OT Toyota seat air bag sensor

Tozguy

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I am planning to replace the passenger seat in a 2015 Sienna with a swivel seat from a Previa as part of a camper conversion. There is no air bag sensor in the swivel seat so I need to find a way to keep the passenger air bag system on permanently. I am looking for info specific to the Sienna and what is involved in doing this job correctly. Thanks.
 
alldata.diy.com has vehicle and model specific repair manuals....for a price. They are on-line and IMO not as nice as a printed manual but better than nothing.
 
What do you consider "doing the job correctly"? You are already doing something that was not intended by the manufacturer of the vehicle.

I'd think that all you have to do is hot wire the sensor wires so that the system thinks there is someone in the seat all the time. And, don't forget the seatbelt alarm.

Now, why not just add the sensor to the swivel seat?
 
The information you need will not be available through official channels. You will have to (or find someone that has) reverse engineer the signal put out by the occupancy sense module. The one thing I can guarantee is it will not be a simple open/close switch. It may be a stepped resistor, it may be a variable resistor, or it may be a digital signal.
 
Doing it correctly means to disconnect and remove the original seat and do the work of jumping the underseat connector so the system will function normally but with the seat and sensor removed (as if an adult is sitting in the passenger seat all the time).
I have been unable to find anything useful from the usual sources. Even a well known van conversion shop said that they are not 'authorized' to do that particular job on a Sienna. The Toyota garage says that the sensor in question cannot be disconnected and then simply reconnected. So there is a lot in what Randy writes above.
Reputable auto shops must be able to handle something like this. After all, what happens if you have to replace a faulty seat sensor? I would rather buy a second sensor (instead of removing the one from the original seat) if it is a simple swap out. But I would like to have more info to go on before 'navigating these waters'.
 
Dom uses pressure sensor signal generated by for better words an air bladder in seat cushion.unoccupied is around 0 psi.not as simple as tricking module with a fixed value,whenever servicing or even unplugging r.equires a zero point and system calibration with a scan tool.
 
One mistake could also mean an airbag going off in your face. Be careful because it could also kill a young child or small person sitting in the front seat during an accident. That's the reason for the weight sensor in the seat.
 
It is my understanding that here in the US it is illegal for a shop to modify an airbag system. As a Ford tech for the last 27 years the air bag systems in cars and trucks have grown in complexity and accuracy as far as knowing what size person is in a seat and its position to determine the resulting airbag deployment strength needed. I remember back when passenger airbags becoming common and people wanted them disconnected the government would allow it for special cases but the mountain of paperwork and possible liability for the shops pretty much stopped that.
 
Can the swivel mechanism be added to the Sienna seat?
If it can... seems a lot easier...
 
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