Help/advise: 98 X70 Front Seat Sips Airbag

[jdlc]

Got encouraging words about this project and so I gathered up the parts: http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?showtopic=89865

I have tested the heating elements and other necessary parts (switches, thermostat,wirings, etc) and everything works!

Haynes for 850 covered the disabling of SIPS airbag for 850, so my questions are:

1) is it the same for 98 V70?

2) I couldn't see any electrical connection, are my seat SIPS airbags mechanical?

I do intend to disconnect the battery just the same when I try to do this. (To be clear, the only electrical that can be found under the seat of dr-side front is the one for seatbelt reminder - I'm 100% sure about this because this two-lead connection is also present in my 855 w/ no SIPS airbag, as well as the 94 NA I'm parting, again, no SIPS airbag). You guessed it, my seat is so basic, no heat, no power seat BUT, I was able to test the available wiring under my seats in the V70 for the heat and power seat* , so on top of the heating, I believe I can make my driver seat powered. My concern is if there is a danger of me screwing up the SIPS (If you took the time to read above, I cannot just swap the entire seat because donor has no SIPS airbag, and besides, it was diff color.)

ANY TIPS for those who worked on their 98 X70 seats is welcome.

For starter, it's so easy to pop-out the seat 'trims' on the side of the front seats of 850's, but it seems I need to unscrew something to do the same for my V70, what the heck?

* For those curious, I needed to put fuse/circuit breaker #39 & #40 for this to work, and I made a temporary extension to make the wiring reach outside the car where I tested the power seat that came from my parts car.

[bum2kev]

sips is mechanical. its there to protect you even when parked and if the car is turned off.

[Big Will]

The plastic trim on the side of the seat where the controls are (if you have them) pops off - no screws. There is one big torx holding the seat belt and the 4 bolts holding down the seat. Beyond that there are a few electrical connectors that you have to unsnap. Once you get the plastic side piece off, flip it over and there should be a plastic tool to place over the SIPS mechanism so that it doesn't accidentally go off! It should be just like the 850s that are equipped with SIPS.

Good luck.

[Chilled man]

I have used the wires for the heaters to power the seat motors already in cars that didnt have power seats.

so to move the seats I would have to hit the heated seat switch and then click the buttons kind of annoying but it was fast and easy to install :lol:

[jdlc]

I have used the wires for the heaters to power the seat motors already in cars that didnt have power seats.

so to move the seats I would have to hit the heated seat switch and then click the buttons kind of annoying but it was fast and easy to install

That's funny as hell - kinda like Windows where you click START to shut down the computer.

Luckily, I have a power seat wiring harness under the seat - the passenger seat at that, lol. It didn't have power initially, until I realized when I read the car manual that the power seat has #39 & #40 fuse/breaker which my car didn't have, but which my part's car does. Got a home-made extension made-up already, so hopefully, I'll have the heat and the power seat before winter.

On another note, the seat heater thermostat of my parts car is the old style, I'm thinking install it now, then if I can get a hold of updated thermostat from x70's later, just replace it. It's going to work right? I mean, thermostat upgrade is just a matter of conencting wires and installing said new-design unit somewhere under the seat?

[jdlc]

The plastic trim on the side of the seat where the controls are (if you have them) pops off - no screws. There is one big torx holding the seat belt and the 4 bolts holding down the seat. Beyond that there are a few electrical connectors that you have to unsnap. Once you get the plastic side piece off, flip it over and there should be a plastic tool to place over the SIPS mechanism so that it doesn't accidentally go off! It should be just like the 850s that are equipped with SIPS.

Good luck.

I have the manual control for the side/trim on my V70, I'm still hoping 850 side/trim with electric control would fit in there.

[jdlc]

Success! V70 now has driver-side seat warmer and bottom seat is now powered by swapping the base part with motors of the '94 seat into the base of my 98V70 which was manual-seat. Didn't bother with back-rest motor install anymore, so that piece is still manual, which is not a big issue.

These are what I found out:

1) 850 front seats can be used for S70/P1V70 (floor bolt holes line up - specifically, was able to use '94 base to '98)

What this means: if you can find a better seat from an 850, you can install it to your P1 x70 and vice versa, but see next note about seat-belt.

2) 850 may have different way of hooking up the seatbelt on the seat-end (my donor seat was from '94, not sure for later 850s if they are the same as P1 V70/S70 already) but making it work needs just a little imagination without making it unsafe

3) floor bolt cover trims are the same for both the rear bolts, but the front is different (hardly visible so not an issue)

4) 850 side trim with SIPS fits just right to 98 x70

5) my 98 (as well as my 94 855 as I tested) are pre-wired for seat warmer and no additional relay/fuse is needed, just the switch and the complete heater element (inclusing wirings and thermostat)

6) strange enough, my passenger front is 'pre-wired' for power seat but not the driver side - BUT I needed to install fuse/breaker #39 & #40 to power it up. I needed to make an extension to make it reach the driver-side motor I installed

I needed a little courage at some point because the manual levers under the seat needed to be out of the way to see if the base with motors from 94 would fit - so I cut both out of the way. It was the only way to get them out and obviously, it was the point of no return for this project.

Inserting the heater element to the back-seat was not a big task, didn't have to roll-up the cover at all, just removed 4 hog rings at the bottom seams, and the two most bottom hog rings at the back-rest area, and I was able to carefully slip in the heater element. The bottom of the seat is another story, I had to strip it out completely. Because cover is totally out anyway, I decided to use the foam from my parts car (the front passenger) although I wouldn't say the V70 seat was all that worn/soggy - the main reason is the old-style thermostat hole is absent in my original foam.

So there you have it, made it before winter (this project is one year in the making, lol). Next would be my dd 855 for the other set of heater element.

Thanks for all that shared their similar and applicable experience, and to those that sold me the parts I needed.