Ford Techs: persistant airbag light after switching to racing seats

I'm trying to get a Ford tech's opinion before heading to Ford on this one. I have a persistant airbag idiot line on in the dash.

Last year the front seats were replaced with Corbeau lightweight racing seats. The OEM seats came with side airbags.

When the new seats were installed, a resistor for each seat was installed to fool the system into thinking the side airbags were still installed. Little yellow plugs that fit into the harness connector. Slide rail sensors, the bladder for the passenger seat was installed.

I've read a TON of material online. Some say only Ford can get rid of the idiot light. Others are saying the install is faulty (with no clue where to start looking).

I could ignore the idiot light, but I'd rather have the DASH airbags work in a collision. It's not clear if they are active with the idiot light present. Also, when wearing the aftermarket harness and not the shoulder bag, I get those stupid chimes. You need to get rid of the airbag idiot light FIRST before the sequence to turn off seatbelt chimes will work.

Any ideas?

No idea on the airbag light, but I do believe the entire system is disabled with the dash light on...

Perhaps you can track down a couple of male seat belt latches and just latch them into the standard lap belt. That should take care of that.

This is more about KNOWING that certain systems are active or not John, but I appreciate the feedback. When racing I simply latch the shoulder belt behind the seat to kill the chime, but I really want to be sure the dash bags are working with or without the shoulder belt...

I hear ya! Hopefully you can get somebody to help you figure it out and not cost a lot in the process!

Really need to hook a scanner to it and see what codes are present... Once u have DTC's you can address the problem...

John, of course all I have is the traditional scanner which doesn't have the capability to read the airbag codes (they are enhanced OBDII codes, not the SCT scanner type of OBDII codes). I'm checking with Zach or JJ to see if they have the right unit.

My cuzzie, the Ford guru, says:

Anytime mods are done you're roll'n the dice that the stuff will work. Is it the correct seats/harnesses for the make/model/year car? Did everything work OK at first or was it bad from the initial install? I would check all electrical connections that were disturbed. It's a possiblity a pin in a connector could be broken or bent over.
I would first start with the seat manufacturer. Ask if it's possible to have a defective sensor? Would they supply new ones?

If the seat mfg. is a bust... They'll have to go to a Ford dealer pay and have the IDS hooked up to diagnose the problem. Using the IDS they might have to reset the system? One thing for sure...The IDS should pin-point the problem.

John may want to talk with Bob, he has an OBD II scanner and can probably help narrow things down for you.

If u can't find anyone with the right scan tool your more then welcome to swing by my work on a Saturday... Perk of working at a ford dealer

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The car is going over to JJ's for a clutch and some electrical work on Friday, and I'll have him scan for a code. At least that will give me some ideas on the next step. I think Zach has a scanner at his shop too, so that's another option. Cammed06GT, if I hit some dead ends, I will take you up on your offer!!