S13 Auto-seat belts, door sensors, bizzare all around

[kungfujoe]

So here's a fun one:

The idiot light in my gauge cluster, indicating that a door is open, is always on.
My automatic seat belts work, but only if the car is running, or if the key is turned to ACC.

So what the hell does that even mean?

My first thought is that the door sensors were shot, and the guy I bought the car from (very recently) had circumvented them so that the seat belts would still work.

But then why do the seat belts still work when the doors open or close (YES, both driver AND passenger)??!?
Is there a "door" sensor on the Hatch (Implying that the driver/passenger sensors work, but the hatch one is fried)?
I'm quite lost, and would like to get this fixed. Any help is appreciated

[Hijacker]

it's possible that the circuit for the door switches are grounded somewhere.

[biggie]

Or the little switch in the door jam is broken (or not connected/grounded). That has happened on mine before.

[kungfujoe]

Why is grounding relevant? I'm not really very clear on how these seat belts work...

As for the sensors being busted, that doesn't account for why the seat belts still work, but only when the car is ACC

Thanks for the replies guys.

[mechanicalmoron]

The seat belt switch is in the door on the latch, I think. It's not the normal door switch.

The seatbelt should move forward with the key off, but only back when the key is on. You have a blown fuse behind the driver's kick panel. I forget which one, I THINK it's the fourth from the bottom or the right. I'm guessing your chime that indicates the key is left in the ignition also doesn't work? And your cluster clock doesn't work? And your kickpanel lights?

Try pushing the buttons on both sides (I could be wrong but the hatch may turn the light on too) all the way in. It may be that the door simply isn't pushing it far enough. My driver one doesn't, I have a little wad of electrical tape on the door to make it contact all the way. I think you can also adjust it from the back, but that's the quick, dirty, and easy method of fixing it.


What I figure happened on my car was that the previous owner (or a shop or something) removed the fuse, because the door switch was broken, and so the kick panel lights would stay on and drain the battery. The same may be true of you. So wether it's damaged wiring or broken switch, or simply not pushing it all the way, you need to fix that before you can put the fuse in for the seatbelt, or your battery will die and you'll always have cabin lights on.

[kungfujoe]

Those are all fantastic guesses...and they are all correct. I'll go d!ck around with my kick panel tomorrow and see what I can find.

Hopefully, in the process, I don't kill my battery, but I would like to get this working, so thanks for the info

[mechanicalmoron]

Those are all fantastic guesses...and they are all correct. I'll go d*** around with my kick panel tomorrow and see what I can find.

Hopefully, in the process, I don't kill my battery, but I would like to get this working, so thanks for the info

You'll need a fuse puller (or little pair of pliars, or knife, or small screwdriver), a 10A fuse, and a piece of electrical tape. Wrap it up to make a little flat pad about 1.5mm thick, and tape that to the door with another piece, directly over where the little button hits it.

And what's probably wrong with your button is that the little boot is broken/missing, I realized my working side has one, and non-working side doesn't.

If you can't see the light during the day, leave the key in the ignition as you look for the bad switch, and when the chiming (after you fixed the fuse, obviously) stops, you've found it. No need to harm your battery.