Wow. So did the guy lose his job? Was the car totaled? (I’ve heard airbags are several thousand dollars.)
And a tangent question, I have a 1995 F-150, at what point should I be worried that the steering wheel airbag will just go off due to age of some sensor/component?
That’s interesting.
I was going to say that the 1995 F-150 didn’t have airbags, because my 1995 F-350 Powerstroke doesn’t have them, but apparently it’s only the bigger vehicles that didn’t get them.
$500 or less is a ballpark figure for standard cars. Unless a car is really close to being totaled the airbags aren’t going to do it. Expensive/exotic cars can be more but a $2000 airbag for a $180,000 car isn’t going to total it either.
I guess you don’t realize that the deployment of airbags can and will wreck a bunch of other stuff. front passenger airbags can and do break the windshield. Side-curtain airbags destroy the headliner, pillar trim, and can (but not always) blow out the side windows. Seat-integrated airbags tear up the seat trim and nearly always justify new seats.
modern automotive safety standards are basically written to ensure that your car sacrifices itself to save your ass. As it should be.
No he didn’t lose his job. In fact he later became the service manager at that store.
The damage list was:
Driver’s airbag
Steering wheel
Passenger airbag
Windshield
Both front seat belts (pyrotechnic pretension era)
The dash on that particular model did not require replacement due to deployment.
It was probably a 2K bill when all was said and done, of course my buddy got to do the labor for free.
Just to reiterate and reinforce what I said up thread do not go near the car with any type of impacting tool if the key is on.
On your F150 check the owner’s manual for replacement information. With Volvo they first said 10 years, then changed to 15, now they say lifetime.
Y airbag MMV
OP checking in. I did in fact disconnect the batter terminal, It just that the terminal is coming a part and I didn’t want to mess with it unnecessarily. There are side curtain air bags, but none in the seat. The seat can be moved back and forth to access the bolts without the key in the ignition. I assume the answer as to why there isn’t a master switch is that you’re supposed to take it to the dealer to have the light in the ash tray replaced, so making it difficult to disconnect the power isn’t something they’re worried about.
Apparently the climate control is still live with the key out, when I was in St. Louis the triac in the electronic blower control decided to fail in the closed position in the middle of the night and it ran down my battery. This was before I had triple A (and what made me decide to get it) I spent all morning on the phone trying to get a tow truck out to jump start me. One place I called, after two hours with them not showing up I called back and they said they didn’t service the area, so I only got half a day at Six Flags. The rest of the trip I had to pull the fuse for the blower every time I stopped.
Ah, ok, I’ll bite. Why would I be kidding? Although it varies from make & model generally speaking when an airbag deploys, the car’s computer shuts most everything down (engine, fuel system, starter). I’ve even read that some vehicles have an actual pyrotechnic charge on the positive cable somewhere between the battery and the starter which physically severs the cable.
Even without that, chances are high that the ECU will keep those things disabled until it’s reset ***and ***detects a functioning airbag. And does airbag replacement not cost in the thousands?
My point is that if while putting a stereo into say a non-pristine but otherwise perfectly usable 2002 Nissan Sentra you accidentally set off the airbags, if the car is only worth a grand or two what are you going to do besides junk it?
[QUOTE=Mdcastle]
I assume the answer as to why there isn’t a master switch is that you’re supposed to take it to the dealer to have the light in the ash tray replaced, so making it difficult to disconnect the power isn’t something they’re worried about.
Apparently the climate control is still live with the key out, when I was in St. Louis the triac in the electronic blower control decided to fail in the closed position in the middle of the night and it ran down my battery.
[/QUOTE]
Adding a master switch would only add one more thing to fail in a place where you really don’t want a failure. What happens if the master switch jiggles open while you’re driving? Also, a master switch would add unnecessary cost, when the power can be reliably cut for free with a wrench and about thirty seconds’ effort.
As for the climate control, it’s not really live with the key off. Your headlights get power through a relay that always has power available to it, and a control signal is sent to it from the car’s computer to turn the lights on when you turn them on, or when you press the lock/unlock button of your key fob. A triac is just a solid-state version of a relay with the ability to turn on at variable levels so your blower has more than just fully on or fully off. Unfortunately yours decided to fail, and caused the battery to drain.
Because as I mentioned upthread the air bag system goes dead somewhere between a few seconds and a few minutes after the key is turned off. Want to change a light bulb? Turn the key off. Want to work on the air bag system? Disconnect the battery. It really isn’t rocket surgery.
Probably you posted a bunch of falsehoods and half truths in GQ. Let’s look at them shall we?
The fuel pump is shut off to prevent a fuel spill after an accident. This is NOT a feature on every airbag system, lots of cars DON’T have this feature. There is no reason to disable the starter or the ECU if you have shutoff the fuel.
