Seat belt warning light

[Jimmy9190]

In my 01 Dakota when I start the engine it turns on the seat belt warning light in the dash until I put the seat belt on. Today when I started my truck the warning chime rang one time and the seat belt light never came on. It's supposed to come on also if I unbuckle the seat belt with the engine running and it doesn't do that any more either. All the other warning lights in the DIC are working OK so it must be a sensor or something on the seat belt.

If anybody has seen or fixed this before I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks

 

[NYEngineer]

I can only offer you this. My Yukon's seatbelt light goes out when you put the seatbelt on, comes on if you take the belt off and also goes out after a minute if you're driving with it off.

Once, it wasn't going off when I did put my belt on, it timed out the minute, then shut off. I checked the connection at the belt, it was fine... A short time later, I had a computer issue with my trans. When that problem was fixed, the seatbelt light was also corrected. Turns out, there's a pin in my computer harness connection for the seatbelt light. We ended up cleaning the connector and adding dielectric grease. Everything works better now.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks anyway but I answered my own question when I got home and could read the service manual. There's a switch built into the retractor for the driver's seat belt that sends the signal to the DIC through the Central Timer Module to sound the warning chime and turn on or turn off the seat belt warning lamp in the DIC, depending on whether the belt has been pulled out far enough to buckle it. I would guess the switch has finally worn out after 92,000 miles and countless thousands of times the seat belt has been buckled and unbuckled.

Dodge doesn't sell just the switch, you have to buy the whole retractor. The switch is not serviceable either. I am leaving it alone. I have sense enough to put the seat belt on myself without the truck telling me to do it.

 

[alreadygone]

"I have sense enough to put the seat belt on myself without the truck telling me to do it. "

That question was going to be the first thing I asked!

Bob