That annoying Airbag ON/OFF light

OK- so this has bothered me from day one of owning the car. What I decided to do was get rid of it. Actually, my first choice was to change the color of it, but you'll see why I didn't. Begin by removing the center piece with the vents and storage cubby. I used a small flathead screwdriver with a disposable shop rag doubled over and begin on the lower/outer edges. It pops out quite easily: [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight1.jpg[/img] [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight2.jpg[/img] There are 2 little plugs to unplug before the piece comes out. Here's what things look like without the piece in. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight4.jpg[/img] OK- so now you have your piece out. Turn it over and you'll find 3 phillips head screws holding the trip computer in. Remove them. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight3.jpg[/img] There's 4 little plastic thingies holding the cover on the trip computer- unpop the ones on the lower part of the computer and then remove the silver tape on the top and unpop those too. BTW, do this somewhere well lit, as the buttons that work the display will now pop out and you don't want to lose them. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight5.jpg[/img] From here, I removed the circuit board form it's casing- you don't really need to, as I found out, but if you decide to get curious about it, be careful with the 4 little plastic pieces holding the board in- I managed to break one. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight6.jpg[/img] Just for the heck of it, this is the board out of the casing: [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight7.jpg[/img] The airbag light cover is glued on- you can easily remove it. My original intent was to change the color of the light to red, or to white if it were easier- I figured either one would match the interior nicely. But when I opened the airbag light, there were LED's in there. So it wouldn't be as simple as removing a piece of colored film, or using bulb condoms, a la the WRX. I'm definitely not soldering different colored LED's in there- it's pretty tight on space. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight8.jpg[/img] What I decided was that I'd put a piece of black electrical tape on the inside of the airbag light before sealing it back up- that worked fine and you couldn't see the tape, as it's on the other side. But then it looked kind of plain and out of place. So I took everything back out and put an STi sitcker I had laying around on there. Before the rice police come in here, it's underneath the smoked cover to the trip computer. Here's a picture with the flash on- in real life, it's not as noticeable. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight14.jpg[/img] As you can see, it's not visible from afar, but when you look closer, there it is. [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight10.jpg[/img] [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight13.jpg[/img] I do plan on taking the STi sticker out of there eventually, when I get a little extra time to expirement with different colorder light films. For now, I'm glad that the airbag light is gone. Of note is the fact that the reason the light is so bright is not only the LED's, but also the fact that there's a shield under the smoked cover of the trip computer that doesn't extend over the airbag light. It covers the clock, etc. display but not the airbag light. Maybe someone would be able to use something slightly opaque if they wanted to simply dim the light. Personally, I find that the orange, besides being too bright, clashed with the red/white interior accents. Here's a couple of extra shots I took for the fun of it: [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight11.jpg[/img] [img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight12.jpg[/img]

Nice work! Something the wife would castrate me for though, being that we have two youngsters.

[img]http://premium.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/outbackairbaglight7.jpg[/img] now what if one was jsut to tape over the air bag and maybe the on light so it only shows u when its off?

That would be very easy to do!

So why can't you tape some transparent red film over the leds??

You'd have to try it. I didn't have anything like that at hand, so I did what I said above. If someone wants to get some film and give it a go with different colored ones, that'd be neat to see.

LEDs are usualy monochromatic (the exception being white LEDs which are blue LEDs withh a florescent material that glows yellow. The blue pluss the yellow looks white). This means they only output one color of light. This also means that putting a color filter in frount of an LED usually only dims the LED, but does not change the apparent color. To dim the LEDs, there is usually a current limiting resistor in series with the LED. Replacing that resistor with a larger value will reduce the current, and therefore, the brightness of the LED. You can probably find replacement LEDs from a catalog site like digikey, or mouser. But keep in mind that different LEDs have different voltage drops, and efficiencies (brighness for a given current), so you will probably have to change the current limiting resistor anyway. If you plan to attempt this, you need ohms law, I=V/R, or current (in amps) is equal to voltage (in volts) divided by resistance (in ohms) The current through the LED (assuming a fixed voltage, and a resistor in series with the LED) is (Vsupply - Vdiode)/R. Most LEDs are rather bright with only 20 mA (thats 0.02 Amps) running through them. Make sure you look at the data sheet associated with the LED you get. This should be avaliable from the manufacturers web page (this is usually linked to by digikey) Remember that LEDs are light emitting DIODES, current flows in only one direction, put one in backwards, and it won't work.

