Seat Belt alarm.

I've owned my 6 for a week now, have almost 1k on it, and in general, love it. What drives me nuts is that the seat belt alarm is disturbing.

I know, I know...the short answer is "wear your seat belt". I wear my seatbelt 100% of the time while driving on public roads, but there are occasions when I don't...for instance, I have a long driveway, and when I come home from work, I stop at the mailbox to pick up the mail. I don't put my seatbelt back on for the rest of the ride up the driveway, but the seatbelt alarm is blaring, then blaring faster, then blaring faster yet.

I don't need an alarm to tell me whether I have a seat belt on...I know that on my own.

How do I rip this thing out?

Owner's manual says consult your dealer. Dealer said "that might be a liability issue". I haven't purchased the service manual yet, so I'm looking to this forum for guidance.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mark in MA

 

THIS WORKS ON THE 3, not sure about the 6

Temp fix: Turn the ignition switch to the ON position. Fasten the driver's seat belt for about 2 seconds or longer, and then unfasten it within 20 seconds. The belt minder will be deactivated until the ignition switch it turned to the On position again. (I believe this is in the Owner's Manual somewhere) (This doesn't work if your car has been running longer than 20 seconds.)

I recommend you always wear your seatbelt.

OR....

08-002/04 MAZDA3 - SEAT BELT MINDER DEACTIVATION
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
Mazda3

DESCRIPTION
The seat belt minder is a supplemental warning to the seat belt warning function. This feature provides an additional reminder to the driver that the seat belt is not fastened by an intermittent, audible beep sound and flashing of the seat belt warning light in the instrument cluster.

The seat belt minder can be deactivated either temporarily or over the long term and can be restored again, if the customer wishes. This bulletin outlines the deactivation procedure. (Note: The seat belt warning function is not deactivated.)

The Owner's Manual has been updated to include this information.

SERVICE PROCEDURE
NOTE: Although the belt minder can be deactivated by customer choice, it is recommended the customer to leave it activated as an additional safety feature. Ask them to have it reactivated before selling the vehicle to a new owner too, to get the maximum effect.

TEMPORARY DEACTIVATION
To temporarily deactivate the belt minder, turn the ignition switch to ON, fasten the driver's seat belt for about 2 seconds or longer, then unfasten it within 20 seconds. The belt minder will be deactivated temporarily, until the ignition switch is turned to ON next time. (Temporary deactivation can be cancelled by turning the ignition switch OFF, then ON.)

LONG-TERM DEACTIVATION
To deactivate the belt minder long-term, change the configuration of the Instrument Cluster using WDS.

Identify the vehicle, and make sure the vehicle specification screen appears.

Select "Module Programming" and press tick.

Select "Programmable Parameters" then "Warning Lamps/Chimes" and press tick.

Select "Belt Minder" -) IC (Instrument Cluster)" then "Disabled" and press tick.

Turn the ignition switch to OFF and press tick.

Verify operation.

 

I think it would be nice to have that seatbelt alarm turned off as well as the door ajar noise. That way you can leave your doors open to show off your car a bit as well as have your music playing without having the annoying door ajar noise.

 

This sounds like it involves a latptop, mazda software, and appropriate connection cables. Are there any secret ways the weekend wrencher can accomplish this task without those tools?

Mark in MA

 

Not unless you want to purchase the WDS from Mazda for about $16,000.. The procedure is identical for the Mazda 6 but just identified with a different TSB#. If the dealer insists that it might be a liability issue have them look up TSB #08-005/05. It is basically the same context as the one sstlaure posted about the 3. This is the first paragraph and will CAPITALIZE the relevent part.



08-005/05 2005 MAZDA6 - DEACTIVATION OF SEAT BELT MINDER
APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS
2005 Mazda6

DESCRIPTION
The seat belt minder is a supplemental warning to the seat belt warning function established for North American specification Mazda6 vehicles. This feature provides an additional reminder to the driver that the driver's seat belt is not fastened, by intermittently emitting a beep sound and flashing the seat belt warning light in the instrument cluster.

The seat belt minder can be deactivated either temporarily or over the long-term, and can be restored again IF THE CUSTOMER WISHES. The following information has been added to the Owner's Manual:


Note the words, IF THE CUSTOMER WISHES. If Mazda did not want this to be performed they would not have created the TSB or even made it a programmable parameter.
Sorry gray mazda_6 but no way to program out the door ajar part. You could however simply remove the phillips screw at the door ajar switch when you want that door left open. The screw provides the electrical ground path for the circuit and without it in there the computer would not even know you had the door open so no annoying tone.

 

Man babyhuey you're an asset to this site , including you sstlaure !

I pretty much understood the same from reading the manual , I like the trick for the door ajar , I found out tonight the lights turn off after two minutes of leaving the doors open (like I had read in the manual a while back- power/battery savings feature) , but in my case I needed them to stay open but the switch on the ceiling didn't have the ON permanent option , but I found that pushing the map lights did the trick . lol

Also found out that if my doors are locked from the inside (all doors closed and me in it) that the auto-on light in the ceiling feature won't come on when I pull out the ignition key from the ignition until I unlock the doors .... got worried the car had it's first breakdown until I remembered I had locked the locks on purpose just before ... lol

Actually come to think of it , I have an issue with my rear bumper . I'll write up a new thread about it .

 

Not anything else I could recommend. Your dealer can follow that procedure, but as they are independently owned and operated, it's up to their discretion whether they would do the job or not. It doesn't hurt to ask and bring that procedure in with you.

As a restraints engineer, I can't recommend messing with anything in the seatbelts. Those are to save your life and if you take them apart, how do you know you got them back together correctly. You'd hate to have the belt release when you don't want it to.

The unfortunate fact is that too many people sue in this country. There have been numerous lawsuits brought forward by people that weren't wearing their seatbelts. The chime is meant to annoy the crap out of you until you put your belt on. It seems to do a pretty good job.

 

just a stupid question but where is that door ajar switch, i havent looked at my door yet but i will do it later today. is there one for every door, i would assume so.

 

I think it's a small plunger located in the door jam (on the hinge side). Leave your door open so that the chime is happening, then try to find the plunger and push it. If the chime goes away, you've found it.

 

I don't want to mess with the seatbelts at all. I feel very strongly about wearing seatbelts as the most important safety concern, I just want the $%^& alarm disabled!

Today I rolling into Dunkin Donuts drive through, and I release my seatbelt as I'm slowing down to approach the speaker, knowing that I'll need to get money out of my wallet. The alarm starts dinging, and continues while I place my order, pull around to pick it up, and pull away through the parking lot.

it's driving me nuts.

Mark in MA