79 rabbit only starts when pass seatbelt is latched

[Earwig225]

Anyone ever heard of this and any ideas?

[maxfax]

It was a safety feature..  Although most of the time seen as a PITA especially when the contacts in the seat belt buckle wear/corrode and don't work..  Most people just bypassed it...

[R.O.R-2.0]

cut the wires going to the seat belt buckle and connect the 2 wires. then the car always thinks its got its seat belt on 

[Jettagli16v]

79 Rabbit?
Never heard of it.

The seatbelt - no start thing started with VW's passive restraint system,
in the big bumper years (90-92).
These are the two part seatbelts where the shoulder strap is attached to the door,
and the lap belt is separate.

Even then, that is only applicable to the driver's door, if I recall right.
The driver's side was the only one with a sensor.

Test it conclusively, and if so, cut the wires and butt splice them together, effectively eliminating the switch.
But I still think it unlikely.
-Brad

[fatmobile]

Passive restraint was available in Rabbits.
 Might as well get rid of the whole relay.
 I'm not sure where they put the relay on a '79 but the wire going to the starter should be spliced to the other side of the relay, to the wire coming from the ignition.
 They might be the same color.
 
 Your heater fan will be the real fusebox problem. Relay it on high, maybe before the blue plug on the back melts-out on the corner (pin 19?)

[Rabbit79]

Here is what's on my 79 Rabbit if it's any help to you: The socket for that relay is one of the supplemental sockets that clip onto the top of the fuse box (mine only has 2 on top of the box, the other one being for the glow plug relay). My relay has been removed and there's a jumper wire (12ga) from pin 5 of the relay socket to pin 17. Wire colors are white with red stripe to pin 17 and red with black stripe to pin 5, both 12ga. White/red is 12v from the ignition switch to the relay, red/black is 12v out of the relay where it Ys off and one leg goes to the starter and the other to the glow plug relay. That's a pretty easy way to bypass that whole system if you want to do it that way. I think you lose your seat belt warning light if you take the relay out, don't know if that matters to you or not. According to the Bentley wiring schematic there IS a switch for each seat belt. I've never actually even looked to see if mine has them or not, since all that is bypassed now. Whether you elect to pull the relay or jumper around the switches, either one is a pretty easy fix. 

[Rabbit79]

79 Rabbit?
Never heard of it.

The seatbelt - no start thing started with VW's passive restraint system,
in the big bumper years (90-92).
These are the two part seatbelts where the shoulder strap is attached to the door,
and the lap belt is separate.

Even then, that is only applicable to the driver's door, if I recall right.
The driver's side was the only one with a sensor.

Test it conclusively, and if so, cut the wires and butt splice them together, effectively eliminating the switch.
But I still think it unlikely.
-Brad

According to what I see in the Bentley wiring schematic.... This feature was in the 79 Rabbit Deluxe Diesel, but NOT in the 79 Rabbit Custom Diesel. Apparently it varied according to whatever trim package the car came with. Either way.... I gotta say bad idea VW... Especially back when there weren't even seat belt laws  hehe.

[madrogers]

my 81 rabbit had that system,

[BigVWman]

MY 77 rabbit had the seat belt starter interlock. I bypassed as was mentioned above just spiced the two wires together it always thought seatbelt was on.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Some cars had this as early as 1974.

My Grandfather bought a new ThunderBird in 74, both front seatbelts had to be latched - if there was an occupant in the seat (had a sensor for weight too) - before the car would start.

But in other words - on his - if no passenger was in passenger seat - it did not have to be buckled on passenger side.

He had never been a seatbelt wearer.
But put up with it for over a year, then had it all defeated.

It was very uncommon for anyone to use seatbelts regurlarly that i knew of for a long time until the laws came out. I've bought old cars with the belts cut off at the anchor bolts. lol

The only time we use to put on our seatbelts was to make fun of someones driving ability/inability. As a joke, or fear.

Its strange looking back sometimes.