre-tensioners have any self test mechanism that would trigger an SRS code?


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Alright so I went back out there to take a look. Sure enough it looks to me like the new (donor)seats have the pre-tensioners deployed. I'll attach a few pictures. The deployed one was retracted a fair amount compared to the good (original) seat. 

I played around with my original drivers seat and was a little surprised how easy it was to remove the mechanism. The good news it looks like I probably don't need to wrestle the whole seat out of the car just maybe loosen it to shift it out of the way a bit! Theres just one screw holding the trim on, one big captive screw holding the mechanism on and one little electrical connector. I'll take this as fairly good news if I just have to swap these two out with my good ones. From there I can either send the bad ones out to be repaired or leave that for any future buyer without having my car down in the meantime. 

Check the pictures and make sure I'm seeing this right. If I don't have to fully remove the seats it shouldn't take too long to swap these out


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

View attachment 270155








first pic is unit in question on new seat. second two pics are original mech from original seat


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

See how the sheath around the blown one is all bunched up? It's blown.. Good Job.. I think your on the right track. Plus this way you have factory quality new ones incase you get into an accident. Personally I'd sell the seats as is and make the new buyer replace them. 

Taking pictures of what you did during the install telling them these seats are from a swap for leather seats vs. a direct accident. As the airbag in your seats that your going to sell is good. Being a GEN 2 new car, they have to be worth something on the craigslist market..


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

I have to say I never really knew about these things until this seat swap job! It is a good point to be aware of for anyone salvaging seats from a wrecked car. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with me today but I did at least get the tensioners pulled off the original seats and will try to change them out tomorrow. 

If all that goes well I'll move onto the rear seats. I didn't look too closely yet but I don't believe the rear seats have any of the belt components attached so hopefully I won't run into trouble with them. I've seen companies that rebuild the units for around $50 a piece. I'm assuming that means its easier/more cost effective to have them re manufactured then to obtain new units.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

carbon02 said:


> Personally I'd sell the seats as is and make the new buyer replace them.


Sell the seats without belt anchors. 
When I bought a 2nd Gen driver's seat to replace the airbag ripped seat in my 2016, it came without the pretensioner/anchor. 

If the buyer asks about the anchors, tell them you have a pair of cores you'll give them for free, but they'll need to rebuild them. Apparently it's not all that difficult to unlock them and put new bombs in them. Or new ones are about $100ea.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Well the weather isn't ideal (temps dropped and a little snow on the ground) but I worked on the car for a bit. 

I pulled the bolts for the drivers seat and rotated it out of the way to get to the pre-tensioner. The blown pre-tensioner did not play nicely with a torx bit and got kinda stripped out. Fortunately I was able to back it out with a big pair of vice grips. Got the good tensioner swapped in and started getting the seat back in place. Strangely now the seat motors don't seem to want to work and the airbag light is still on (even after disconnecting the batt 15 mins) I was able to get the front bolts in but not the rears since it doesn't want to slide forward. 

Had to quit working for a bit but wondering if that means my seat connection isn't solid or if I somehow blew a fuse? If the main seat connection isn't tight that could explain both things I suppose; I imagine the SRS test sequence would send a signal to the tensioner and of course the motors need power from the car. The seat motors were working fine when I started working on it today. It would be awesome if anyone had the pinouts for the seat connectors so I could check voltage/continuity. Hope to get back to it in a couple hours.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> I have to say I never really knew about these things until this seat swap job! It is a good point to be aware of for anyone salvaging seats from a wrecked car. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with me today but I did at least get the tensioners pulled off the original seats and will try to change them out tomorrow.
> 
> If all that goes well I'll move onto the rear seats. I didn't look too closely yet but I don't believe the rear seats have any of the belt components attached so hopefully I won't run into trouble with them. I've seen companies that rebuild the units for around $50 a piece. I'm assuming that means its easier/more cost effective to have them re manufactured then to obtain new units.


I know that the Gen I seats have airbag bolsters, but nothing that would affect a seat swap without them. Just that part of your seat would not be leather.

