Seat Belt Warning Light Permanently Lit

Looking for some help!

The seatbelt warning light in my ‘96 RMW is permanently lit, no matter whether the driver seat belt is fastened (it used to switch off right after I fastened my seat belt).

Any tips on:
- Either a repair so the light functions? My mechanic’s checked all the wiring so it seems like it’s a bad sensor of some sort.
- Or how to turn the light off? It bugs me that I have a red warning light on all the time

Thank you!

The connector is in the female part of the buckle. It should change its state when the belt is inserted. The connector is on the left side of the drive shaft tunnel under the center part of the seat. You can check it for continuity with a VOM.

Thanks Fred! Assuming the solve if it's not working is to get a new female part of the buckle?

andrewchayes1 wrote:

Thanks Fred! Assuming the solve if it's not working is to get a new female part of the buckle?

Go to a local savage yard and unbolt the short buckle/belt from the floor and unplug the wire. Should be the same in a Caprice/Roadmaster/Olds Custom Cruiser and possibly other GM cars of the era. The hardest part is getting the bolt out, which is a large torx-headed bolt going into the floor. You can get the torx sockets cheap at Harbour Freight, and take yours off first for practice. If you have a short breaker bar or hollow jack handle to slip over your wrench for extra leverage, do that...those bolts are TIGHT, but once it breaks loose...no big deal.

If it is the buckle, try to find one that has the same color cover. You can paint the cover to match if you can not find a color match. I believe the unbuckled state is an open, because the light is lit when the connector is removed. You may be able to short the connector, if you can not find one that is the same color.