2007 Suzuki XL7

I have this airbag light on problem stated below. It seems it should be a safety recall. Possible solution for Airbag light on Seat Sensor Ok, I'm going to ask a couple of questions and hope that [XXX] or someone with knowledge chimes in. I originally had this problem in my wife's car a couple of months ago, airbag light on, clock flashing after going over a bump with my 240lb ass in the passenger seat. We got home, turned the car off, restarted it and it went through the power-up self test I guess and the fault cleared itself. The other day it started up again, no bump but still had the fat guy in the seat. I noticed that I only saw this issue referring to 2004 model xl7s. I've looked and haven't seen 2003s, or 2005s. The TSB for this issue ONLY refers to 2004 models and says that this is the updated part number 86605-53JA1. If you look at this site that has them in stock: [XXX] It says that part fits 2004-2006. I found the published date for the TSB somewhere online as 12/2004 so they apparently knew the problem early, made an update/change and moved on. Probably changing the design sometime mid-year 04? I don't like the idea of spending $1400 for a part. So, I checked [XXX] and found a nice passenger seat from a 2005 locally for about $75 in a boneyard. Does anyone have any advice why swapping in a 2005 seat (or just the base if the color is wrong, whatever) is a bad idea? Does anyone know if there has to be any special dealer magic/ calibration/ etc done if I put this in myself? I haven't yet had the time to pull the seat out of the car, flip it over and check things out. But I'm not super hopeful that I can fix whatever this sensor is since nobody else has posted anything in the last 13 years. Thanks for your interest. VIN [XXX] For reference, Here's the text from the TSB And there is no recall information at Home | National Highway Traffic Safety Admin INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

PASSENGER SIDE SEAT DOES NOT PROPERLY RECOGNIZE PRESENCE OF PASSENGER. SERVICE AIRBAG MESSAGE ON HUD ALERTS FAILURE OF PROPER RECOGNITION. SUSPECT THERE IS MALFUNCTIONING ELECTRICAL/PRESSURE SENSOR. AS ~100LB PASSENGER SHIFTS WEIGHT, PASSENGER AIRBAG INDICATOR WILL TURN OFF/ON. PROBLEM FIRST NOTICED AT ROUGHLY 85K MILES IN 2016. UNABLE TO REPAIR DUE TO LACK OF PARTS. CONCERN IS AIRBAG WILL NOT DEPLOY APPROPRIATELY.

THIS VEHICLE SHOULD BE RECALLED. IT IS A LEMON!! I BOUGHT MY SUZUKI 2 YEARS AGO USED AND HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. I HAVE HAD THE TIMING CHAIN REPLACED. AFTER I GET GAS IT SPUTTERS AND STRUGGLES STARTING. THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT COMES ON AND THE ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED. EVENTUALLY IT JUST STOPS RUNNING. I COULD NOT DRIVE MY SUZUKI MOST OF THE WINTER BECAUSE OF THAT AND NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO FIX IT. THE SUNROOF AND WINDSHIELD LEAK. I HAVE HAD A MECHANIC LOOK AT IT A COUPLE OF TIMES AND IT IS STILL LEAKING. THE PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT DOESN'T WORK. THE TURN SIGNAL DOESN'T WORK. NOW MY SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING. IT IS STUCK AT 80 WHEN IT IS PARKED AND THEN GOES UP FROM THERE WHEN I AM DRIVING IT. WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO STOP WORKING. I AM SO FRUSTRATED, THERE ARE TOO MANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS VEHICLE. IT IS UNSAFE!

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SUZUKI XL7. WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WOULD OCCUR INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE SENSOR WOULD MAKE THE SENSOR READ THE PASSENGER'S WEIGHT INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 125,225.

PASSENGER SIDE SEAT IS NOT RECOGNIZING A PASSENGER IS IN THE SEAT, SO AIR BAG IS OFF AND ALERT LIGHT STAYS ON AND OFF PERIODICALLY. THE LIGHT COMES ON ONCE WE ARE STATIONARY AND MAY GO OFF AND ON AS THE CAR IS IN MOTION. VEHICLE HAS 72200 MILES A AND I AM WORRIED THE AIR BAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IF NEEDED. THE SENSOR IN THE PASSENGER SEAT APPEARS TO NOT WORK AS IT SHOULD.

