Seat Belt Warning Light & Chirp - Troublshooting

[muttleytm]

I have a 2013 CX-5 Touring.

Recently with nothing or no one on the passenger seat and just the driver in the driver's seat the seat belt indicator light on the dash comes on and sometimes also there is also a beep.

It seems to be intermittent as well. Yesterday it did it earlier in the day. Then later in the day it did it again, but I don't think right when I started it. Today I got in and the light and/or beep didn't go on when I started out driving the car. However, after about 20-30 minutes it lit up and there was beeping. Possibly it started on my return trip home.

I tried holding the seatbelt and pushing it into the buckle as I was driving. Sometimes the light and sound would stop for while and other times, even with keeping pressure on the belt holding it in the alarm would go on for a while and off for a while. I was sitting in the seat for the whole time.

I have just seen a little on this and was told to replace the pressure sensor of the seatbelt buckle or clean out inside the buckle. I didn't see any debris in the buckle. I could spray something in it, but not sure what. Contact cleaner maybe. Searched online and lots of people suggesting soap and water. That would be fine for the outside, but doesn't seem like a way to clean inside. For that matter I have no idea just what sort of mechanism is in the buckle or exactly where the weight sensor in the seat is.

Seems like there should be a troubleshooting procedure on how to figure out the cause of the problem.

 

[Evess1961]

I have a 2013 CX-5 Touring.

Recently with nothing or no one on the passenger seat and just the driver in the driver's seat the seat belt indicator light on the dash comes on and sometimes also there is also a beep.

It seems to be intermittent as well. Yesterday it did it earlier in the day. Then later in the day it did it again, but I don't think right when I started it. Today I got in and the light and/or beep didn't go on when I started out driving the car. However, after about 20-30 minutes it lit up and there was beeping. Possibly it started on my return trip home.

I tried holding the seatbelt and pushing it into the buckle as I was driving. Sometimes the light and sound would stop for while and other times, even with keeping pressure on the belt holding it in the alarm would go on for a while and off for a while. I was sitting in the seat for the whole time.

I have just seen a little on this and was told to replace the pressure sensor of the seatbelt buckle or clean out inside the buckle. I didn't see any debris in the buckle. I could spray something in it, but not sure what. Contact cleaner maybe. Searched online and lots of people suggesting soap and water. That would be fine for the outside, but doesn't seem like a way to clean inside. For that matter I have no idea 99 nights in the forest just what sort of mechanism is in the buckle or exactly where the weight sensor in the seat is.

Seems like there should be a troubleshooting procedure on how to figure out the cause of the problem.

It sounds like the problem is either with the seat belt buckle switch or the occupant sensor. Both can cause the seat belt light and beep to appear even when no one is sitting or the seat belt is properly fastened.

 

[muttleytm]

Yes, but what is the troubleshooting procedure, how to test. how to clean inside the buckle, etc. I don't want to just replace those two parts blindly without knowing which one or why.

Sounds like the sensor in the buckle is a Hall effect sensor and i don't imagine the buckle comes apart, but maybe it does. The passenger seat has nothing on it, but maybe it is triggering it somehow. So that is a couple more parts to potentially replace.

I'd like to know how to determine where the issue is. In the last day or so it has not given me any trouble. That also complicates trying to figure out what the problem is, but might be a clue as to what it is though.

 

[sm1ke]

My wife once spilled coffee into her lap and it got into the seatbelt buckle. She cleaned up the outside but left the inside alone, and didn't tell me about it for a few days. It got sticky and sometimes took a few tries to get it to latch. To clean it, I first sprayed a bit of electrical contact cleaner, small amounts at a time. I buckled and unbuckled the seatbelt a few times immediately after spraying the cleaner. After that, I sprayed a bit of 3-in-One Silicone Lubricant into the latch and onto the buckle, then buckled and unbuckled a bunch. I repeated this for a couple of days and it worked great. Not sure if this would solve your issue, but it should eliminate a dirty buckle as a possible culprit.