I just swapped my 04 base 6MT TL seats (front and back), with some nice black leather seats from an 05 TL. All went smooth, except a few things... One thing was an extra plug under the driver's seat (black and white wire or something similar, it was dark). It had nowhere to plug into, and all my.memory functions worked and it clearly wasn't the airbag stuff. Anyway, not a big deal really but I'd like to know what it goes to, maybe seat heater?

Now, the big main issue. The passenger seat.. The new one had a giant black box under it near the rear, with a few wires going into it, one blank spot on the box and nothing to plug into it. Assuming it has something linked to the airbag cause the light insta comes on whenever I start the car. Old seat had nothing remotely similar, just like 3 different plugs going to wires into the seat.

I did unplug the battery and let it sit before I did the seats FYI.

Guess they completely redesigned the seats from 04-05..

Any ideas on a fix? Even the dealership didn't know of they could help minus clearing a light that will come back.

 

following.......

 

Bump, somebody's gotta have run into the same issue..

 

The regional service manager at the time had Acura swap out my front seats for the '05's after all the BS I had gone through.
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So it's compatible somehow if I take it to Acura? They should be able to get it functional airbag wise?

 

Ok well nobody here was of use, sorry to say I was hoping for some advice. Anyway, to help out anybody else I just fixed the issue. I luckily kept my original seats and had the code scanned which came back OPDS bullcrap (new seats triggered it). So, ripped open the old passenger seat, took out the OPDS controller, opened my new seats, swapped them, and voila.. No airbag light, restarted the car 3 times and let it idle to confirm.

So there you go, an answer.

 

Thank you for the post. Where is the OPDS box located in the seat. Do you have to remove the seat back? I too swapped out my 04 seats for some 08 type-s, and still have the old ones.

 

I heard the TypeS seats into an 04-06 are alot worse than what I did (05 seats into an 04). And you may not be able to fix the airbag light. But to answer the other questions, yes you remove the back of the seats (pull the bottom, then when it unsnaps pull the cover up. Don't pull the top out, only up). And the unit is located passenger seat, side nearest the center console, about the height of the armrest. There's a plastic cover over it, hard to miss when you move the seat cover out of the way on that side.

 

Airbag light is the only issue I've had. Will let you know how it goes when I get a chance to work on them.

 

SO, I have a 2004 TL and I just bought some used junkyard seats that are in better condition than my old ones. Am i correct that the driver's side will work fine, but that the passenger side may pose some connector issues ? Is it easier to just try and mover the cushions over, or the whole seat and deal with some extra connectors ?

 

If they are 04-06 seats, just change out the OPDS unit between the old and new passenger seats. Instructions on how to get to it are a couple of posts above.

 

Great. Thanks a lot for the help. that's what i sorta figured out, but I do not know what those modules do. I didn't really want to deal with any lights.

I had checked on some parts interchange websites, and the 2004 does not interchange with the 2005-06, but the leather pattern and color looks just right, so I knew that there was something, and I was hoping it wasnt too severe.

 

It doesn't interchange cause it has extra sensors and a separate unit under the seat, but your car is missing the harness that goes into it so basically it's a useless box that won't trigger anything cause it can't be connected.

Attempt to get the OPDS unit out of the old seats first, that way if you hurt the seat in anyway, you won't feel bad. If you don't hurt it and get it out with no issues, repeat on the new seats.

I will add, I couldn't get the bracket off the OPDS unit on both seats, so I had to pop the metal covers off each one and unscrew the circuit boards and swap the boards. Then popped the metal covers back on.

 

I got it done today. Maaannnn, what a job. I had decided to swap the driver's and passenger's seat bottoms as I have done in the past on two BMWs, my Eagle Vision Tsi, and my Merkur. Anyways... cannot be done without major effort.

Sucks. The passenger seat bottom probably has an occupancy sensor in it to determine whether to disable the passenger air bag. Driver's side may not have that same component. Wiring is different , but mainly, the leather is bonded to the foam, and is also held together with hogrings, that are embedded in the foam. Also, the lower cushions are shaped differently, which has not been the case with the other cars I have done this with. Discovering these facts became time consuming dead ends. I had to give up on this plan. I spent a lot of time cleaning the seat leather, as it was in nice shape, but dirty. Also, steam cleaning the carpet was time consuming but very worthwhile.

Your help with the module in the passenger seatback was great. Without that bit of info, it would have ended with some frustrating airbag lights lit.

Its done, and looks much better than before.

 

Dang, just saw your reply from last night. I should have checked more often.

On the box in the seatback, The screws on one were easy to remove. The others were near impossible. I had to drill one out, the other finally came with a screwdriver, lots of force, and a vice grip to turn the screwdriver.

 

Hi. After you swapped out the seats did your driver side seat heater work?

 

I started this job today. Not fun, but the price is right, 2 lowers for $300. I'm planning on logging 50k+ on this car and junkyard gear will be sub-par.

Thanks for this info. I'm 90% certain that the thin white liner with wiring and a connector is an airbag pressure sensor for the passenger seat only. I will post my results with the job here if people are interested.