Yes some very high end cars have this, 7 Series BMW, Hyundai Equus, S Class Benz to name a few. Also not every bag/igniter will be set off in any one occurrence, just as the passenger airbag won’t go off on a modern car unless there is someone in the seat, I doubt if you somehow set off the driver’s airbag that it would blow the positive cable. All of the igniters are wired separately, so even if you blow the driver’s bag, the rest of the system is safe.
First off this isn’t what you said in your last post. Secondly the Fuel pump does not care if there is a functional airbag or not, it just cares if there is a shut down there has been an accident signal sent on the computer network. Otherwise the car would stall and not restart every time there was an airbag fault.
OK, first off you have to fucking work at it to set off an airbag. Assuming you are not a complete door knob and turned the key off prior to working on the car, to set off an airbag in the your Sentra while putting in a stereo you would have to:
[ul]
[li]Instead of working in the center of the dash, take apart the covers around the steering column[/li]or
[li]Take apart the area above the glove box[/li][li]Randomly start patching wires hither and yon so that you[/li][li]supply power to one of the airbag leads[/li][li]At exactly the same time, supply ground to the other airbag lead[/li][/ul]
but what if you are a door knob and you left the key on?[ul]
[li]All of the above[/li]or
[li]using an impacting tool at just the right frequency and distance that the SRS unit thinks you were in an accident.[/li][/ul]I would like to point out that impacting tools (impact, air chisel) are not used to install a stereo.
Any reasonable person will realize that the odds of you doing all of those things in just that order are very, very slim.
Of course you will have to buy an airbag. Let’s assume the your new airbag costs $750. Now I drive a 2005 car, I don’t consider that to be fairly new, as it is 8 model years old. It has a street value of about $8,000. You statement makes it sound like after paying $750 for the airbag the cost of resetting the computer would exceed $7,250. I might charge up to 1 hour labor to reset the computer system. I can only dream of getting $7,250/hour for my techs labor. My labor rate is $110/hr. and frankly if you came to me and explained the situation, I might do it for free if you asked nice. So if $110 totals your car, I have to ask, just how much of a car was it? Why were you putting a stereo in it? A new iPod is worth more than your car.
[quote]
Once an airbag deploys the car’s computer is not going to let it start or run or do much of anything. Which means you’ll have to either:
[list=A]
[li]Replace the airbag and get the computer reset, which will be ***very ***expensive (easily more than a used car’s total value!)[/li]or
[li]Not replace the airbag but then somehow ‘hotwire’ the computer into thinking that you did (or again it won’t let the car function)[/li][/quote]
Answered above. Not all cars do this Furthermore you don’t have to replace the airbag, just reset the computer.
Just goes to show how little you know. I am a dealer. I rarely get car brought in for airbag reset after an deployment. All the quality body shops have trained individuals to do the repairs, or call in a service that specializes in airbag repair/reset. All the quality independents also do it. Again this isn’t rocket surgery, and these systems have been around since the 1980’s. Not exactly cutting edge.
As far as B goes, who cares about hotwiring the ECU? Bring it to me and spin a good tale, I would do it for free. Be an asshole and I would charge an hour labor. Again this probably won’t change your lifestyle.
There are valid reasons not to install a master switch or disconnect the battery
Arguments against a master switch[ul]
[li]Know how to make a million in the car business? Save a buck a car and build a million of them A master switch costs [/li][li]Not needed[/li][li]Not required by regulation[/li][/ul]
Reasons for a master switch[ul]
[/ul]
(can’t think of a single reason for)
Reasons not to disconnect a battery unless you have to:
[ul]
[li]possible loss of radio presets[/li][li]possible loss of power seat presets[/li][li]loss of adaptivity of various control units.[/li][li]loss of ECU readiness byte preventing passing of a smog test[/li][/ul]
Points taken, if a tad too much literal there sometimes (:D).
I’m not gonna go thru everything, like when installing a stereo I’ve had to drop the steering column to fish wires over it, and I used an impact for that. Hell I owned a Plymouth Horizon that had its factory stereo secured with anti-theft keyed bolt heads, so I used a hammer and chisel to start them turning!. But we could go back & forth all day. I’m not a professional mechanic but I know way around them and consequently, no, I’ve never bothered disconnecting the battery for fear of setting off an airbag. Occasionally for other reasons, but I know how difficult it would be for me to trigger one without deliberately trying.
I guess you could sum it up by saying that without disconnecting the battery, accidentally setting off an airbag is a million to one chance. Disconnecting it, it’s infinity to one (impossible). And I guess some people prefer absolutes (though I bet there’s some model of car out there that has airbags with independent, back-up power! :))