Seat belt issue

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

We recently purchased a 2004 Taurus SEL. We're having a problem with the seat belt dash light/buzzer coming on even though the seat belt is buckled and tight. We have tried to unfasen and refasten the belt when the light/buzzer comes on but that doesn't help. It seems to be timed. It comes on for around 20 seconds and goes back off, then back on again in around 4-5 minutes. Sometimes it works fine but most of the time it acts up as discribed above.

What should we be looking at to fix this?

[shorod]

Take a look under the driver's seat and follow the wire from the seat belt latch as far as you can. Check for loose connections or damaged wires. If you don't find anything, I can pull up the diagram for the 2002 Taurus to see if it agrees with your 2004.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

I'm wondering if a traditional loose connection is possible with this system. I suppose there could be a bad connection on the modules printed circuit board, or perhaps some sort of corrosion, but I didn't know where to look for the module. I saw nothing under the seat so maybe it's part of another module. I tried moving around in the seat when it happens, trying to see if a wire was possibly grounding out, but nothing changed. My gut tells me it's a dirty contact in either the seat sensor, or the buckle, but without a wiring diagram I can't trace it down. It's highly possible that someone could have spilled pop or coffee inside the buckle before I bought the car. Is the sensor inside the buckle itself, or is it in the other end (where the seat belt rolls up)? I didn't see one when I looked inside the buckle. If there is then I could try spraying electrical contact cleaner inside the buckle.

[shorod]

I suspect that you are correct and the switch is located in the retractor. When I pulled up the information for a 2002 Taurus, which I suspect is quite similar to your 2004, it shows the seat belt reminder wiring as being in the same 4-pin connector as the seat belt pre-tensioner. The location of C381 for the seat belt switch is listed as "Under driver seat, LH side." That would indicated to me that it would be in the area of the retract module.

The switch, when the seat belt is unbuckled, is shorted to ground. The wire is pin 2 of connector C381, a Brown/Lt. Blue wire. The signal goes from the switch, through C381, then through C313 to C310b which is plugged into the Restraints Control Module (RCM). The RCM is listed as being located in the instrument cluster, under the dash panel on the LH side. It also has connector C310a which communicates with the Generic Electronic Module (GEM). I believe the chime is located in the GEM.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

So it probably still sees a ground even though it's buckled. Sounds like a lot of connectors being used too, each one an opportunity for a bad connection I'll have to see if our library has a wiring diagram so I can trace it down. Thanks for all of your help. We really appreciate it