Air Bag Deploys At WrongTime.

Wife and son went shopping yesterday.
Took his '95 Bonneville. Car looks and drives like new.
They get in car after shopping.
He starts car, and they get ready to head home.
About 30 seconds after starting, car still in park, nobody around,
passenger air bag goes off.
Wife was bending over picking up her bottled tea from the floor.
She got a bruised chin and light burns on face and neck.
Lucky.
Son was just stunned by the explosion.
Passenger side windshield busted, and dash-wide trim piece along the
windshield needs replacing.
Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
The kid will get a new trim piece at the boneyard.
He keeps tools in the trunk and pulled the steering wheel bag right
there before they came home. Didn't trust it any more.
He thinks on that car both airbags should always go off together.
He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
out..
You need a Tech 2 to pull the code, but he read that the airbag
trouble default is "don't deploy," so he didn't worry about it.
Now he's going to have to talk to the GM dealerships mechs near his
work and get a Tech 2 read, because he fiance won't have it any other
way. He would just pull the airbags if he had it his way.
BTW, the GM shop manual only covers wiring schematics, and says
to consult an "airbag professional" for everything airbag.
Guess they keep that in-shop.
Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.

--Vic

On 05/21/2011 08:51 AM, Vic Smith wrote:
> Wife and son went shopping yesterday.
> Took his '95 Bonneville. Car looks and drives like new.
> They get in car after shopping.
> He starts car, and they get ready to head home.
> About 30 seconds after starting, car still in park, nobody around,
> passenger air bag goes off.
> Wife was bending over picking up her bottled tea from the floor.
> She got a bruised chin and light burns on face and neck.
> Lucky.
> Son was just stunned by the explosion.
> Passenger side windshield busted, and dash-wide trim piece along the
> windshield needs replacing.
> Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
> The kid will get a new trim piece at the boneyard.
> He keeps tools in the trunk and pulled the steering wheel bag right
> there before they came home. Didn't trust it any more.
> He thinks on that car both airbags should always go off together.
> He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
> so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
> out..
> You need a Tech 2 to pull the code, but he read that the airbag
> trouble default is "don't deploy," so he didn't worry about it.
> Now he's going to have to talk to the GM dealerships mechs near his
> work and get a Tech 2 read, because he fiance won't have it any other
> way. He would just pull the airbags if he had it his way.
> BTW, the GM shop manual only covers wiring schematics, and says
> to consult an "airbag professional" for everything airbag.
> Guess they keep that in-shop.
> Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
> If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.
>
> --Vic

q. how many airbags are there in a race car?
a. none.

if occupant safety was a /real/ priority, all vehicles would have full
roll cages, 6-point safety harnesses and helmets would be mandatory.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

"Vic Smith" > wrote
> Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.

No insurance? Perhaps not on a '97.


> He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
> so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
> out..
> Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
> If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.

So he had months of warning that there was a problem, he ignored it, now it
is bull****?

Anything mechanical or electrical will eventually fail from wear, stress,
corrosion, or defect. I guess the lesson here is not to ignore warnings.

On Sat, 21 May 2011 13:34:49 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
> wrote:

>
>"Vic Smith" > wrote
>> Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
>
>No insurance? Perhaps not on a '97.
>

'95. Just liability.

>
>> He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
>> so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
>> out..
>> Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
>> If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.
>
>So he had months of warning that there was a problem, he ignored it, now it
>is bull****?
>

Airbags exploding in your face for no reason is unacceptable, no
matter what.
Excuse me for thinking so.
Lots of people driving around with flashing airbag lights, and lots of
reasons for the light flashing.
Not one says the bag will explode any time as far as I know.
And it can happen even when the system gives no warning.
There have been a number of recalls from different mfgs.
Not saying I'm anti-airbag, but it gives you something to think about.
I read that MB has a 10 year expiration date for their airbags.
And I hope everybody knows that it's recommended to have both hands
low on the wheel so your arms don't get broken.
But I hardly ever follow that rule.

>Anything mechanical or electrical will eventually fail from wear, stress,
>corrosion, or defect. I guess the lesson here is not to ignore warnings.
>

I agree with that. If my airbag light went on I'd take it in for
fixing or pull the bags.
Probably just something weird happened. One in a million.
But I don't want anybody out there relaxing.
My chance to fear-monger.

--Vic

On Sat, 21 May 2011 09:20:27 -0700, jim beam > wrote:

>
>if occupant safety was a /real/ priority, all vehicles would have full
>roll cages, 6-point safety harnesses and helmets would be mandatory.

I could live with the 6-point.