Where have you found the rebuilders?


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Blasirl said:


> I know that the Gen I seats have airbag bolsters, but nothing that would affect a seat swap without them. Just that part of your seat would not be leather.
> 
> Where have you found the rebuilders?


Just casually searching ebay or google. Some vendors sell the service then you send them the cores and they return after rebuilding. Of course you'd want to verify they are legit first. But say a rebuild costs $50 each and a new units is $100 I'd prefer to save $100 if they can do the job right.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

One company called SafetyRestore in MA seems to be a popular company and offers this service, I saw them through ebay and checked out their site. Looks like they also do other services for safety components in cars. 
https://www.safetyrestore.com/


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

update: 

So the pre-tensioner was bad on the drivers seat so its been swapped with the good original one. The passenger one appears to be ok so I left that one alone for now. After putting the driver seat back I still had the SRS light and also for some reason the power seat wasn't working right (verified fuse was ok). Played around with inspecting the wiring and traced the pre-tensioner connector back to the main seat plug and verified good continuity. Once I put the main seat connector back in with the locking mechanism removed temporarily the power seat was working again. 

Making me think there is an issue with the main seat plug not connecting fully with the latch in place. Right now i have the negative batt cable removed to let things reset for a bit before I try again. Also going to try pulling codes again later which I couldn't last time around. Just concerned why I wouldn't be able to get SRS codes with my bluedriver to clue me in??

Granted of course my anxiety kicks in that something is way wrong. My fear was that because I plugged in a seat with a bad pre-tensioner it is basically "flagging" the car with a code that only a dealer with some super fancy equipment could clear. Obviously if I had it to do over again I would have noticed the tensioner and swapped before ever plugging the seat in. Possibility "A" should be that as soon as all the SRS parts pass a self check the light will turn itself off. or "B" it is now stored and the light will stay on until cleared with a scanner even if its now fixed (I could kinda understand why it would stay on even if only an intermittent issue was detected briefly.) Regardless I would still expect some kind of code to point me in the right direction

Any advise would be appreciated;


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

The explosive charge igniters are like fuses. When you apply a lot of current they blow. After that they're open circuit, like a broken wire.
Plugging in a blown restraint is like turning the car on with it unplugged, the car just knows it doesn't have a complete circuit so it puts the SRS light on until it sees the appropriate resistance on that circuit. 

If the SRS module commands a detonation, then it sets a deployment code and the light stays on until the module is reset.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

Blasirl said:


> Where have you found the rebuilders?



I used this guy.

He went silent for a week or so, but eventually answered my emails and shipped my tensioners and module back to me. Maybe he went on vacation right after he had me ship them to him. Paying him $40 to reset the module was a mistake, somebody with a good scanner can reset them in the car in a couple of minutes.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Taxman said:


> The explosive charge igniters are like fuses. When you apply a lot of current they blow. After that they're open circuit, like a broken wire.
> Plugging in a blown restraint is like turning the car on with it unplugged, the car just knows it doesn't have a complete circuit so it puts the SRS light on until it sees the appropriate resistance on that circuit.
> 
> If the SRS module commands a detonation, then it sets a deployment code and the light stays on until the module is reset.


While his SRS module didn't command a detonation, would something be hard stored in the SRS module when a pretensioner with open circuit blown resistance was installed? 

Maybe there is something stored in the SRS module, but that wouldn't explain his power seat issue. Unless they are using a different pin location at the connector between those two years. 

These seats were from a different year than the car he's putting them into, but we're not talking about putting a Mexican built seat into a Lordstown build are we? All the Hatch builds came out of Mexico. They might have different wiring.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

For anyone still interested in my seat saga: 

I may be narrowing things down a bit. After another failed attempt to pull codes I went back to basics somewhat. I put the original passenger seat back in with the original pre-tensioner and sure enough the ABS light went off. So the new drivers seat seems to be fine now (I reseated it again and put the clip back on and now its working again. Perhaps the power seat issue was a fluke or it just needed one more reconnection who knows. 

