Let’s say you’re speeding down a hill and you suddenly realize your brakes aren’t working. In a moment of panic, you turn off the engine. The car slams headfirst into a tree at 70mph. Do the airbags deploy even with the ignition in the off position?
Apparently not on the Chevy Cobalt and a handful of other GM cars, at least…
Maybe. Turning the ignition all the way to off renders the system safe for technician to work around airbag systems.
The system does have a standby power unit that will continue to power the system for a short period of time in case the battery is destroyed first in the accident.
A few years ago the steering wheel on my car was loose and required the nut to be re-torqued. After checking online for instructions I was advised to wait at least half an hour after unplugging the airbag before pulling it out of the way to get to the loose nut: residual charge must be allowed to drain to ground lest the bag sets off amd blows in my face.
I don’t know of the year/make/model of your car, but I have never heard of a 30 minute window. Most standby power units power for a few seconds, maybe 30 seconds tops. The repair instructions typically say to wait 2 minutes before working on the system.
I’m not sure you COULD turn off the engine. iirc most modern cars won’t let you turn the key all the way to off unless the transmission is in park (which it can’t do while the vehicle is in motion).
Really? I think some cars won’t let you pull they key out unless the transmission is in park, but you can still turn the ignition to “off.”
In fact I would consider the ability to do that an important safety feature in the event of something like a stuck throttle or cruise control that won’t turn off: transmission to neutral, ignition off was always my concept of the emergency procedure.
The engine will turn off, but you can’t rotate the key around to the position to be removed.
This is to prevent people from removing the key with the car not in park and having it roll away.
Just forgot: You MUST disconnect the battery.
Not that it is germane to the OP, but no you don’t.
“Need answer quick”?
POOF!! Not anymore.
And as this proud owner of 2006 Chevy Cobalt will tell you, GM has not made enough new ignition switches to start bringing the cars in. The recall is up to 2.5 million cars. I got a piece of mail that says my car is able to cut off on its own, but not to make an appointment at the dealer until I get another piece of mail. In the meantime, I need to take my key of my keyring, the extra weight causes the ignition to move.
In order for the airbag to deploy in a collision, a number of sensors and control boxes located throughout the car need to have power. This shouldn’t be a problem for modern cars unless the design isn’t set up to do it; in that case it’s much cheaper to “fix” the problem by changing the key so it won’t turn off so easily. To really fix the GM design problem they would need to update the control boxes (software) and maybe swap out some cable harnesses, but that would be expensive and apparently your life isn’t worth that much [to GM].
To rig the system so it is always live (which is what it sounds like you recommending) would create more issues than it solves.
- Guy backs into your parked car deploying the bags. No one is in your car but the repair bill is several thousands $ higher with a zero increase in safety
- Technician goes to work on your car. He turns off the key which renders the system save on every other car on the road. He uses an impact wrench to unbolt the passenger seat. The vibration causes the bags to deploy. Tech is injured or killed. You now have a decrease in safety.
Everybody else can build a functioning ign switch, I’m sure GM can also if they put their mind to it.
I’m so glad to have company in Cobalt Lemon Land. I called to check on the status of my recall, and found my name had vanished from the list. So I gave all my information a second time. 6-8 weeks for the part, at least. Not counting the 6 weeks I thought I was on the list the first time.
Now I have a recall for the power steering thingy. For which no parts are available. Yet.
If I get 3 recalls, do I get a new car?