--Vic

On Sat, 21 May 2011 11:24:30 -0700, Evan Platt wrote:

> On Sat, 21 May 2011 10:51:45 -0500, Vic Smith
> > wrote:
>
>>Passenger side windshield busted, and dash-wide trim piece along the
>>windshield needs replacing.
>>Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
>>The kid will get a new trim piece at the boneyard.
>
> Your insurance doesn't cover broken windshields? I always purchase the
> add on. Only generally a few extra dollars.

Yeah. $3 a month, and I have already had 4 windshields replaced.

>
>>He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
>>so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
>>out..
>
> Well, I hate to say the car told you so, but...

On 2011-05-21, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:
>
> "Vic Smith" > wrote
>> Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
>
> No insurance? Perhaps not on a '97.
>
>
>> He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
>> so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
>> out..
>> Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
>> If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.
>
> So he had months of warning that there was a problem, he ignored it, now it
> is bull****?
>
> Anything mechanical or electrical will eventually fail from wear, stress,
> corrosion, or defect. I guess the lesson here is not to ignore warnings.

Airbags are explosives. The fail condition for anything that can
explode should be not to explode when put into a consumer product. It
doesn't matter that an intermittent warning light was ignored, failure
should mean not exploding. There is a glaring error in the FMEA process
with that car.

So if your brake warning light comes on intermittently until it
finally burns out you'll be up on your high horse again about it being
bs if your brakes stop working after you had 6 months of warning. I
feel zero sympathy for you.


On Sat, 21 May 2011 13:27:41 -0500, Vic Smith
> wrote:

>On Sat, 21 May 2011 13:34:49 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Vic Smith" > wrote
>>> Guy is coming out tomorrow to replace the windshield, about $200.
>>
>>No insurance? Perhaps not on a '97.
>>
>
>'95. Just liability.
>
>>
>>> He says the airbag light was coming on intermittently for a month or
>>> so until about half a year ago, then stopped when the bulb burned
>>> out..
>>> Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
>>> If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.
>>
>>So he had months of warning that there was a problem, he ignored it, now it
>>is bull****?
>>
>
>Airbags exploding in your face for no reason is unacceptable, no
>matter what.
>Excuse me for thinking so.
>Lots of people driving around with flashing airbag lights, and lots of
>reasons for the light flashing.
>Not one says the bag will explode any time as far as I know.
>And it can happen even when the system gives no warning.
>There have been a number of recalls from different mfgs.
>Not saying I'm anti-airbag, but it gives you something to think about.
>I read that MB has a 10 year expiration date for their airbags.
>And I hope everybody knows that it's recommended to have both hands
>low on the wheel so your arms don't get broken.
>But I hardly ever follow that rule.
>
>>Anything mechanical or electrical will eventually fail from wear, stress,
>>corrosion, or defect. I guess the lesson here is not to ignore warnings.
>>
>
>I agree with that. If my airbag light went on I'd take it in for
>fixing or pull the bags.
>Probably just something weird happened. One in a million.
>But I don't want anybody out there relaxing.
>My chance to fear-monger.
>
>--Vic

"Brent" > wrote
> Airbags are explosives. The fail condition for anything that can
> explode should be not to explode when put into a consumer product. It
> doesn't matter that an intermittent warning light was ignored, failure
> should mean not exploding. There is a glaring error in the FMEA process
> with that car.
>

First, we know the airbag went off, but we do no know what failed and why.
The airbag is explosive and may not have failed at all, but the sensor or
relay, or other triggering device may have failed, this telling the airbag
to do what it is intended to do. Was anything tampered with? Modified?
Bumper in a crash of any sort?

The only thing we know for certain is the car owner chose to ignore a
warning. Given that it was MONTHS of warning, the fault lies with him. If
you know a bomb is going to go off when the counter gets to zero, you are a
fool to stand by when you have time to get out or do something.

If your smoke detector goes off in the middle of the night, would you ignore
it? When the low oil light goes on do you ignore it? Brake failure light?
There are consequences to the actions, or lack thereof, and no one else to
blame.

As I said, every mechanical or electrical device will eventually fail. That
includes the devices that are put in place to prevent failure.

Vic Smith > wrote:
>Anyway, an airbag going off like this is pure bull****.
>If he comes up with an answer from the GM mechs I'll follow up.

It happens. It's bad, but it happens. It's the risk of active safety
devices, that they can sometimes activate inappropriately.

There were several Toyota models that would fire the airbags if you used
a 2M VHF walkie-talkie in or near the car.

Either way, it's worth trying to figure out what happened here. If
indeed the car has one accelerometer for both airbags, then you know the
problem is way downstream of the accelerometer. EMI issues and ground
noise are popular offenders.

Been noticing any alternator noise in the radio recently?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."