2008 Sequoia annoying seat belt buzzer/chime defeat?

[shane1]

Anyone figured out the disable scheme or protocol to turn off the annoying seat belt chime in the 2008 Sequoia? The owners manual says it can be defeated but the dealer can't/wont do it. Says (lies) it cant be done.

The previously posted on other sites scheme of turning on the ignition switch and holding the reset button on the trip meter/odometer doesn't work so, please don't post that one.

And please...no obvious lame comment such as "why not just fasten the seatbelt? duh!"

I'd like a real solution please...it's out there...and no I'm not gonna run a long power drill bit up under the dash into the chime either !

[spacetiger]

+1...if I sit my laptop bag in the passenger sit, it's heavy enough to set off the sensor and it starts chming...there's got to be a wire to cut or a fuse somewhere unless it tied to a bunch of other stuff.

[Darth Baiter]

You do realize that it stops chiming after awhile. This has been discussed before, none of the suggested fixes worked that I tried. I just live with it. My situation is that I'm driving slowly on the beach with very little risk of being involved in an accident, otherwise I'm buckled up.

[dimapb]

If anybody has any friends that work for Lexus dealership, ask them and they'll turn it off for you. It's the same thing as LX 570.

[Crazy Ivan]

Here is an easy solution, and you can do it at home
DIY Contest-Seatbelt Chime and Light Be-Gone for Free!!!

[Heatwave3]

Anyone figured out the disable scheme or protocol to turn off the annoying seat belt chime in the 2008 Sequoia? The owners manual says it can be defeated but the dealer can't/wont do it. Says (lies) it cant be done.

The previously posted on other sites scheme of turning on the ignition switch and holding the reset button on the trip meter/odometer doesn't work so, please don't post that one.

And please...no obvious lame comment such as "why not just fasten the seatbelt? duh!"

I'd like a real solution please...it's out there...and no I'm not gonna run a long power drill bit up under the dash into the chime either !

Here's the deal. First I used this DIY DIY: How-To disable the seatbelt chime. that took a few moments to remove the spring from the driver's side seat belt clip. Work's great and even though I almost always use my seat belt, its nice to pickup the mail and not have to belt up for the 300ft drive to the garage.

But as you'll read in the DIY I didn't want to remove the spring on the passenger side since it might interfere with the airbag.

So.....I called dealer #1 that had been doing all my service on the Sequoia and explained I needed an oil change and could they deactivate the chime as outlined in the customizable section of the owner's manual? He said yes they could but the charge was $55 to hook up the computer to change the customize setting so that the chime was turned off. I said I'd get back to him regarding my oil change appt.

Called dealer #2. He said yes they could change the setting while performing the oil change. Asked if I bought the vehicle at their dealership. I said no. He said it was $60 to make the change but free to customers that bought their vehicle at the dealership. I said thank you and goodbye.

Called dealership #3 (abit of a drive from my home so not my first choice for service) where I purchased the vehicle. Spoke to service manager. They'd never heard of such a setting that could be changed by the dealership. They said they'd have to get back to me after speaking to one of the experienced mechanics. That mechanic wasn't in on the weekend and I'd have to wait till Monday. I said thankyou and goodbye.

Called dealership #4. Asked if they could take me in on a Sat for an oil change and if they could turn off the seat belt chime for free. Service Manager said no problem, no appt needed just come in and I could wait while they changed the oil, rotated the tires and turned off the chime.

Re-called dealer #1. Explained that another dealer was willing to turn off the chime for no charge and since I've been doing my service with their dealership I wanted to give him a chance to retain my business. He said the charge was $55 to turn off the chime. I said he not only just lost my oil change business for that service but all my future services on the Sequoia.
I also explained I'm currently shopping for a replacement for my wife's Avalon and did he want to re-consider the charge to turn off the chime. He said the charge was $55. I said thank you for your time but you've just lost all my service business for the Sequoia as well as any plans to purchase a future Toyota product at his dealership. All over $55. Thank you and goodbye.

Calls took a total of about 20 minutes. I drove to dealer #4, had the oil changed, tires rotated under my Toyota Maintenance Plan and had the chime turned off, all in less than 90 minutes. Walked out without ever pulling out my wallet. Nice.....

Moral of the story...call around...some dealers will attempt to charge you, others won't know what you're talking about and other's will just do it for free.

[Crazy Ivan]

That is so true... now economy is so slow, my local Toyota dealer is begging me to come back to them for service, and even giving all kinds of discounts, but local shop is doing my oil changes for less then $20 (I provide Toyota oil filter that I buy in bulk) and they have my business for over 2 years (for service)

[swing2k]

I read this in another forum. I don't know if this work or what problem it may cause. So do it at your own risk.