So for now it is clear the problem is something in the passenger seat (and chances are the pre-tensioner on it was fine all along) Checking basics I didn't see any loose connections under the new passenger seat or major looking wiring issues but I started by checking continuity between the pre-tensioner connector pins and the main seat connector and was unable to get a continuity tone between them like I could on the driver seat ( I believe the pre-tensioner pin goes straight from the pre-tensioner connector to the main seat connector) So if somehow both of these pins lost connectivity that could be a simple explanation for the light. 

Of course without being able to get a code I can't be sure it isn't some other circuitry in the seat. There is a module for the seat heater and another that I believe is the occupancy/weight sensor but I don't know if that has much circuitry involved (if they are the same I can try swapping my known good one. Replacing the whole seat harness seems like a pretty big hassle due to all the seat heater stuff buried under the seat so maybe I can fix it. 

FWIW this was listed as from a 17 hatch and appears to be accurate from what I've seen and the date codes I've found. That should mean they came from the same plant in Mexico unless they switched suppliers between the two years. Also the rear seat bottom I received has a heat module underneath which my car isn't equipped for.I don't imagine it'll pose an issue just stay disconnected and tucked out of the way but maybe someday I can figure out how to wire it up!


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

I've never seen a 2G in the salvage lots with driver belt blown and good passenger belt. 

I always assumed there were six SRS channels; driver front, passenger front, driver seats, passenger seats, side curtains, and belts, because I've always seen airbags blow in pairs and belts blow in complete sets. Even in front impact cars where the driver bags deployed but the passenger bags did not, the passenger belts were always locked. I don't think a yard would knowingly sell you a seat with a good tensioner left on it. 

You might try plugging in the electrical connector for your old tensioner to the new right seat and see if that makes the light go out.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Taxman said:


> I've never seen a 2G in the salvage lots with driver belt blown and good passenger belt.
> 
> I always assumed there were six SRS channels; driver front, passenger front, driver seats, passenger seats, side curtains, and belts, because I've always seen airbags blow in pairs and belts blow in complete sets. Even in front impact cars where the driver bags deployed but the passenger bags did not, the passenger belts were always locked. I don't think a yard would knowingly sell you a seat with a good tensioner left on it.
> 
> You might try plugging in the electrical connector for your old tensioner to the new right seat and see if that makes the light go out.



Sorry I might not have been clearer before. Prior to swapping the original passenger seat back in I had the new (salvaged) passenger seat installed both with the tensioner it came with as well as my original good tensioner. In both cases the SRS light was on. I believe the salvaged passenger tensioner is probably good, it at least passes visual checks unlike the drivers which was obviously blown. 

Now your theories may be correct and who knows the full history. It could well be that the passenger tensioner was supposed to deploy but an underlying wiring issue prevented it from doing so and that person was driving around with the airbag light on all along. The seller may not have been particularly familiar with seats and safety mechanisms; they were in good overall physical condition as he pictured. I might have also missed the pre-tensioner issue before I just learned all about them :smile:. I actually go these online and obviously shipping was pretty expensive. I imagine sedan seats sets are a lot easier to come by given their prevalence.

Maybe I can grab some pictures later but while I don't see anything obviously broken I'm unable to get continuity from either pin on the pre-tensioner connector to the main "bulkhead" connector for the seat. If there is an internal wire broken in there it could prevent the self test from passing or allowing it to work at all. While there could be another module issue I'd like to make sure this part is fixed and take it from there. If I can repair the two wires for the pretensioner circuit it would be a lot easier than trying to find/replace the whole seat harness.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> One company called SafetyRestore in MA seems to be a popular company and offers this service, I saw them through ebay and checked out their site. Looks like they also do other services for safety components in cars.
> https://www.safetyrestore.com/





Taxman said:


> I used this guy.
> 
> He went silent for a week or so, but eventually answered my emails and shipped my tensioners and module back to me. Maybe he went on vacation right after he had me ship them to him. Paying him $40 to reset the module was a mistake, somebody with a good scanner can reset them in the car in a couple of minutes.



