Hey Guys -

I’ve got an 03 GX470 with an annoying issue. I always wear my seat belt however starting about a year ago, the drivers side red seat belt warning on the dashboard started intermittently blinking. For a while, unbuckling then rebuckling the seat belt made it go away. Over the past few weeks, I can’t get it to go off at all. I’m sure it’s something within the buckle due to temp fix and have tried blasting air into the receiver with no luck.

Not wanting to invest money in replacing the entire buckle in this old thing, I was hoping that there may be a known easy fix. At this point, I’d consider shorting out a pair of wires from the buckle to satisfy it or even remove bulb from dash

Anyone have suggestions or links to assist perhaps?

Thanks!

 

I had this issue as well when we 1st got our GX, one of the wires in the seatbelt buckle harness broke due to the memory seating moving the driver's seat back and forth over the years. To fix, undo the 4 bolts holding the seat to the floor, and tip it back onto the 2nd row so you can see under there (be careful not to pull on the wires!). Locate the broken wire, and repair. We ended up extending the harness so this doesn't happen again. Lexus quoted like $1500 to replace the harness in question.

 

Of course they did Glad you were able to rectify the problem DIY style though. I'll have to sub this thread for future rectification, if and when it happens.

 

The seatbelt latches themselves can fail too. This isn’t just a Toyota/Lexus issue.. I’ve fixed this issue on just about every vehicle manufacturer there is. There is a possibility of 3 issues. I’ll start with the most common...

By percentages...

- The belt latch is failing... generally easy to replace and the part can be found for $30-$200 depending on quality or if you buy used. (about 70%)

- The “PODS”(passenger occupant detection system) has failed and is recognizing someone in the passenger seat when it’s empty(easiest fix is to hook the pass seatbelt). You can tell by the pass airbag indicator... very expensive to repair... even if you can DIY, it’ll cost $300 to $500(about 25%)
* this can also be caused by a backpack, purse, or something with a little weight in the pass seat*

- The wiring has damage somewhere... as described above, this can be repaired much cheaper than replacing any portion of the harness.(about 5%)

 

To add to this - sometimes dirt/gunk will build up in the buckle and interfere with the switch. Get a strong light and look down in there.

Chip H.