Massive Airbag Recall
 

Airbag defect spurs recall of 4.7 million vehicles - The Washington Post

The airbags are made by Takata and are in place in some Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan and General Motors models. NHTSA said it was particularly urgent for vehicles owners in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii to take immediate action.

Humidity? Salty Mist? Rum drinks?

Humidity.

-J

Humility.

Good thing I didn't get the Massive option :D

on the evening news it said the airbags could explode and throw metal parts into the driver's head. What exactly is happening and what metal parts are being flung around?

Good reason to own a car that was made before the swine in DC started requiring that all new cars have explosives aimed at the faces of the people in them.

Eh, I'll still prefer to drive a car with air bags...from what I've read it's more of a defect with the manufacturing process where a chemical was left out in the air and shouldn't ha e been.


Sent from an abacus

Sounds like news embellishment. I thought he risk was airbag deployment without warning, which is bad enough. "Metal parts" flying around sounds like some newscasters dim understanding of how an airbag works or is built.

Didn't look like news embellishment to me. They had pictures of people with pieces of metal embedded in their heads. One in a person's eye, blinding them.

Holy shlt!

More research time for me EDIT- inflator mechanisms the are saying?

It's been documented, couple people have been killed by the metal shards hitting veins. All of the above questions answered:

http://jalopnik.com/your-guide-to-the-explosive-airbag-recall-that-effects-1634598717


Sent from an abacus

If one owns one of the recall cars. Disable the airbag circuit until they fix it. They are unlikely to have enough replacement bags on hand to do them very quickly for all.

A minor accident could fire the bags at you. Are all the cars with the problematic airbags listed anywhere?

They are listed at the bottom of the linked article.

- Peter.

Is this a problem with the bombs exploding when the circuit fires them, or the explosive being unstable and self-initiating? If it's the latter, disconnecting the circuit won't help. (Carefully) removing the bags would.

Airbags are kind of a dumb idea. I've been saying this for years.

Hard to argue with increased passenger survival since the advent of passive restraint systems.

Actually it's not hard to argue that there are better ways of protecting people than aiming explosives at their faces. Five point harnesses do the same job better and cheaper.

5 point harness . . . why not a full nomex suit and helmet while we're at it? :D

It's always been my impression that an electric charge(in addition to impact) was needed to activate the bag. Some FSMs warn that a period of xx secs. is required after disconnecting the battery to purge residual current in the capacitor, a procedure used to safely remove a bag.

If the circuit were legitimately disabled, wouldn't that bleed the capacitor?

Perhaps self-initiation is possible w/o a complete electrical circuit?

Just checked the VIN on my Element and it's not part of that recall but did discover an open one for the ignition interlock lever. Don't remember a recall letter but I tend to be rather militant about junk mail so.... gotta send the wife to Prescott now.

Give a few months and it grows to just shy of 34 million cars.

Air bag recall expected to be largest in U.S. history

Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata Corp. will announce Tuesday it is declaring an estimated 33.8 million vehicles defective, a move that is expected to lead to the largest U.S. recall of any consumer product, surpassing the callback of 31 million bottles of Tylenol in 1982 following a

But what about side airbags? Five-point harnesses won't help there...
That is absolutely insane. 34 million cars. Since it's Takata doing the recall, and they don't have their own service centers, will they somehow compensate dealers to do the installs for them or what?

I guess this means that the one in the Corolla won't be replaced anytime soon...

Welp, I should have taken the rx8 in when I had a chance, now it'll be mobbed. I am also interested in seeing how the money and service works out.


Sent from an abacus

Were they actually replacing them or just calling you in for an inspection? I know that the Corolla was called in for an inspection to see if we have an affected airbag. After the inspection, they told us that we do indeed have a defective model, but that the parts aren't in yet and that they would let us know when they come in. Since then, we've only had one letter morealess telling us hang tight and that parts haven't come out yet...

I believe it was actual replacement of the drivers and passengers side airbag. They likely had a good vin range on them. I still haven't done it but I'd like to sell the car very soon anyways. So anyways, anyone interested in a rotary powered deathbomb?


Sent from an abacus

Larry's banned again? :P

I'll take it and swap the engine into the Corolla. I hate to say it, but lately I've really felt like the 1ZZ's 6.5k redline just isn't doing it for me anymore.

Oh, and do you think I could swap the good looks from the Mazda onto the Corolla when I do the engine swap? What would that involve?

So happy I am, that my 240D had none of this crap :)

- Peter.

Actually they do. A five point (or six point like they use in F1) does a considerably better job keeping you positioned in your seat than a three point. You stay where you're supposed to be, and as long as there isn't gross intrusion of something hard into the passenger compartment, you're good.

Well as its an automatic the redline is only 7000rpm because they didn't make a torque converter that worked above that. And the body has plenty of dings. But it's still something right?


Sent from an abacus

And it's a reason why race cars are designed with limited driver mobility and reach. They're not expected to pay tolls, have passengers, deal with mobility issues . . .

I'll just weld up the TC like some people weld diffs. Problem solved.

If I read the list correctly, every vehicle manufactured after 2011 (Honda Element) is not included. Two comments:
I dislike Honda Elements on principle. They're Fugly.
I wish the entire list was made up of oversized Pickup Trucks. :D

Heard on TV this morning (Joe) the recall, to replace all, would likely take years.

It's not just Elements, irrespective of your opinion. News this a.m. said 1 out of every 4 cars on the road is affected. Turns out my Element IS on the list. Dealer has ordered parts and says he'll have them in a MONTH if I'm lucky.

So what's involved in disabling airbag circuitry? I just called again to touch base with dealership. Service mgr. says she can't do it. Illegal, or something.

Unlike early SRS systems, I believe modern systems have a secondary power source in conjunction with the main electrical system. To safely disable for service, you have to disconnect or discharge both.

Sooo... what happens if you are in an accident and your airbag deploys? Will the replacements you get be good ones or bad ones?

I would suggest not having an affair with your dealership's service advisers wife. :D

Phoned a Honda service dept today. The service advisor said he will not be aware if my car is on the list for another month or so. At present they claim to have nothing. I am pretty sure my model will be in the most recent list.

Some people like a better chance of surviving a collision.

In my experience, I see more injuries from seat belt tensioners, like clavicle fractures, than injuries from bag deployment. Very few people even recall the bag since the deployment and deflation occurs so quickly. Those people are very happy to have the SRS.

My first up close and personal experience with an airbag was in my second Miata (a lovely smurf blue 1990). Nice lady pulled into an intersection against a red light, and I t-boned her Matrix at something just south of 50 MPH.

I was traveling at or about the speed limit, and had just enough time to go both feet in and slam the shifter into third (on impact, my right hand punched the stereo out of the dash). Didn't have time to lift my clutch foot.

The absolutely trippy part - I vividly recall watching the airbag unfold, in hyper-slow motion, seeing the printed text unfold, one letter at a time.