Disabling the Belt Reminder/Dinger/Noise

I would like to disable the belt reminder/dinger/noise (whatchamacallit). The owners manual says that Mazda (I was bored while waiting ) can disable it for you. Since my car is out of warrantee, Im not sure if they will still do it. Also, if it is a simple process, I rather do it myself. Just to be clear, I still want the dash to display if a seat belt if on/off, I just dont want the annoying reminder/ding/noise to go along with it; otherwise, I can prob just jump the trigger wires in the belt receiver but I do want to keep the dash light. Also, it is not as easy as just listen for it b/c it only makes noise when the belts are off and you are at speed. Unless you can drive with your head under the dash and eyes off the road, it would be kind of hard to identify exactly which module is making the noise. Didnt find much with searching. Anyone know how to do it? Am I the only one annoyed by this?

Please, no comments on why one should or should not do this and no seat belt nanny comments.

Ya it's annoying when you've got something heavy on the seat and the car thinks it's a person! My Toyota Matrix had a sequence you could do with the ignition and the lock buttons with the door open, I think, something like that, that would turn it off. I haven't been able to find anything like that for Mazda, but if the dealer can do it, it might something similar. May want to call a dealership and ask to speak with a tech and see if there is a similar code. My Toyota had a bunch of them, from how to change the operation of the auto door locks to how long the interior light stayed on... it was great, wish more cars had codes like that.

Searched a bit more for Mazda3 and found this below. Looks like only the dealer can do it and it sounds like those out of warranty may get billed for 1-1.5 hrs work for <10 min reprogramming...

EDIT: It also seems a lot of dealers will flat-out refuse to disable it due to liability concerns.

http://www.mazda3 forums.com/index....and press tick. 6. Verify operation. [/quote]

I would suggest trying out the above mazda3 'temporary' disable. If it works, then easiest is to have a push button to simulate the 'seat belt switch'. label it 'Push for 2 seconds to disable set belt warning temporarily'.

Mine quits dinging after about 30 seconds. It's probably a programming resolution only because both the seat buckle and weight sensors are used. Maybe you can just unplug the harness under the seat, but then you run the risk of forgetting about it and the airbag not deploying with a passenger.

skyhawk said:

I would suggest trying out the above mazda3 'temporary' disable. If it works, then easiest is to have a push button to simulate the 'seat belt switch'. label it 'Push for 2 seconds to disable set belt warning temporarily'.

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This won't work b/c you'd have to push this button for +2 secs 'before' you start the car. Unless you made a habit of doing that, this will be more annoying than not!

flcruising said:

Mine quits dinging after about 30 seconds. It's probably a programming resolution only because both the seat buckle and weight sensors are used. Maybe you can just unplug the harness under the seat, but then you run the risk of forgetting about it and the airbag not deploying with a passenger.

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There’s a discussion in the Mazda3 forum about this and whether or not this is completely true. Verdict is still out there if the airbag system really uses the weight and/or belt sensor, or if it has its own sensor to detect if it should go off - I'm more inclined to believe it is an independent system but then again electronics now-a-days are so integrated. An easy way to validate this is to ask members, who’ve been in an accident, to post pics and confirm if the passenger airbag deployed when there was no passenger in the seat. A work around method, which was advised by some dealer, is to inset a spare belt clip to similar belt in. This seems inconvenient b/c I actually do use my seat belt and will have to consistently swap out the spare belt clip, not to mention having another 'thing' lying around.

Also, I think the device that makes the ‘ding’ noise is the same component that triggers the turn signal ‘tick’. I suspect this b/c when the dinger is going off, the turn signal is not audible, BUT this could be b/c they both produce sound at the same interval and the dinger > tick.

Perhaps an idea is to combine that two. You can see in the buckle receive end has two wires that prob detect a close loop when the male end is inserted. Perhaps an option is to jump the two wires with a switch/button (momentary?) so that if you do take your belt off while in motion (and the bugger starts to go off), flip/trigger said switch to trick it that it is back in. Coin it the STHU switch -we are a family oriented forum

The other option is to jump the wire permanently to simulate buckle always in. This will provide the safest scenario with regard to airbag deployment. However, ideally, I would still like the dash light, not that this is really needed b/c I can see and we always do buckle in anyway.


EDIT: Another thought. Since the dinger noise ‘may’ be coming from the same device as the turn signal (if not then prob near/around it), an option would be to narrow down the device base off the turn signal noise and remove it (you don’t have to be at speed to hear the ‘tick’). If this subsequently disables BOTH turn signal AND seat belt noise, then we have the culprit. Next step would be to identify which wire feed is from the seat belt vs turn signal and snip snip. Thoughts?

Silentnoise713 said:

EDIT: Another thought. Since the dinger noise may be coming from the same device as the turn signal (if not then prob near/around it), an option would be to narrow down the device base off the turn signal noise and remove it (you dont have to be at speed to hear the tick). If this subsequently disables BOTH turn signal AND seat belt noise, then we have the culprit. Next step would be to identify which wire feed is from the seat belt vs turn signal and snip snip. Thoughts?

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It will be easy if you decide to do 'snip snip'. All that is needed is to locate the 'dinger' module.. and reroute the signal going to it. Of course there is the challenge of back breaking contortioning as you trace wires or dismantle the dash -- depending on where the bell is located. Come to think of it, it is not the easy way. I already broke plastic parts just exploring how to replace the lamp at the glove compartment.


What about when you hear the bell, you press a button and the sound disappears until the next time you start the car? If this works for you, then a relay latch circuit can be used to simulate 'fastening' of the seat belt. Press a button, relay operates the seatbelt contacts, and stays that way till engine is turned off.

Silentnoise713 said:

EDIT: Another thought. Since the dinger noise ‘may’ be coming from the same device as the turn signal (if not then prob near/around it), an option would be to narrow down the device base off the turn signal noise and remove it (you don’t have to be at speed to hear the ‘tick’). If this subsequently disables BOTH turn signal AND seat belt noise, then we have the culprit. Next step would be to identify which wire feed is from the seat belt vs turn signal and snip snip. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

So much for listening for the turn signal ‘tick’ to locate the module. From digging into the Mz3 forums, both ‘ding’ and ‘tick’ are indeed coming from the same device.. BOTH sounds are electronically controlled and produced by an electronic module! Prob the same that requires programming to remove the belt minder, along with controlling everything else in the car. I hate that everything is electronically controlled… The only options is to trick it by sending making a closed circuit. I may just jump the wires since this only concerns the front passenger seat.