How do you disable the seat belt chimes?

Answer 1

AnswerObviously, buckling the seatbelt should silence the reminder. If you see/hear the reminder and all belts used by the reminder ARE buckled, the vehicle should be taken in for service ASAP.

If you do not want to use your seatbelt for whatever reason, and wish to disable or silence the reminder system altogether, this can be done in a matter of minutes by a serviceperson at a dealership using a custom option setting device connected to the vehicle's internal computer. As this is a safety system, some dealerships may not be willing to do this unless you sign a liability waiver.

However, if you do not wish to have the vehicle serviced professionally for whatever reason or would like to disable or bypass the seat belt reminder system for certain seats only, the following options may be of help:

A piece of sheet metal of the same dimensions and shape as the actual seat belt 'plug' can be inserted into the seat belt 'socket' to silence the reminder. Obviously, the more the piece of metal resembles the actual 'plug', the more likely it is to work.

Also, as seat belt buckle design has not changed much lately, a junkyard is one source of seat belt 'plugs' that can be cut from their straps and inserted in the seat belt 'socket' to silence the reminder chime. It's likely that several model years of a car (and even different makes/models) may all have similar seat belt 'plugs'.

Lastly, there are wires running down the 'socket' end of the seatbelt which tell the car's computer if the seat belt is buckled or not. These wires may be cut, stripped and connected together (or separated, depending on which stops the reminder) permanently.

It should be mentioned that disabling or bypassing this safety system in any way is discouraged by vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies, safety specialists and many other private and public organizations and individuals. However, there are conditions for which seatbelt use is extremely uncomfortable or presents more harm than benefit, such as in the case of certain abdominal/thoracic medical conditions, morbid obesity, etc.

Update: Most modern vehicle manufacturers have made it extremely difficult to bypass the chime/nag by simple cutting or jumpering the latch wiring, which may or may not work. The switch in the latch must be tricked into thinking it is always closed. This might take a magnet as in the case of a 2005 Jeep Liberty or extracting a sensor and sliding a piece into position as in the case of a 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander. The difficulty is in accessing that switch which is shrouded by hard plastic.