THE AIRBAG WOULD NOT TURN ON REGARDLESS OF THE WEIGHT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. WHEN INQUIRED WITH DEALER, WE WERE TOLD THERE WASN'T ENOUGH WEIGHT EVEN THOUGH IT RANGED FROM 120- 250. THEN THE AIR BAG INDICATOR CAME ON AND THE AIR BAG ON/OFF PASSENGER LIGHT IS ALWAYS ON OFF, THE AIRBAG ON/OFF LIGHT NEVER GOES ON. NOW THE DEALER IS TELLING US WE NEED TO REPLACE THE PAD IN THE PASSENGER SEAT...PROBABLY, THEY CAN'T BE CERTAIN UNTIL IT'S BEEN CHANGED AT A FEE OF $800. THIS SEEMS TO BE A CONSTANT ISSUE FOR THIS VEHICLE AND THE PLANT THAT IT WAS MADE IN. THE XL7 AND OTHER GM CARS WITH SAME BODY FRAME HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM EXCEPT THE XL7 IS NOT BEING RECALLED. WHY NOT? I FEAR IT'S BECAUSE THE XL7 HAS HAD A SMALLER PRODUCTION THAN OTHER GM CARS AND NOW WITH SUZUKI NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION, WE OWNERS HAVE NO ONE TO INVESTIGATE AND INITIATE A RECALL - ISN'T THIS WHERE/WHEN THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE STEPPING UP? THIS CANNOT BE MEETING MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS. MY RESEARCH SHOWS THESE VEHICLES WERE EFFECTED IN ADDITION TO THE XL7:GMC/ACADIA 2007, SATURN/OUTLOOK 2007 MANUFACTURER: GENERAL MOTORS CORP. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 07V062000 MFG'S REPORT DATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2007 COMPONENT: AIR BAGS: FRONTAL: SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE SUMMARY: ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, THE SENSING AND DIAGNOSTIC MODULE (SDM), WHICH CONTROLS THE FUNCTION OF FRONT AIR BAGS, MAY NOT OPERATE PROPERLY. AS A RESULT, THE FRONT AIR BAGS MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY IN A FRONTAL CRASH. ALSO, THE AIR BAG WARNING LAMP ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL MAY FAIL TO PROVIDE WARNING THAT THE SYSTEM IS INOPERATIVE. CONSEQUENCE: N THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THIS CONDITION COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY TO OCCUPANTS IN THE FRONT SEAT. REMEDY: DEALERS WILL REPROGRAM THE SDM COMPUTER MODULE. WHY IS THE XL7 NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL/ REPAIR/ REPROGRAM? *TR

THE AIR BAG INDICATOR CAME ON AND THEN I NOTICED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHT STAYS IN THE OFF POSITION. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH WEIGHT IS IN THE SEAT. I HAVE A FRIEND THAT WEIGHS ONLY 120 POUNDS, PLUS TWO FULL GROWN BOYS WHO WEIGHT BETWEEN 130 AND 200 POUNDS. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO SITS IN THE SEAT OR HOW MUCH THEY WEIGH THE AIR BAG INDICATOR ALWAYS SHOWS IT AS OFF. I CALLED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE FIRST FEE WOULD BE AROUND 150.00 TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM AND THEN I COULD GET A PRICE FOR THE REPAIR. THIS IS CRAZY BECAUSE I HAVE RESEARCHED AND FOUND MANY OTHERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. I ALSO SEE THAT GM IS RECALLING OTHER VEHICLES FOR THE SAME ISSUE BUT NOT THE XL7. I HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE PURGE VALUE AND NOW THE AIR BAGS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SUZUKI XL7. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE EVAP PURGE VALVE WAS DEFECTIVE. IN ADDITION, THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 55 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD SHAKE AND HAD A LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT WHEELS. ALSO, THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE AIR BAG SENSOR HAD MALFUNCTIONED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE FRONT WHEEL BEARING NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000.