Seat belt light flashing

[RyDog]

Hello, I just recently bought a 99 4runner and am so far pretty happy with it. I did have a question though since this is my first 4runner or Toyota for that matter.

When someone is sitting in the seat it still flashes until they put on their seatbelt and then stops blinking like it should. BUT, If nothing/nobody is in the passenger seat (or in the backseat, totally empty) to trigger the seat belt warning light (the one in the middle of the dash above the stereo) why does it continue to flash? I don't think it is supposed to but just wanted to check.

Is there something I should be looking for that is a common issue? I know that there is the seat weight sensor, maybe that has gone bad or disconnected? I don't want to just bypass anything since it would affect the air bags and I know about the simple black tape fix but just wondering if there was something else.

 

[jeremyc74]

Sounds like the seat sensor has gone bad. There should be a connector under the seat with a couple of wires in it. If it's connected like it's supposed to be, try unplugging it and see if the problem stops. I'm not sure if the sensors are normally open or normally closed, but if it's failed closed unplugging it will stop the flashing.

I hate blinking lights that serve no purpose, so that would drive me nuts.

 

[RyDog]

Thanks for the reply! It seems like most have the opposite problem with the light based on searching the forums. I will take a look as see what I can find.