ArcticFox

I emailed Brandywine about the cost of a Zoom child seat for my kid. They tell me that Porsche discontinued it.....so wtf am i supposed to do?

I know I can use any car seat i want, but i am concerned about the airbag. I have purchased the airbag deactivation unit from Gert in anticipation of getting a Zoom seat but have not installed it yet (will do this weekend)....which brings up another question which I will mention later.

The airbag deactivation unit turns off the airbag when the male part of the buckle is inserted into it (after programming from Porsche (will be done next Weds)). But, the car seat i have does not have the extra buckle part....

So, do i go to a junk yard and try to find an old seat belt and hope I can find one that will insert and "work" in the deactivation device? How will i know that is IS working? Damn. What have you guys done that DO NOT have the Zoom, Prince, or other Prosche child car seat??? Help me out here.

The other question is this. When installing the airbag deactivation device, I know there are some wires that must be attached to the seat wiring harness. Any idea on where to plug it in? I have removed the drivers seat a few times and noticed that there are a few "extra" places you could insert another plug into the harness...just curious exactly WHERE this plugs into the harness. If you know, I would apprecaite it as i plan to do it myself....I like to do as much as i can myself as it increases my knowledge of the car and also gets me outta the house for a while!

TIA for ANY feedback.....Tim

arenared

If you are in the US, the dealer should install the deactivation bar as a warranty item. It will also require some PST2 kind of activation. They also log this in the big Porsche database in the sky. You also have to sign some kind of waiver. They will only do this once per vehicle. At least, this was the case a few years ago for me. The only catch is that you didn't buy it from them, so they may give you a hassle. I don't think this is a DIY due to the computer activation part.

When the deactivation bar is properly installed and you have the buckle plugged in, the airbag light will flash for 30 seconds to remind you it's installed/activated. The buckle is not a Porsche buckle. It's much wider. If I get a chance, later this evening, I can take a picture of the buckle. I took mine off the Zoom seat, so I could use it with other car seats since actually the Zoom is too big for my daughter, but I bought the Zoom since it was the cheapest seat to get the deactivation bar/installation.

ArcticFox

Cool. Good info, thanks. I will inquire about the "warranty" install process. Although I did not buy the unit from them, I am pretty sure it is a porsche part, so I don't why this owuld be an issue. If it is, then I will make them put their own in and just sell theone I got I guess.

Thanks for the info! I will ask them what to do about the buckle as there MUST be an option being as they don't even sell the seat anymore! Tim

Shrews

Try any of the porsche dismantlers for an old porsche male buckle and you are good to go. FYI Britax is the maker of the zoom seat.

ArcticFox

Roger that Shrews. I have a Britax right now, but I was just thinking of buying the Zoom so I could have the buckle...I aint thrilled about "rigging it" to work...oh well.

Shrews

just me talking here, but.... $5-10 for an old buckle vs $250+ for a seat just to get the buckle and i'll go the cheapy route. I seem to recall that departstop.com had the seats though if thats what you want.... I ended up cutting the buckle off my britax (w/ a porsche sticker) roundabout and am using it on the new Britax "bodyguard" booster. It offers true side impact protection for the body and head. A friend of ours in Atlanta barrel rolled a suburban 3 times and her kids walked away from it in these seats, it was enough for me to buy one the next day.

arenared

Here's a pic of the buckle. Anyone recognize it? Someone mentioned using an old male Porsche buckle. It is definitely not the current Porsche buckle or anything I recall seeing.

ArcticFox

Hmmm. What I am concerned about now is finding a buckle that will work. that is why I wanted to just buy the damn seat and be done with it. I do not have the time to chase my tail for a few weeks looking for a fricken $2 buckle. BUT, I guess I can just take the deactivation device with me and test fit a bunch of different ones....then hope that the one that fits actually fits well enough to trigger the resistor in there...although it should if it snaps in well.

nova996

I have the Porsche OE seat which we used only once and then I ended up getting GT3 seats. PM if you are interested.

ArcticFox

Nova, I am talking about a "Child seat" for the car....not "adult" seats.

nova996

Yes, that's what I meant, sorry I wasn't clear. I have the Porsche/Britax OE child seat with the bar/wiring to disable the airbag.

ArcticFox

Damn. I will PM ya......thanks.

arenared

Well, I did some looking around. It's not a BMW buckle, nor Audi, nor VW, nor Mercedes. I'm wondering if it might be some funky buckle that is not used in the US for some reason? I would imagine it's German...

aron in toronto

Someone posted long ago on renntech that they modified a buckle to fit into the deactivation bar so that they could use seats other than those from Porsche. It looked like they notched a earlier porsche seatbelt buckle to match the profile of the child seat buckle. The only thing is that you need to remimber to remove the buckle when the child seat is not in use as it won't be connected to the child seat like the factory version. And of course this is done at your own risk.

Link for Porsche child seat for sale:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...5313&hl=buckle
link for buckle tips:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...wtopic=206&hl=

Aron in Toronto

ArcticFox

Thanks for the info Aron!