Setting off sensors

[Murphman]

I recently detailed a Mercedes SUV and set off a sensor by removing the seats to clean and extract the carpet. I know that a few of you don`t care to remove seats for various reasons, but I swear by doing that for a thorough job. Any way you choose to go, does anyone have any idea which vehicles out there will no doubt set off dash warnings if you remove seating areas?



So far, that is the only vehicle I`ve had any problem like that out of a lot. It could be the higher end types, but I don`t really know. Any of the guys that have been detailing for a while or various types of vehicles have any experience with this, and which ones will lead to issues like this?



Btw, the SUV was taken to the dealer and easily remedied thankfully. I was also up front and honest with my customer, in that it was most likely my fault. The customer has already asked me to detail the same SUV again, in the next month for the possibility of an early Winter (god I hope not, not ready for Winter).



Thanks for the help!!

[kylew3]

Perhaps if the seat has an embedded airbag, then disconnecting it may cause a fault with the airbag system.

[Murphman]

I can`t say no to that. I am a firefighter in my regular career and know very well that mfr`s are putting airbags everywhere. You may be right on. That would be the only area I removed and would be the obvious choice. I just want to avoid triggering these warnings again if I can help it. The next customer may not be so forgiving.



Thanks for the reply!!

[cjbigcog]

When I remove the seats from my Mazda3, I always disconnect the battery first (per the shop manual).

Never any warnings or error codes. I just reset the clock and radio presets.

[paul34]

Right, it was probably the sensor for the airbag. It doesn`t really "break" anything per se, but for whatever reason the computer will usually freak out if the sensor has been disconnected and reconnected. Most likely, all the dealer did was basically reset the codes.



Normally I would just suggest unhooking the battery for 15-30 minutes then reconnecting it, but being a Mercedes, that could cause a host of other problems as well :D . Better to let the dealer deal with it when its still under warranty.

[jedovaty]

Don`t go disconnecting the battery without talking to the owners first. When my battery is disconnected, I loose my stored stuff in the nav system, loose some items in the trip computer I`m monitoring, etc. These are minor and probably a flaw specific to my car, but if I were asked, I could at least write a few things down before they are immediately deleted! :)