Do either of you know if the Gen I's have single, double or triple stage pretensioners? I have no clue as I am not sure what to look for yet.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

I'm not sure what the different phases would mean; I believe either it deploys or doesn't. My 2018 just has a two pin electrical connection allows a signal to deploy; I don't believe its advanced enough to have different levels. Of course there should also be another pretensioner in the "B" pillar but I didn't dig into that. 

On mine you can access the pre-tensioner from the door side of each seat by taking a screw off a trim cover. The seat didn't need to be removed completely to get to/change it but I did loosen/remove the seat bolts to gain clearance. There was only one torx screw holding the unit in place. I'm guessing the gen 1 is pretty similar



Blasirl said:


> Do either of you know if the Gen I's have single, double or triple stage pretensioners? I have no clue as I am not sure what to look for yet.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> I'm not sure what the different phases would mean; I believe either it deploys or doesn't. My 2018 just has a two pin electrical connection allows a signal to deploy; I don't believe its advanced enough to have different levels. Of course there should also be another pretensioner in the "B" pillar but I didn't dig into that.
> 
> On mine you can access the pre-tensioner from the door side of each seat by taking a screw off a trim cover. The seat didn't need to be removed completely to get to/change it but I did loosen/remove the seat bolts to gain clearance. There was only one torx screw holding the unit in place. I'm guessing the gen 1 is pretty similar


Look at this page and you will see why I asked: Seat Belt Repair


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Might be best to ask those guys since they are the experts on this and could probably tell you by car what it's equipped with. 

However from what they are showing I think they refer to a double stage pre-tensioner in that there is a charge in the seat (for the buckle) and another in the pillar or wherever the belt retraction mechanism is. So if you're pulling seats out of a wrecked car you wouldn't have to worry about the one in your pillar that is good but would need a single stage rebuilt in the seat. A simpler single stage one might only have one of those in place

The two wires connecting to one charge allows the computer to make sure it is in place and allows it to detonate if necessary. Thats what I think is wrong with mine is the wiring is broken so the computer thinks it isn't installed or has been deployed (won't pass self test)

Of course I'm just guessing but someone at this company or someone else on here could verify





resurgent cineribus said:


> I'm not sure what the different phases would mean; I believe either it deploys or doesn't. My 2018 just has a two pin electrical connection allows a signal to deploy; I don't believe its advanced enough to have different levels. Of course there should also be another pretensioner in the "B" pillar but I didn't dig into that.
> 
> On mine you can access the pre-tensioner from the door side of each seat by taking a screw off a trim cover. The seat didn't need to be removed completely to get to/change it but I did loosen/remove the seat bolts to gain clearance. There was only one torx screw holding the unit in place. I'm guessing the gen 1 is pretty similar


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

I was tracking continuity in the pre-tensioner circuit again and found it was going dead close to the main seat connector. I soldered in about a foot of replacement wire and now have continuity end to end. Maybe the harness got handled a bit rough somewhere along the way. Looking forward to testing it out when I get some time/daylight!


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Here is my repair. The seat pre-tensioner wires are the two in the corner of the pic where I was losing continuity. I replaced about a foot of each wire, soldered and heat shrunk and now have continuity end-to-end. 

Just need to test and rewrap the harness if everything checks out. If I still end up with any wiring issues I may have to break down and buy a new harness but we shall see.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi everyone!

So last night I tested my fix out. Put the new seat back in with the good pre-tensioner and connected everything. No airbag light and everything seems to work! I wrapped the harness back up and bolted things down. 

Next up will be tackling the back seats. I may have already mentioned the new back seat is heated while mine isn't (maybe someday I'll figure out how to wire it up) but for now it should work just the same unplugged. Was having a little trouble figuring out how to get the seat cushion off. Does anyone know a trick for releasing it?


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Glad to see you got the front seat sorted out.

If you want heated rear seats just put in aftermarket ones. It'll be far less work and headache in the end.