I was afraid of that. I'm not proficient enough in soldering to change an LED in that little space. Plus, I'm on day 6 of no smoking and I'm quite sure my hands are shaking just a leeeeeeetle bit ;)

Ouch. I think I'll stick to electrical tape as not to diminish the value of my car :)

I think a standard grey film would do the trick, dim it down but not really effect the color. I wish subaru has just wired it so that most of the time, it shows nothing, or Passenger Airbag Off, (at an appropriate brightness) the way most trucks and 2-seaters do.

I guess we can thank our litigious society for this one. I really think there's no good reason to make it so damn bright and to make it a different color.

Another part of this de-installation that can be fixed is the ugly orange light on the inside of the small compartment. Maybe replace it with a red or blue light... red would probably mesh with the rest of the dash nicely.

I don't mind the light in there so much- it would be easy to replace that and the one in the ashtray if you wanted to though.

Where is says "PASS AIR BAG" I would tape over the P and the BAG. Leave the ON and OFF lights uncovered, so it says ON when a passenger is in the car. I'm brilliant! :D -Nick

Jedi.. you have really hairy legs :lol: Nice work, seems like a lot to go through for that. I do understand that urge to fix something minor that is soooo annoying.

Yeah, I enjoy taking things apart though- so it wasn't much of a big deal. Oh, and you could tape over the P and the AIR so it would say ASS BAG ON/OFF :lol:

OMG.. I just busted out laughing in the office area. Too funny!

[quote name='jedimaster']Yeah, I enjoy taking things apart though- so it wasn't much of a big deal. Oh, and you could tape over the P and the AIR so it would say ASS BAG ON/OFF :lol:[/quote] omg....I wasn't going to do this mod but now you got me thinking.... :o :lol:

[quote name='jedimaster']Yeah, I enjoy taking things apart though- so it wasn't much of a big deal. Oh, and you could tape over the P and the AIR so it would say ASS BAG ON/OFF :lol:[/quote] ARGH! Look up 3 posts, I just said that!! :roll: Besides, ASS AIR ON/OFF is much better.

[quote name='Nick'][quote name='jedimaster']Yeah, I enjoy taking things apart though- so it wasn't much of a big deal. Oh, and you could tape over the P and the AIR so it would say ASS BAG ON/OFF :lol:[/quote] ARGH! Look up 3 posts, I just said that!! :roll: Besides, ASS AIR ON/OFF is much better.[/quote] Oh crap- you're right! Sorry man :oops:

[quote name='Nick'][quote name='jedimaster']Yeah, I enjoy taking things apart though- so it wasn't much of a big deal. Oh, and you could tape over the P and the AIR so it would say ASS BAG ON/OFF :lol:[/quote] ARGH! Look up 3 posts, I just said that!! :roll: Besides, ASS AIR ON/OFF is much better.[/quote] Credit goes to you my man! I really want to try it now if I have time over the weekend! :lol:

Now I feel bad that we laughed at Jedi's funny when it was really yours.. Sorry Nick :lol:

Jedimaster.. are u a cop ? Thought i saw your badge hanging off the rearview mirror.

Jedimaster.. are u a cop ? Thought i saw your badge hanging off the rearview mirror.

[quote name='avs']Jedimaster.. are u a cop ? Thought i saw your badge hanging off the rearview mirror.[/quote] In another lifetime, perhaps but I'm a teacher now.