Eliminating the Electrical Box and Wiring, under the passenger seat in a '75 Options

[euro911]

I'd like to eliminate the electrical relay box and associated wiring that's under the passenger seat. Most of the connections look pretty bad and a PO did bypass some of the connections.

I'm never going to restore this car back to stock '75 specs. I think this it's just something that's eventually going to go wrong.

Has anyone else eliminated this stuff? ... and how did you do it?

[SLITS]

I think that box is the seat belt relay system. Join the two big yellow (w/ red trace?) wires together and toss the rest. Seat belt buzzer and dash light won't work after removal, but starter will.

[JeffBowlsby]

Bypass the two large yellow wires, other than that the other wires can just be abandoned. Leave them in the relay base or wrap them to assure they do not short to ground if you don't have the relay base any longer.

[NS914]

Thanks for this picture Jeff (and Euro11 for posting) ...I have joined the two wires together already but had that mess as well....will be cleaning that and many other items up this winter.

Grant

[ndfrigi]

Thanks Mark for starting the thread! So all the wiring connections below the passenger seat are only for door buzzer and seat belt warning? If yes, can we just cut all the wires and make the lower floor clean under passenger seat?

Thanks!

[JeffBowlsby]

Thanks Mark for starting the thread! So all the wiring connections below the passenger seat are only for door buzzer and seat belt warning? If yes, can we just cut all the wires and make the lower floor clean under passenger seat?

Thanks!

NNNNOOOOOooooooooOOOooooooOOOOoooO!!!!!!!!

Don't cut any wires ever, for any reason, there is never a need, it can cause more problems than it solves and is difficult to repair correctly.

Wires under the passenger seat of 1974-76 cars are more than just the door buzzer and seatbelt interlock. The two big yellow wires are the main ignition circuit. Study the schematics to understand the others.

[ndfrigi]

ok thanks! my 75 1.8 FI has the thick yellow wire already by pass. I was just thinking if we can totally eliminate everything. Well you said the big NO already. thanks again!

[GregAmy]

My 1974 2L has absolutely zero wires under the passenger seat...

[JeffBowlsby]

My 1974 2L has absolutely zero wires under the passenger seat...

Huh? Was it modified? A euro car maybe?

[euro911]

Bypass the two large yellow wires, other than that the other wires can just be abandoned. Leave them in the relay base or wrap them to assure they do not short to ground if you don't have the relay base any longer.

Thanks Ron & Jeff. The large yellow wire is already spliced together.

The problem I have, is that the plastic terminal block next to the relay is pretty deteriorated and some of the connection tabs are gone. Also, some of the slide on lugs on the wiring ends have corroded away and are already taped up.

I was hoping I could just remove the whole mess if possible, but I've never been able to decipher Porsche's electrical diagrams (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[Dave_Darling]

There are two things under the seat. The Dreaded Seatbelt Interlock Relay, and the door buzzer. The only wires going to either that affect anything else are the big fat yellow or yellow/red wires that go to the starter. Splice those together, and unplug the relay and buzzer, and the whole little panel is a nothing.

If you want, you can cut all of those wires. Make sure to connect together all of the ones that were crimped into a single connector, though. That is, if two wires were crimped into a single metal connector, connect them together. There should be a few of those.

I do not recommend cutting anything--I'm in Jeff's camp on this one. Cutting is a very difficult operation to reverse.... But it is your car in the end.

--DD

[Cap'n Krusty]

Remove the connectors from the box and shrink tube each connector.

The Cap'n

[euro911]

I can do that. Then I can remove the defunct relay/terminal block completely, right?

[Cap'n Krusty]

Yup. If possible, I'd move the resulting collection of wires up behind the backpad. Get 'em off the floor and out of the way.

The Cap'n

[ndfrigi]

Thanks Mark for starting this thread! And thanks to all again for sharing your knowledge and experienced!

[ThunderbirdDrive]

I know I'm digging up an old post, but this has been most helpful.

I just picked up a '76 (my first time in a 914) and while going through all the various wiring runs, I came across a large bundle of wires with nothing attached under the passenger seat.

Thanks to this post I now know what these are. Will look to pull them up behind the backpad if I can. Right now they are bundled in a ball under the carpet.

[jim_hoyland]

One other thing: IIRC there is a grey wire that runs from the ignition switch to those relays under the seat. It's hot when the key is left in the ignition......you can verify thus with a simple circuit tester. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[76-914]

Damn, I miss the Cap'n. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[abes914]

Damn, I miss the Cap'n. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

I was thinking the same thing.

[914werke]

Time to reboot this topic ...again.
I think the the topic of defeating or bypassing the nanny circuit is by now well understood & documented but after a couple of searches the actual "logic" or how its supposed to work, doesnt seem to be clearly described.

So here goes:
IIUC (if I understand correctly) if the system is is place and working as it should, the ignition can't be triggered unless both a butt is in the seat AND the seatbelt for driver is connected.
There is both a pressure sensor in the seat cushion and the seat belt receptacle with electrical contacts that close/connect the circuit.
There is also a buzzer and a warning light on the dash but scouring the various manuals I haven't found a clear description of how the dash light is supposed to work.
The Buzzer will sound if the key is in the Ign., not to be confused with door ajar buzzer, but if you aren't sitting in the drivers seat & reach in to key the Ignition should it start ?
What happens with the warning light? Is it supposed to stay illuminated until you latch the seat belt or just flash when keying the ignition?