You'd need switches, the console trim panel, wiring in the center console, wiring in the dash to the body control module, programming in the BCM, wiring in the engine bay to floor harness, the floor harness connector, wiring to both SHCM connectors...
Aftermarket is the way to go.


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Ma v e n said:


> Glad to see you got the front seat sorted out.
> 
> If you want heated rear seats just put in aftermarket ones. It'll be far less work and headache in the end.
> 
> ...



Ah I was hoping it would be simple. There is one harness connector feeding to the module under the seat with only 4 pins so I hoped it was just as simple as setting up a switched 12V source but of course I'm still looking for wiring diagrams to make sense of it. No big deal I'm not going to that much trouble and will probably just leave it disconnected. Currently the only person that regularly will sit back there is still in a car seat so he probably won't care much lol. 

Seriously though is there a trick to the seat cushion removal? I see the two latches in the front of it but it really seems to be on there tight. If the back seat is a lot of work I might just leave it til I have a day free to get it all done. My rear seats came with the trim cover things with airbags inside


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi Everyone

Boy this wound up being a lot more work than I anticipated but I just completed my seat swap project. On top of the passenger front belt pre-tensioner circuit issue, and swapping the drivers pre-tensioner: 

When I got to the back seat I realized the middle belt retracter mechanism had the belt cut off when it was salvaged so I had to tear apart both seat backs to swap my good one into the new seat frame (which still seemed a little easier than just swapping the cover) also the trim piece between the seat and the back pillar apparently they must have changed the airbag design between 2017 and 2018 so I had to swap my original airbags into the new trim pieces. 

One interesting discovery I made: Under the seat cushion was a spare harness connector that seems to match my new heated seat bottom exactly. I'm guessing they used the same harness with and without heated rear seats. I left it disconnected for now but now wondering if hooking that up would be feasible. Is it possible that the center console has a connector for the switch inside unused? If so all I would need is to hunt down the switch. 

Just showing off my work and hoping to list my original seats in the classifieds soon in case anyone could use them.


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## sailurman (Sep 29, 2016)

Congrats!!!:goodjob:


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

resurgent cineribus said:


> Hi Everyone
> 
> Boy this wound up being a lot more work than I anticipated but I just completed my seat swap project. On top of the passenger front belt pre-tensioner circuit issue, and swapping the drivers pre-tensioner:
> 
> ...


Looks very nice! I am so looking forward to installing mine. I was able to get the last piece yesterday. 

It is a bit disconcerting looking at the sideways pictures though. If you are posting from a phone, remember to rotate the camera before taking the picture as the phone adds header data to the pictures that always orient it in one direction no matter what way the phone was turned. Every phone is different, so do a test to figure out if vertical or horizontal is best.

Also, if you edit the post, click on advanced, you can make the pictures larger if you want as well.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

I was not understanding what you wanted when you asked about how to get the seat cushion off? Were you refering to the front or the back, I kind of assume the back as you mentioned the seat belt issue, but....

On my seat fishing expedition, I actually ended up taking off the drivers seat back cushion as I could not figure out how to remove the seat, now I have to put it all back together - groan - but I will really understand the seats now.

Does anyone know how to remove the plastic sockets for the headrests on a Gen I?


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Blasirl said:


> Looks very nice! I am so looking forward to installing mine. I was able to get the last piece yesterday.
> 
> It is a bit disconcerting looking at the sideways pictures though. If you are posting from a phone, remember to rotate the camera before taking the picture as the phone adds header data to the pictures that always orient it in one direction no matter what way the phone was turned. Every phone is different, so do a test to figure out if vertical or horizontal is best.
> 
> ...



No I just meant the rear seat cushion which is simple in theory but as it turns out the plastic clips that clip them down to the floor towards the front are very stubborn (perhaps just the first time they are removed at least) there was a white plastic insert in there that really latches down on that piece; I had to really fight it with a flathead screwdriver and finally get it loose. When re-assembling I just had to sit on that area until it clicked back in place (make sure the metal part is in the slot first!) Could well be easier if you ever have to remove again and is just this way from the factory (and it appears you could replace the plastic receptacle if your breaks or wears out. 

