what is its mission in life. I always thought it was part of the airbag system. Someone today told me it was the infamous "black box". can I yank this thoing out without any reprocusions?

I always thought is was part of the air bag system also.

Not sure about the Camaro, but the Metro's air bag control module was indeed under the center console in front of the shifter. There was a big yellow cable going to to, which I would have to imagine that the camaro cables for the airbag would also be yellow.

If its the box that #7 is pointing to in the above pic, under the same console, GM refers to it as an inflatable restraint sensor/diagnostic module. I tried to copy the pic from my parts list, so hopefully this works.

Yes, it is the black box. It has other duties as stated above.

See below, it will cause a dash light to stay on. I did not experiment further.

http://frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=2683

I am not worried about lights on the dash. Those can be ignored or covered with electrical tape . I just want the car to start if I yank it out.

Yes, that is the airbag system module under the console...there is a procedure for removing it in the service manual (Pull a fuse and disconnect a cable) to safe the system......if you can't get ahold of the manual, e-mail me, and I'll dig it up for you.

If you just unplug the module, you risk blowing the airbags.

You'll get a Service Vehicle light (LH side of the instruments) if it's disconnected.

That module is on the serial data bus, so I don't know if/how it will affect the rest of the system.

John

Well all the airbags are already disconnected along with the fuse. So I shouldnt have a problem yanking it out.

Cool