GTI Seats

[nadlad]

i got a SE TDI 02 plate with the standard black seats i was wondering if i could swap them for the GTI style seats, however the airbag connectors at the bottom are different on my standard seats to the GTI, is there anyway of getting a adapter so i can use the existing plug from the car into the GTi seats, can anyone shed any light on this topic thanks

[Mantamad]

Are the wire colours and number of wires the same? if so (and taking a guess here) you could probably connect with spade connectors.

[nadlad]

i aint bought the seats as of yet, however was at a scrapers earlier today and saw one of the breakers tryign to put the gti seats into a 52plate golf 1.6 SE as the dog had chewed the rear seats so it dawned on me then, he claimed that the seat didnt fit due to a different connector, is there a way of gettign a bypass thing for read up about em elswhere

[Phil_M]

Vw changed the connectors after about 2000 i think as they had trouble with them coming loose esp on the 3 door ones. You can get the connectors from vw and you just need to cut the old ones off and solder the new ones on, or you could even swap the connectors from your old seats to the new ones.

HTH

[nadlad]

so do u think that if i get the seats out of a car post 2000 they will be same connectors.

am after the blue/black recaros.

Would it be better to cut the wire off at the car end or off the seat, just thinking if i cut the seat wire then there will be splicing of the airbag harness, so it might be better to snip at the car end and and buy the required plastic connector from the dealers.

also what do i need to do in order to not get the airbag light come on, do i disconnect the battery  when i take the the seat off ?

[Ivor Mk4 Turbo]

You have to disconnect the battery to take the steering wheel airbag off, so I assume it's the same for the seat one?? 

[nadlad]

yeah but what do i do then, do i cut the seat wire or the car bit wire?

is it better to splice the seat or the car bit?

[Phil_M]

I would say that the connectors would be the same if you got the seats from a similar aged car, But if they are not i would just swap the seat connectors from your old seats to the new ones, this way it wont cost you, and you can sell on your old seats on.

Make sure you use heat shrink sleeving when soldering them on. Some people say that you should earth yourself when doing this as a static charge could set the bag off, But then i didn't and i know many others that don't and have had no probs.

Here's a how to for the front seats if ya gonna do it.

Disconnect the battery and allow 1/2 hour before you unplug the air bag harness.

On the front of the seat where you grab the lever to move it forward and back you will notice 2 nuts take those off...should be a 13mm socket or wrench. move the seat all the way forward as well as tilting it forward using the side knob. you will see the plastic pieces that cover the medal rails. find the 2 small circles and pry out the piece(jewelers screwdriver would work well here. you will need a star screwdriver to get the final to screws out carefully pull the plastic pieces off. move the seat all the way back and it should start to come out.

once its off the rails you will need to lean it back so you can unplug the seatbelt/airbag/seat heater harnesses as well as a white connector piece(if you aren't carefull you will break this white piece.) once they are all unplugged pull the seat out and repeat on the other seat.

[topher]

so do u think that if i get the seats out of a car post 2000 they will be same connectors.

am after the blue/black recaros.

im sure that around the same time they changed the connectors.. the standard trim for gti's changed from recaros to "vw sport" seats.. so its unlikely you'll find what you're after. just swap connectors

[nadlad]

cheers phil , so basically all i need to do is swap the connectors from my current seat onto the one on my new seat its a kind of like a flap connector with a sort of liek hud on it do i just marry up the colours liek for like i think there blue, brown and white or something.....

do i just snip em and then solder the two wires together,  and use heat shrink tube on the new connector it shud be fine?


i been told by vw that they dont do any adapters and they dont advise cutting and swappign coz resistance in the wires can lead to settign the airbag off