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85 DSEL 01-13-2019 11:21 AM

Our old air bags
 
I can't help but wonder how affective (effective?[emoji849]) the air bags in our old steering wheels will be if ever they are 'called upon' for deployment.

Looking to hear what others think about this or their own experience with them.

Dale

tjts1 01-13-2019 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85 DSEL (Post 3878413)
I can't help but wonder how affective (effective?[emoji849]) the air bags in our old steering wheels will be if ever they are 'called upon' for deployment.

Looking to hear what others think about this or their own experience with them.

Dale

Go to the JY with a small battery, pop some old airbags and see what happens. I've never seen one misfire or do anything it wasn't supposed to do.

85 DSEL 01-13-2019 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjts1 (Post 3878419)
Go to the JY with a small battery, pop some old airbags and see what happens. I've never seen one misfire or do anything it wasn't supposed to do.


Well, now there's a reply I wasn't expecting.


Please...TELL me what happens when this is carried out. I personally have no interest in doing this experiment you recommend - first of all, I wouldn't know exactly what to do with the "small battery" you refer to! You have my curiosity piqued :P


Dale

tjts1 01-13-2019 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85 DSEL (Post 3878421)
Well, now there's a reply I wasn't expecting.


Please...TELL me what happens when this is carried out. I personally have no interest in doing this experiment you recommend - first of all, I wouldn't know exactly what to do with the "small battery" you refer to! You have my curiosity piqued :P


Dale

Splice into the airbag wiring harness. Anything over 3v is enough to pop the airbag.

85 DSEL 01-13-2019 02:07 PM

Just wondering if anyone else *thinks* about it. Obviously I do - periodically. [emoji41]

Dale

Jorn 01-13-2019 02:25 PM

I do. There is a sticker in the the drivers side door that has a date when you’re supposed to install a new one. I’m more worried about the psg side airbag, I’m pretty sure it will destroy the entire left side of the dash.

party 01-13-2019 02:37 PM

Two people I know have gotten into pretty good front enders in '80s-90s Benzes and the airbag didn't go off.

There's also this doc:

https://i.imgur.com/xHBY7nu.png?1

Mxfrank 01-13-2019 04:28 PM

I plan on replacing the whole car next summer. That should take care of the airbag, as well. The inflator contains sodium azide, which is solid rocket fuel. As long as it hasn't absorbed moisture it should be stable for the duration. It's not only explosive, it's highly toxic, so don't get to fooling around with it.

Jorn 01-13-2019 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by party (Post 3878452)
Two people I know have gotten into pretty good front enders in '80s-90s Benzes and the airbag didn't go off.

There's also this doc:

https://i.imgur.com/xHBY7nu.png?1

I believe it’s $1200 at the dealer. Now the question is, how do insurance companies respond if they find out the airbag that was supposed to make an accident less painful didn’t do its job because of old age?

sixto 01-13-2019 05:53 PM

I guess it’s a question of whether you want it to deploy.

In my ‘93 SD I rear ended another car. I was braking heavily so my bumper dipped under the other bumper. The grill took the hit. Driver airbag didn’t deploy. Seatbelt pyro tensioner kept me from the steering wheel. Passenger airbag deployed tearing the dash and shattering the windshield, by design. Passenger seat was unoccupied.

I could have repaired the grill and radiator damage but I walked away from the cabin damage.

A dud passenger airbag would have served me better, but only in retrospect.

FWIW the airbag was right at 15 years installed.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon
02 C320 wagon

Rrrockhound 01-13-2019 09:06 PM

There was a forum post about 2-3 years ago from a guy in New Jersey (I think) who got into a crash in his pre-facelift W124 and reported that the original airbags worked as designed. I tried searching for the post but I couldn't find it even though I've run across it a couple of times.

Hirnbeiss 01-14-2019 01:00 AM

And I seem to recall that the 15-year life was looked at later and deemed to be irrelevant. That is, the airbags were still fine after 15 years.

JSCC 01-14-2019 11:34 AM

I have a sticker on the driver door to replace the airbag in 1998 - after only 10 years. I have no idea if this was replaced, but I doubt it very much.

Last year I opened the First Aid kit from the back window. It has never been opened before and I took one of the band-aids. It was in better shape than stuff you can buy new.

Based on that, I will take my chances on the air bag!:D

85 DSEL 01-14-2019 05:00 PM

Our old air bags
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by JSCC (Post 3878635)
I have a sticker on the driver door to replace the airbag in 1998 - after only 10 years. I have no idea if this was replaced, but I doubt it very much.



Last year I opened the First Aid kit from the back window. It has never been opened before and I took one of the band-aids. It was in better shape than stuff you can buy new.



Based on that, I will take my chances on the air bag!:D



I have one on both my cars. I'm like you, I doubt they've ever been replaced. Still I have concern that they may not deploy or worse, but we currently have the Takata air bag fiasco that's going on right now on much much newer cars and trucks!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9f88b9d512.jpg

pawoSD 01-20-2019 09:37 PM

Not only does the ancient airbag need to function in said crash, but the impact sensor does too....at this point probably questionable. My 420 has dual airbags up front and the tag on the pillar says replace by 2004.....


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