I was talking to a local installer today about getting my Mark II installed, and he let me know an interesting tidbit that I though many here may be interested in. Aparently, many 2000 and above model vehicles from GM have the airbag controls built into the same box housing the stock radio. They wern't sure if it applied to my 2000 Saturn, so a quick trip over to the dealer saved me some hassle. Lucially mine isn't this way though. Unless a replacenemt control is installed, airbags will no longer work once the factory stereo is pulled. And also theres a slight danger in setting off the airbags when pulling the stereo.

This is the first I have heard of this, but glad I know now.

that sounds like a good reason not to buy GM

I am very skeptical of this.

I would think that all of the government safety regulations regarding airbags would require that the electronics be wired better than that. Are you sure your installer's not just assuming that's the case because he ruined someone's airbag by blowing a fuse during the install or something?

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Tony Fabris

Would be pretty good anti-theft device, though - you rip out the stereo and get sandbagged in the side of the head as both airbags fire

Seriously, this sounds dodgy. Given that the stereo is highly likely to be stolen from a vehicle, you are talking about disabling (effectively by design) a fixed safety device required by law in some states. Plus, if there is a risk of accidental detonation by manipulation of a different electrical subsystem within the car, you are talking about a designed-in subsystem inter-dependency which must surely hurt reliability. Not good in an automobile, especially in a safety-critical area.

I would get hold of a circuit diagram for your vehicle (you could get hold of the factory manual, which they are required to lodge a copy of with the SAE) and check out the radio wiring.

Alternatively, you could pull the fuse, install the empeg, replace the fuse, then deliberately crash the car to test it, which would mean that everyone on this board with a Saturn would be eternally grateful for your selfless sacrifice for the cause

Surely worth an empeg award of valour. Hey! Why don't we have an annual awards ceremony for this BBS? We could hand out awards for "Most spectacular crash in which the empeg survived", "Most Frequently Asked Question" (going to the last person who asked it, of course), or "Largest Number Of Posts in One Calender Year".

What should we call the awards? My money goes on the Fabris (since we couldn't call them the "Tonys" (TM) anyway). Yeah, since the Academy awards the Oscar, the empeg Car BBS should award the "Fabris" awards each year. Now what should they look like?

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

FWIW -

A friend of mine owns a car audio shop, and several weeks ago we were talking, when he mentioned something related.

He said that in some of the newer cars, there were non-related systems wired through the radio. I don't recall which car, but he said there was one that had the power locks/windows wired in. No factory radio, no power locks/windows without a rewire. Talk about a PITA.

So, while I'm not sure about the airbag, someone's definitely doing it with other systems. I'll see if I can get ahold of him and get some more info.



Bill B.
Mk.2 SN 080000183 - 38 GB / Green

yea.. from playing around with a couple cars with airbag systems.. they were all independant, and wired very carefully so such an accident wasn't possible.

however.. i have seen factory alarm systems wired into the head unit.. this is common in honda civic's (and probably other models) its' well known, and if you check cruchfield, they make an adapter cable to power the head unit, tucked somewhere inside the dashboard so you can change out the deck..

from my talk with a couple installers.. if cruchfield doesn't make such an adapter cable.. there probably isn't anything wired funny. they are very quick to come out with this kind of hack cable to fix head unit replacement problems.

12gig red mk2 -- 080000125

Yeah, I'd buy that. Alarms or power windows dependent on the factory radio, that I could understand. Dastardly move on the part of the car manufacturer, but I could see it as a possibility.

It's just the idea of the airbag being dependent on the radio... that sounds farfetched to me.

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Tony Fabris