Air Bags

[Dave Peterman]

Yesterday I finished my days work went out to my 2007 Suzuki Forenza to drive home. I got in the car pushed in the clutch turned on the ignition but did not start the car. I was trying to put on my seat belt when the clip slipped out of my hand and Boom!!!!!!!! The Air bag located in the drivers seat exploded and deployed. It felt like someone hit me in the side with a baseball bat. I called roadside assitance and the sent out a tow truck and took it to the dealership. I have never heard of this happening has anyone else?

[Rick S.]

wow, this is the first I've heard of an accidental airbag deployment...

[scott]

Wow, did you suffer any injury like even minor hearing loss?
Man, from now on you will want to wear a helmet when you go
to the grocery store!

[Dave Peterman]

If you see a fat over forty guy in a blue car with a black mag 4 helmet that would be me!!!!! I have not had that loud of a noise in a car since I shot my buddies 1973 Nova during hunting season in 1983. Last time I went road hunt'in.

[Brian Hamilton]

A buddy of mine switched out the interior in his Mustang and took it to the drag strip. Had a great day running in a memorial race for a friend who died in a motorcycle accident, all the local street racing crowd was there. (The guy didn't die street racing, he slipped on wet roads and had complications during recovery.) Anyway, my buddy Dave was lining up to run and did his burnout and was ready to launch. Light turned, he launched, and BOOM!! off went the airbag. He didn't even have it hooked up to any sort of power!! It just blew. Well it cost him the race understandably, scared the sh** out of him. LOL They save lives, but scare the crap outta you when they falsley deploy.

Glad you're Ok!!

Brian

[J. Salmon]

I have heard of it happening, and it happened to a buddy of mine across town. BMW X5, he was not actually in the car at the time, but was standing in the open door.

I really worry about air bags as the electronic in cars gets older. I have heard of it being a real problem in Ferrari 355's that have the dash recovered (which is alot of them eventually); something about the connectors and getting everything back together correctly.

Scary.. Glad you are OK.

[MReid]

That is bizzarre! Glad you're okay. That could trigger a heart attack in some of us old timers (not me of course).

[David S.]

I have only seen it happen a couple of times. The first time during startup when the vehicle is being programed on the assembly line. The cause turned out be pinched harness in the dash sending the wrong signal to the Body Control Modual. The second time they were working on a truck center console and they accidently moved the roll over modual that was usually attached to the floor, all air bags deployed. So the newer the vehicle the more complex the safety features.
Dave

[Dave Peterman]

The thing I wonder about is did the seat belt clip hit a sensor or did a wire go bad. I am glad it was me and not my fiance and her 5 year old it the car.

[Big-Foot]

I think I'd be looking for a full-price BUY-BACK on that car and go looking elsewhere.. Thank God you weren't injured.

[Jim c]

Dave

very interesting I would like to here what the outcome is if you ever get the truth ( they will bullshit to you for shore).
Being in the industry you do here off things going off.
It takes several trigers to set it off, speed, impact switches ,enertia switches ect but you still here off shit like this, it is a worry.

I know when I play with them I wont put my body in between the seat and the wheel.

Jim

[David S.]

Dave,
There are pre-tensioners in every seatbelt, The front seats also have pressure sensors to detect a driver and passinger(for passenger side air bag or curtain). You have impact sensors in the side doors as well as front bumper(some sonic), all connected to the BCM (Body Control Modual) through High Speed LAN. The system checks itself every you turn the ignition. Did you have any work done to the car lately because this is a very rare occurance.
Dave

[Dave Peterman]

The only thing I have ever had done is oil changes and a new set of tires on the rear installed three weeks ago. They did give me a rental. What makes me curious is the service manager said they had the replacement seat back in stock. When I worked for a Ford dealership years ago we never stocked parts like that but it was before the airbag era. The service manager said the computer said the thing had been shorted to ground. I did tell them I would not take the car back untill they had checked it completely and could assure me it was not going do it again.

[David S.]

Dave
Make sure they find it. I found before I retired from GM last year that the wire harnesses had been getting cheap because of the cost of copper. The wires used were so thin that if the harness was not routed properly wires could get stressed or pinched. Get them to put the Tech II on it to show you that everything is all right before you take it. It will be a BCM fault not an ECM on the low speed LAN and it will tell you if everything is OK (all sensors)
Dave

[Chris P.]

Oh, I read the title "Airbags" and thought this was another political thread.

[Dave Peterman]

Hi Everyone:

I picked up the car last night. The dealership replace the seat back.
The service manager told me the did find the problem. The wiring harness in the seat back was not installed properly it had rubbed through the harness causing the circuit to short to ground setting of the air bag.

Thanks for all the input on this one. Cheers Dave

[Tony Hunt]

Originally Posted by aero

Oh, I read the title "Airbags" and thought this was another political thread.

No, it's an extension of the 'A dilemma' thread.

[MReid]

Damn! Who needs air bags when you have fun bags.

Glad to hear it worked out for you, Dave. Let's hope that was the real issue.

[Big-Foot]

Tony Tony Tony.... Kindly warn us before you put stuff like that in a post...
I just spit half my sandwich onto the keyboard!