1995 Porsche 993 Carrera airbag disactivation

[indra gunawan]

Is it possible to disactivate both airbag on a 1995 Porsche 993 Carrera ?

[Don Plumley]

Yes. You can either remove the triggering unit or the airbags themselves. Be careful though - they are explosive devices. Best is to disconnect the battery for 30 minutes before working on them.

[indra gunawan]

Thank you Don, but could you explain more detail on the procedure on that.
For example - where is the triggering unit.
PS : there is only 1 Porsche center in my country, and they are not as expert as expected.

[Don Plumley]

Do you want to remove the airbags or just disable them?

[indra gunawan]

Disable all the time, but i don't plan to remove it.

[Don Plumley]

There are two airbags - Driver and Passenger. Not sure why you would disable but not remove. Typically, we take them out for weight savings and/or different steering wheel.

There is a company in the states that sells an airbag disconnect swtich. That might be the easiest way. I'll search later to see if I can find it.

Before working on airbags, disconnect the negative battery cable for a minimum of 30 minutes to prevent accidental discharge.

To disable both airbags, the easiest thing is to disconnect the triggering unit, under the dash in the center of the car. It's plainly labeled. You can selectively disconnect either airbag by unplugging it. In either case, you will probably trigger the airbag warning lamp in your instrument panel. Easiest way to disable that is to remove the bulb.

Consider getting a set of factory workshop manuals. And www.p-car.com/diy is another good resource.

[indra gunawan]

I got already the factory manual, but is doesn't cover the airbag disactivation and i ask already the Porsche Center in my country, but they aren't sure about this.
The reason i want to diactivate the airbag is because sometimes i bring my child riding this car.
Anyway, thank you very much Don for your explanation.

[Don Plumley]

That makes sense. You want to disable only the pax airbag then.

Two ways - take out the glovebox and find the wire that attaches to the airbag and unplug. Or go to www.airbagonoff.com or similar place and order an airbag switch.

[indra gunawan]

Thanks Don, good suggestion

[grmnxtc]

IIRC...

If the dealer has a "Hammer" or the PST2 tool (which they should as a dealer!!), then I think they can go into the Airbag section and permanently disable the airbags.

Note that this is a one time deal... I don't think you can re-enable them without spending $$$ on a new airbag controller.


Edit:

Actually I just read up on the diagnosis section, and it looks like the "lock" for the airbags is for new controllers to "enable" them. Maybe someone else has a better answer regarding the Hammer useage, but I would think that it should be possible. After all the RS version had a non-airbag wheel but does have passenger airbags - no?