2nd Seat Removal (2023)

[D__J]

Hi, I followed some older model posts on 2nd row seat removal and it was real easy on my 2023 Expedition Xlt (4 bolts each, front bolt T55, back 1/2 inch).

No issues, except for the dash seat belt error on startup and a constant airbag warning light. Also getting a Service notification on the Ford app. I figured all this would occur.

Question: is there a way to rewire or a plug I can make or buy to counter act the warning and trick the truck into thinking the seats are still installed?

Thank you in advance.

 

[5280tunage]

Wow, I'm hoping you disconnected the battery with the pre-tensioners on this thing. I've seen posts where those go off on folks if they disconnect them wrong. It also appears you don't have the airbag seatbelts so I suppose that's a good thing. As far as I know, given that these are all prewired for the airbags and pretensioners, I doubt there's a way to disable that. I haven't seen anything on Forscan or and "bypass" harnesses or anything. My guess is the tests are more than a load resistor or something of that nature that would make it easy to bypass.

Trying to get a queen size mattress or something in there ?

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

You're making me feel lucky I have a '20. I didn't get any of those warnings when I removed two 2nd row seats this past fall. One thing I did for a separate reason, is to pull the under hood 50A fuse that controls the 2nd and 3rd row power functions. I pulled it because I mount a "gun box" over the top of the folded 3rd row and I don't want any inadvertent raising of the 3rd row; but, the same fuse handles 2nd row power fold. So, the connectors I separated under the 2nd row seats were already depowered.

It's possible that the seats include sensors that indicate whether the 2nd row seats are folded or not. If they do, any incendiary belts or bags associated with those seats are probably unenabled when the seats are folded. If the fuse that powers the fold sensor is pulled....that might fix your bag light problem. Pure speculation on my part. It's either that, or, my '20 doesn't have any second row incendiaries.

 

[chrjack1973]

My understanding (from 2 Ford dealerships I talked to about this) is that your front air bags are no now longer working in the event of a collision ... and that any car insurance in the event of an accident would be voided.

I'm looking to get the 2nd row seat removed myself (2022 Max) and am investigating leaving the seatbelts there with extenders in them -- to trick FORSCAN into thinking they are intact leaving my front air bag active.

Because of the pre-tensioner risk, I'm looking to have a garage or dealership do it ... but the couple I have talked to are reluctant....


Any advice or random thoughts appreciated.

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

I'm not sure what the dealership is basing their "all air bags are disabled" comment; but, the logic and control behind an air bag warning light are a LOT more complicated than that. Air bag lights are "master alarm" types of indicators that are triggered by a large number of failures, disconnections, etc. While I don't have the logic in front of me, I can guarantee you that disconnecting one air bag in a car will NOT automatically disable the rest of the air bags in a vehicle. Any vehicle. Think of the liability exposure any automobile manufacturer would have.

None-the-less, the "master warning" nature of the light means that you really don't know what all could be causing it to illuminate, and should resolve it.

Did you try pulling the 2nd/3rd row seat control fuse to see if that affects the bag light?

Additional question: How many connectors (not pins, actual connectors) did you have to disconnect under each seat position? If the seats themselves contain incendiaries, the incendiaries will have their own dedicated, normally yellow, connectors. Mine ('20MY) do NOT have any incendiaries. If your seats do not contain incendiaries, I would expect that the air bag light is triggered because the bag module does non know whether the seats are folded or not; so, it doesn't know whether to trigger 2nd row incendiaries or not. The bag module utilizes a combination of optical and limit sensors to sense presence and location of occupants in various locations and even the sizes of the occupants to determine what bags should deploy and at what speed (in some cases) given the type of impact.

 

[jdwarren]

Any further developments on this @Derek-Jecxz ? I'm about to purchase a 24 and would very much like the option of removing the middle second row seat for easier access to the third row, but I don't want any drama from the BCM or dashboard warning lights.

 

[D__J]

Any further developments on this @Derek-Jecxz ? I'm about to purchase a 24 and would very much like the option of removing the middle second row seat for easier access to the third row, but I don't want any drama from the BCM or dashboard warning lights.

Hi, I spoke with my dealership and they referred me to a company that does work for police vehicles (Ford) and I was told there was no easy way to bypass thr dash warning and the front airbags may not trigger due to the fault created by removing the 2nd row seats. I offered to pay to resolve (an electronic bypass), no go, they didn't want to touch it even with a signed release (for legal reasons). I understood. So I put the seats back, unfortunately. Sorry I have no better news.