As part of our coverage of airbags repairs, we’re looking at a number of other issues surrounding airbags.  A California technician named Bill Andrew, who goes by the name ho3pp28y, posted a blog called Airbag Deception (see http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_AirBag-Deception/blog/186533/31710.html), which details some of these issues.

In particular, he questions how old airbag systems can be and still be viable. We’re wondering the same thing and have been looking into this matter. Airbags have been in American vehicles for over 20 years. A lot of these cars are still on the road. If you happen to be an owner of one of these vehicles or see one of them roll into your shop, what should your expectations be? Are there any warnings or suggestions you should give to the owner?

We’re posing this question to techs, OEMs and insurers. So far, I’ve heard from several techs, all of whom have had the same response: “That’s a good question.”

They’ve noted they’ve seen no technical bulletins on this matter. They also note that these systems are essentially “self-monitoring.” If the system senses a problem, it sets off the SRS light on the dash.

That raises some questions. What if that part of the system has failed? What if some other problem exists with the bag itself or the rest of the system? Surely, two-decades of age would have some impact. Age affects every other system and part of a vehicle.

Lets also look at the fact that these early systems had problems, especially accidental deployments (which we’re also examining). The number of these deployments has dropped dramatically, but doesn’t that fact point to the possibility of other problems?

We’d like to know. I’m sure you would as well. Stay tuned.

Other recent airbag articles and blogs are listed below.

"Increased scrutiny directed at airbag fraud": http://www.abrn.com/abrn/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=580244  

"Airbag analysis can be complex": http://www.abrn.com/abrn/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=580240"

"Debate over salvage airbags continues": http://www.abrn.com/abrn/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=581141

Join our discussion on airbag fraud:

http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayDiscussionThreads.kickAction?as=31710&w=151330&d=169426

Blogs on airbags:

“It’s tough being the good guy”:

http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Its-tough-being-the-good-guy/blog/181325/31710.html

“Airbag issues generate interest, feedback”: http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Airbag-issues-generate-interest-feedback/blog/185306/31710.html?b=