I removed seat and now I got dinging sounds when driving

ROMYERS

MEMBER
2000 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
144 MILES

So I took out the passenger seat in my cavalier. There were no unfamiliar problems minutes before I took it out. On the first drive I took after taking out the seat, I noticed that the dinger that sounds when your keys are in the ignition with the door open, happens constantly as long as the car is in motion. Upon coming to a stop the sound turns off, when I let off the brakes to go again, the sound comes back on. Appreciate the help, that sound is definitely one the engineers wanted you to hear and it is impossible to ignore while going down the road. Please Help! :)

3 Replies

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

Taking out the seat may have affected the Air Bag/Supplemntal Restraint System, (SRS). This is becasue the seat bealts are part of a very complicated circuti that includes the air bag, seat belts and a bunch of other stuff that all have to be put into one circuit that is tested. If that got disturbed somehow, that may be causing the problem. It sounds like the dinger may be the seat belt dinger, which normally will onloy go off for the drivers side, but if SRS circuit is messed up, it may go off for notification. There might not even be a Check or Malfunction Ligth as Air Bags might not throw code, but I would suggest starting out by getting the codes pulled. Any Advance auto or Auto Zone will do this for free.
If you want to try to reset the circuit and see if you can get the dinger to stopp going off, which I am not really thinking is the best way to go as the Air Bag/SRS circuit is so complicated only certified Techs with a lot of training can sign off on them and it is a legal binding form that they sign off on. You never know if the air bag will pop out while you are driving. I just do no, and few people do, know the circuit well enoguh to say things like that will not happen.
At least if the codes get checked first, you can see if there is a code for the AB/SRS sytem because the dinger is going to probably throw a code because it is malfunctioning and it is part of the circuit.
However, you might get away with dis-connecting the battery for a minute then re-connecting it to see if it will clear the problem and stop the dinger. But, I don't think this is the best idea as The AB/SRS is a safety issue that few techs can really answer to its proper function without testing the car in person and with certification.
I hope this information helps.