1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

[Raymond K.]

Upon the removal of the driver seat I found 2 sets of wire connections that do not match each other and will not connect to each other. One set from the seat belt and the other coming from the center counsel. Not sure what is missing and how to restore, the belts look original. The car was made in January of 1975 and it does not have the over ride switch system on the fire wall.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

Hello Raymond, I see it's your first post. Welcome!

So I just looked at a wiring diagram for a '75. I'm not a expert on C3's, but maybe for power seats. I'm not even sure if they were offered then. What colors are the wires in the connectors?

Wiring diagram I found online is Here. It shows power seat wiring.

Rich

[Raymond K.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

No there were no power seats, both of the wires are yellow and black wire. I have a wire diagram which I am not sure what I am looking at with these two connectors which will not connect to each other, like something is missing or incorrect.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

I remember a Corvette Restorer article about Chevrolet's method of disconnecting the seat belt interlock once the DOT removed the requirement for it. There was a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) on the subject and we printed it in the magazine.

Ray, you do have The Restorer on CD right?

[Harmon C.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

If you have a convertible 75 the seat belt retractor will have a plug on it.

[Raymond K.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

The car is a hard top, and I do not have a copy of a Restorer CD, what I have is a copy of the Assembly Manual which for this issue has not been much help. It does show a simple wire connector but that is not what I have.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

If '75 is similar to '73, there is yellow and black wiring under the passenger side seat connected to a pressure switch under the seat springs as well as being connected to the belt retractor housing.

Maybe some one swapped your passenger and driver side seat bottoms?

[Don G.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

As soon as Congress repealed the seat belt interlock system that required the seat belts to be fastened in order to start the car, GM changed the system that operates as follows:

• When the ignition is turned on, the "fasten seat belt" light goes on.
• When the driver fastens the seat belt, the light goes off.
• If the driver fails to fasten the seat belt, the fasten seat belt light will time out in a few seconds and go off.

1974 models and early 1975 models had the interlock system. If your system operates as shown here, it is properly connected. Most likely, the extra wires are part of the old system that was no longer required. The interlock system had weight sensors in each seat to detect the presense of occupants.

[Raymond K.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

Don I totally agree with what you said, my problem is that the wiring on the seat belt and the wiring extending out of the emergency brake councel are not compatable with each other and there lies my problem. It is almost as if there was some other type of unit that was used to connect the two wire connections to, but I am not sure.

[Raymond K.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

Thanks for the idea have not pulled the passenger seat yet. The other possibility is that the seats were completely switched as a unit. This now seems more logical since I know the previous owner had the carpet replaced.

[Don G.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

If both open connectors are the same design, it is possible that this is the connector that was used in the previous interlock system to connect to the weight sensors in each seat. Because GM quickly dropped the interlock system as soon as the law was changed, they probably continued to use the existing wiring harness and just eliminated the weight switches. For convenience, the assembly line worker may have placed both connectors on the driver side.

If both connectors are the same design, remove the passenger seat and see if there are any unused connectors there. If not, the above explanation may be correct.

[Jim S.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

I do believe that through the years people did swap the driver and passenger seats so as to spread the wear evenly.
Jim

[Don G.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

Jim
Changing the driver seat position from left to right has no impact on either the 1974-75 seat belt interlock system or the later 1975 version. The seat position is identified electrically from the seat belt receiver that is attached to the park brake console in the interlock design and is not affected by interchanging the seats. The later 1975 buzzer only design appears to only include the driver seat.

[Raymond K.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

Thanks Don, I need to pull the passenger seat to see what is or is not there. The two connectors found on the driver side are different but not connectable to each other. It appears what both should connect to something else.

[Brian G.]

Re: 1975 corvette seat belt warning hookup

On our `75 the black-yellow wires are on the driver`s side and plug into a connector with black-grey wires, on the passenger`s side the wires are black-grey on both halves of the connector. The male half of the connection is black, female half is white - January built car.