Has anyone ever repaired airbags in a car?
- Thread starter geno
- Start date
I heard that most insurance companies will total a car due to air bag deployment because for the most part, they wreak havoc to the dash and steering column.
I think my father had his replaced in a company car some while ago, and it was in for a day (although it probably only took an hour or two max). I really wouldn't try to do it yourself if you're going down that route, as if you get it wrong and you need it some day... well, you'll be kicking yourself, if you can 
Geno there are too many variations between vehicle lines to give a straight answer but I will try to address the issue to the best of my knowledge.
Most early airbag system designs included a thermal limiter switch inside the airbag monitor that was a fail safe against accidental airbag deployment if a sensor shorted to ground. These switches would burn themselves out if only one sensor in the system was indication a collision, shorted sensor, to prevent accidental deployment. In the case of a real accident the airbags would deploy and then the thermal limiter switch would burn out. On these older models you would have to replace the airbag modules, monitor, and sensors before performing any diagnosis to the system to determine what else might have been damaged. Understand if they didn?t replace the airbag module they most likely didn?t replace the damage sensors or monitor either. Most new systems now have a replaceable fuse to act in place of the thermal limiter switch and monitor replacement might not be necessary to diagnosis the system once the airbags and sensors have been replaced.
Diagnosis is a little more difficult because there isn?t a huge DIY market for the scanner technology to read the codes. Only the high-end scanners like MAC, OTC, & Snap-On have the capabilities to read and diagnose these codes. You might have to take the vehicle to a dealership once the physically damaged parts are replaced to see if the system needs more attention or it?s functioning correctly.
The cost of airbag replacement parts needs to be addressed. For the most part they are only available new from dealerships. Used parts could be supplemented but you might be installing a bad part because there is not simple way of testing components until they are installed and a good monitor runs a self check on the system. Most airbag modules cost $500-1000.00 and monitors can be in the range of $75-200.00. Sensors are a little less expensive ranging from $50-75.00 unless they are only available in a set, which could run $200-300.00.
Good Luck on your decision,
Quixfire
Most early airbag system designs included a thermal limiter switch inside the airbag monitor that was a fail safe against accidental airbag deployment if a sensor shorted to ground. These switches would burn themselves out if only one sensor in the system was indication a collision, shorted sensor, to prevent accidental deployment. In the case of a real accident the airbags would deploy and then the thermal limiter switch would burn out. On these older models you would have to replace the airbag modules, monitor, and sensors before performing any diagnosis to the system to determine what else might have been damaged. Understand if they didn?t replace the airbag module they most likely didn?t replace the damage sensors or monitor either. Most new systems now have a replaceable fuse to act in place of the thermal limiter switch and monitor replacement might not be necessary to diagnosis the system once the airbags and sensors have been replaced.
Diagnosis is a little more difficult because there isn?t a huge DIY market for the scanner technology to read the codes. Only the high-end scanners like MAC, OTC, & Snap-On have the capabilities to read and diagnose these codes. You might have to take the vehicle to a dealership once the physically damaged parts are replaced to see if the system needs more attention or it?s functioning correctly.
The cost of airbag replacement parts needs to be addressed. For the most part they are only available new from dealerships. Used parts could be supplemented but you might be installing a bad part because there is not simple way of testing components until they are installed and a good monitor runs a self check on the system. Most airbag modules cost $500-1000.00 and monitors can be in the range of $75-200.00. Sensors are a little less expensive ranging from $50-75.00 unless they are only available in a set, which could run $200-300.00.
Good Luck on your decision,
Quixfire
In addition to the above, there are differences between the year, make, and model of the vehicles.
There are mandatory replacement items in case of an airbag deployment. Obviously the air bags need to be replaced, but in many cars, the dash, steering columns, sensors have to be replaced as well. There are also other parts such as the seatbelts that must be inspected and replaced. Many cars also have a seatbelt pretensioner that deploy that take up the slack in the seat belt in case of a collision and the seat belts will not retract or extend if they have deployed.
These supplemental restraint systems can get very expensive to repair and a car is not safe to be back on the road unless or until they have been repaired properly.
The good news is that if the airbag light goes on when you start the car, the SRS computer does a self diagnostic check and if it goes off after a few seconds, that means it's working just fine.
There are mandatory replacement items in case of an airbag deployment. Obviously the air bags need to be replaced, but in many cars, the dash, steering columns, sensors have to be replaced as well. There are also other parts such as the seatbelts that must be inspected and replaced. Many cars also have a seatbelt pretensioner that deploy that take up the slack in the seat belt in case of a collision and the seat belts will not retract or extend if they have deployed.
These supplemental restraint systems can get very expensive to repair and a car is not safe to be back on the road unless or until they have been repaired properly.
The good news is that if the airbag light goes on when you start the car, the SRS computer does a self diagnostic check and if it goes off after a few seconds, that means it's working just fine.
do you not just need to buy a new airbag module? you can't reset the airbags once they are blown... but you can buy airbags to replace with AFAIK...
halik
Lifer
- Oct 10, 2000
- 25,696
- 1
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Relatively easy (depening on what car you're talking about though) - you need both the airbags, seatbelt tighteners and a new airbag control module. On most cars the control module is toast after it records a deployment event. Once you have all of the above, you replace the blown parts and get the make-specific obd tool (ie VAG-com for VW/audi ) and reset the controller.
<- replaced airbagso n his audi
Another thing to consider is the frame/body of the car itself.
Airbags deploy at @35mph impacts. Crumple zones are designed to absorb damage and transfer it through the whole body. It may look like minor paint/body work damage plus airbag parts is all you need, but you should always have the frame/body fully inspected if the bags deployed.
Airbags deploy at @35mph impacts. Crumple zones are designed to absorb damage and transfer it through the whole body. It may look like minor paint/body work damage plus airbag parts is all you need, but you should always have the frame/body fully inspected if the bags deployed.
Just get married and drive your new wife around, and you've got yourself a new airbag.
If you get her mom in the car too, then you'll have dual airbags!!
If you get her mom in the car too, then you'll have dual airbags!!
Not true. Airbags deploy at much lower speeds.
Air bags are typically designed to deploy in frontal and near-frontal
collisions, which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately
8 to 14 miles per hour (mph). Roughly speaking, a 14 mph barrier collision
is equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size across the full front
of each vehicle at about 28 mph. This is because the parked car absorbs some
of the energy of the crash, and is pushed by the striking vehicle. Unlike
crash tests into barriers, real-world crashes typically occur at angles,
and the crash forces usually are not evenly distributed across the front
of the vehicle. Consequently, the relative speed between a striking and
struck vehicle required to deploy the air bag in a real-world crash can be
much higher than an equivalent barrier crash.
Because air bag sensors measure deceleration, vehicle speed and damage are not
good indicators of whether or not an air bag should have deployed. Occasionally,
air bags can deploy due to the vehicle?s undercarriage violently striking a low
object protruding above the roadway surface. Despite the lack of visible
front-end damage, high deceleration forces may occur in this type of crash,
resulting in the deployment of the air bag.
Front air bags are not designed to deploy in side impact, rear impact or
rollover crashes.
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