2008 Sequoia Seat Belt Chime
Sequoia owner (76.241.102.115) - Sat Sep 13 09:33:09 2008

ANy ideal how to turn off the incredibly annoying Toyota Sequoia seat belt chime?
Reply #1 Toyota owner (76.0.240.143) - Sat Dec 20 02:49:35 2008

I did it on my '08 Sienna based on instructions for a Matrix so I'm thinking it will work for most Toyotas::
Ignition to on, cycle odometer to ODO, ignition to off, ignition to on, immediately hold the odometer reset down for 12 seconds and while continuing to hold it down you lock and unlock the seatbelt, you then see the setting appear in the odometer display, cycle it to off by pressing the odometer reset and your done! Now why was this so hard? Why can't they just put it in the manuals! Bastards!!

Good luck and let us know if this works.

[shane1]

As stated before...the odometer/reset/ignition on-off/BS procedure DOESN'T WORK! So why post it? Or didn't you read the first post?

Regarding the computer turn off dealer rip off procedure: What did they use to turn the chime off with? A scan tool or a laptop? Did you see em do it?

If I have to tamper with my seatbelt buckle and screw up the airbag deployment circuit ...forget that! I'm just gonna get out my 24" long 3/8 drill bit and run it up into the chime!!!

[Tundrav8yamaha]

That is so true... now economy is so slow, my local Toyota dealer is begging me to come back to them for service, and even giving all kinds of discounts, but local shop is doing my oil changes for less then $20 (I provide Toyota oil filter that I buy in bulk) and they have my business for over 2 years (for service)

I have one year free oil changes and then the other day I saw a promo code for $9.00 oil changes (Toyota product's Only) jeez this is cheap.

[Heatwave3]

As stated before...the odometer/reset/ignition on-off/BS procedure DOESN'T WORK! So why post it? Or didn't you read the first post?

Regarding the computer turn off dealer rip off procedure: What did they use to turn the chime off with? A scan tool or a laptop? Did you see em do it?

If I have to tamper with my seatbelt buckle and screw up the airbag deployment circuit ...forget that! I'm just gonna get out my 24" long 3/8 drill bit and run it up into the chime!!!

I didn't see them do the chime turn-off procedure. The service rep said they "hook-up the computer" to change the code for the chime from on to off. Any reason you wouldn't just ask a couple fo dealers to turn it off for free before disabling the chime through the dealer?

[shane1]

I spoke to a service writer at my dealership yesterday. After convincing him that the chime could be turned off by them he quoted me $110 to hook up the computer to do it. Lectured me about how this is a safety feature. I told him I'll deal with it at the first maintennance.and left.

Guess what? THE MAINTENNANCE WON'T BE PERFORMED BY THEM !!!

I'll just get a wiring diagram later and electrically disconnect the chime myself. It's probably located inside a circuit breaker panel on the backside under the dash and is difficult to get to (like on my 2005 4 Runner).

[Heatwave3]

I spoke to a service writer at my dealership yesterday. After convincing him that the chime could be turned off by them he quoted me $110 to hook up the computer to do it. Lectured me about how this is a safety feature. I told him I'll deal with it at the first maintennance.and left.

Guess what? THE MAINTENNANCE WON'T BE PERFORMED BY THEM !!!

I'll just get a wiring diagram later and electrically disconnect the chime myself. It's probably located inside a circuit breaker panel on the backside under the dash and is difficult to get to (like on my 2005 4 Runner).

Call around and get a committment from a dealer before you take the vehicle in for service. They'll do it because they are getting hard-up even for service revenue.

[Tundrav8yamaha]

I spoke to a service writer at my dealership yesterday. After convincing him that the chime could be turned off by them he quoted me $110 to hook up the computer to do it. Lectured me about how this is a safety feature. I told him I'll deal with it at the first maintennance.and left.

Guess what? THE MAINTENNANCE WON'T BE PERFORMED BY THEM !!!

I'll just get a wiring diagram later and electrically disconnect the chime myself. It's probably located inside a circuit breaker panel on the backside under the dash and is difficult to get to (like on my 2005 4 Runner).

Which dealership stated this Michael's or Bingham Toyota? I used to live in Clovis California borned and raised . Usually bingham provided me good services when I had my 00 Tundra serviced there but guess things have changed with the new building in 2000 . $110 quote is on the high side.Usually I would expect to see Michaels charge for simple work even when it's under warrenty but I ain't that stupid. If i had someone lectured me about this being a safety feature I would say hey buddy let me speak with your service Manager (grin ). Folk's Toyota made built in custom features that are selectivly designed into the Seq I wouldn't pay period for something Toyota made to be turned off. I had a problem on something similar on the remote keyless flob being replaced and then all of a sudden my second one wouldn't work. I guess when they reprogamed the new keyless it kicked the other one out of the system. When asked why the second one didn't work I was told it was going to cost me. I then proceeded to call the manager and informed him i didn't know when you reprogramed my Tundra the second flob needed to be present and why should i pay for something you didn't inform me about and he handled it from there.

[747]

I have been e-mailing the Toyota dealerships in the Scottsdale / Phoenix area, and they all tell me that it is "illegal" for them to disable any of the safety features.

I am going to touch base with a Lexus dealer tomorrow and see if they can help.