I just asked because it was coming loose with normal pressure so I figured I was doing it wrong. Not long ago I had to pull the back seat cushion out of my girlfriends car for a fuel pump replacement and it came out without much trouble. 

I did take a number of pictures if I find any time to collect them for a tutorial. It did take a bit for me to figure out removing the rear seat backs as well. I started by loosening the center bracket nuts from the back hatch and ultimately found you have to pry a bit at the door ends and a spring loaded mechanism will allow them to pull up and out. As for the headrest sockets I struggled with mine a bit too and ultimately never figured out how to remove those. One the top piece popped off I carefully used a small pick tool to fish the material out from underneath and left them in place. With a little effort I could separate the seat cover material over the headrest flange. For the leather ones maybe a low setting on a heat gun might soften the material up a little to make it a little easier. Popping the material back into the headrest flange was easier. Gen 1 might be a little different but i bet it will go the same way. There might be some secret to getting that socket out but I surely didn't figure it out. 


PS: regarding the rear seat heating wiring

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/auto-...4l-l4-gas-engine/body-cat/center-console-scat

I was looking around here and it appears it might be doable. The parts list different harnesses for the center console (mine has keyless start but not the wireless charging) so if the harness is correct and has the plugs all I might need are the two switches and the correct trim panel/bezel for the console. I'd welcome any thoughts/experience on this though


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Blasirl said:


> Does anyone know how to remove the plastic sockets for the headrests on a Gen I?


You mean the plastic part that is down inside the back seat back cushion that the metal posts of the head rest go into? No I never removed them. 

I did however remove all the torx bolts that bolt the bottom of the seat frame to the back of the seat frame. 

You probably could bolt the back seat frame cushion and cover to the bottom of your factory seat. Then change the cover of the bottom of your original seat to the leather by moving the cover from the salvage seat to the old seat frame. 

90% sure that the seat frame I had apart, all the way. Including removing the seat back from the bottom. At the time I was blazing new territory, and had no idea as to how the back seat cover had a hidden zipper in one of the seams..


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

When I realized I was in for some work to swap the center belt mechanism into the seat I was thinking it would end up being easier to just swap the leather cover onto the original frame. Once I had the seat cover unzipped I removed the torx bolts holding the armrest in but had trouble getting the other side attached. 

But once I had the cover mostly opened up I was able to peel the foam padding back enough to get to the nut attaching the retractor. It was a bit awkward to get to but I was ultimately able to swap it without removing the cover completely. I have the old mechanism that I believe could be repaired or replaced. 

Best of luck to anyone tackling the project. Some people thought I was a little crazy but I really wanted the leather interior and buying one new wasn't really an option. Cost me $625 for everything and maybe I can get some of that back selling the originals; still less than half the option package when new. Now i just need to find the matching steering wheel


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

You mean these? 

Rear seat retainers


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

carbon02 said:


> You mean the plastic part that is down inside the back seat back cushion that the metal posts of the head rest go into? No I never removed them.
> 
> I did however remove all the torx bolts that bolt the bottom of the seat frame to the back of the seat frame.
> 
> ...


I was able to get the power heated seat bottom with the stripped seat back after all. I had to talk my Electrical Engineer son into coming to the yard with me. It took us about an hour to figure out how to energize the right motor to move the frame enough to get to the bolts to remove it.

My issue now stems from not being able to remove it the second time I was there. I figured the car would be gone the next time I was there, so I removed the head rest, and because I could not figure out how to get the post holders out so I could strip off the seat back leather cover, I destoyed them. Now I wish I had left the seat intact. Live N Learn!


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## resurgent cineribus (Feb 26, 2019)

Blasirl said:


> You mean these?
> 
> Rear seat retainers


yes thank you i may order a spare set if they are that cheap. they sure hold them down well but take a lot of coaxing to get loose.


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