Lifetime of an airbag

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Mon 17 Dec 2007 19:28
Lifetime of an airbag - Pos
What is the lifespan of an airbag? Do they need to be replaced at some time?
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Mon 17 Dec 2007 19:36
Lifetime of an airbag - injection doc
life expectancey is till they go off with a bang!. some manufactures recommend 10 years but I have never been asked to replace one yet because of its age. Its like everything they deteriorate with age.
Doc
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Mon 17 Dec 2007 23:03
Lifetime of an airbag - bell boy
i think its a nano second once you hit the wall
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Mon 17 Dec 2007 23:10
Lifetime of an airbag - rtj70
Lifespan? Depends if you want to rely on it. OEM/Manufacturer will say the usual 10 years but who knows?
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 08:53
Lifetime of an airbag - Cliff Pope
Supposing you did want a 10-year old one to be replaced as a precaution. Do they unscrew it and detonate it somewhere, or set it off somehow in situ? Are there special disposal sites where they detonate old airbags? What do scrapyards do?
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 09:17
Lifetime of an airbag - rtj70
I don't think I'd like to transport an airbag. Why? When it looked like my Passat needed one I wondered why the dealer didn't have one in stock. To my surprise at the time they said they never keep spare airbags due to the danger. And when one arrives it comes in a strengthened container in case it went off by accident.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 09:37
Lifetime of an airbag - Alby Back
I sort of hope mine doesn't work any more........no seriously, a few years ago I was involved in very minor accident. Another vehicle failed to stop at a junction and pulled out in front of me so that I was heading straight for the side of it. I hit the brakes and had almost stopped when there was a low speed impact. Slight damage to my bumper and dents in the doors of the other car. However, my airbag deployed and broke three of my ribs. What would have otherwise been an unfortunate incident with a bit of hurt pride and wallet damage turned into personal injury. They should be switchable in my view. Let people take responsibility for their own decisions when no one else is...directly....affected.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 09:54
Lifetime of an airbag - Cliff Pope
Sounds like another recycling mess up in a few years times. Millions of possibly unstable time-expired air bags, no recycling facilities, councils have made no provision, airbags being dumped in ordinary rubbish or fly-tipped.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 10:09
Lifetime of an airbag - DP
I treated the Mondeo to a new (secondhand) steering wheel last year off Fleabay as the old one was badly worn, and it came with an airbag attached. On removing the airbag, I noticed a sticker attached to the rear with date 15 years from the year of the car it came off. When I took mine off, it had a similar sticker with 2015 on it. I guess this is Ford's "life" recommendation for the airbag unit.

I can't see anyone forking out to replace the airbags on a 15 year old Ford somehow. Or a 15 year old anything else for that matter.

Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 10:37
Lifetime of an airbag - bell boy
Sounds like another recycling mess up in a few years times. Millions of possibly unstable
time-expired air bags no recycling facilities councils have made no provision airbags being dumped in
ordinary rubbish or fly-tipped.

>>>>>>>>>> Dont worry cliff, if the car has gone to a controlled breaker then one of the rules is that airbags have to be detonated prior to crushing,if they dont do this then they can be banned from purchasing future CAT B SALVAGE.
This probably is one of the reasons that stolen airbags is on the rise as breakers are not allowed to sell them s/hand to punters
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 10:46
Lifetime of an airbag - DP
I've got a mk2 Mondeo one in fine, untriggered condition, and 7 years left on its sticker if anyone wants it.... ;-)

Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 17:07
Lifetime of an airbag - milkyjoe
there special disposal sites where they detonate old airbags? What do scrapyards do?


try a search on youtube, i seem to remember some clowns letting off airbags for fun on there
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 11:55
Lifetime of an airbag - bignick2
Displaced airbags have to be detonated before disposal. In theory this is done inside a reinforced cabinet - in practice the technicians where I work have an ongoing competition to see who can get one to fly the highest/furthest.

The time limit is due to two things, one the stability of the propellant and two the structural integrity of the bag/stitching itself. Not much good if the charge ignites and the bag disintegrates rather than inflating.

Given the likely cost of replacing all the airbags on a modern vehicle (10 on some models I believe) at around £100 - £200 each plus specialist fitting plus VAT a 10 yr old car is effectively only fit for scrap.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 12:34
Lifetime of an airbag - Screwloose

As soon as VOSA can sort out the testing details; airbags will come into the MOT.

It's childsplay for each bag to be date-code chipped to the ECU and then the manufacturers will have what they've always wanted - an end-of-life switch on virtually every car.

As said; nobody will spend £2-5000 getting all the bags replaced at ten years. The seat-back bags are a major job in themselves.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 12:39
Lifetime of an airbag - Chris White
Lifetime in my Primera is 10-yrs and £800 to replace them (driver and passenger).

The problem, according to HJ, is that the seams that hold the airbag together weaken over time so that when the airbag explodes some of the explosion can 'leak through' and cause burns.

Chris.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 13:39
Lifetime of an airbag - ForumNeedsModerating
Maybe it's the time of year or something, but can't read the thread as anything but
'A day in the life of an Airbag', which might go like...

Day 1 - Nothing happened..
Day 2- Nothing happened..
Day 3 - Nothing happened..
~
~
Day 3983 - I explode.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 13:43
Lifetime of an airbag - AJ 306
Good question. The Airbag light in my dashboard has suddenly started blinking in the last day or two. Does this mean I have it get it serviced on my Peugeot 306?
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 14:57
Lifetime of an airbag - Screwloose
AJ

No; it means that you need to go and buy a Haynes manual and a can of electrical contact cleaner; then ask the question again in Technical.

[Or use "Search" to find all the previous cases of under-seat connector contamination.]
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 15:43
Lifetime of an airbag - AJ 306
Thanks Screwlose. So it's not going to go off in my face then?!?! That's a relief. It has come on before and then gone off again just as quickly. It's just annoying cos it keeps blinking!!!!
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 15:59
Lifetime of an airbag - Bill Payer
I wonder when the insurance companies are going to start insisting the bags are replaced, otherwise your insurance is invalid?
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 16:00
Lifetime of an airbag - Group B
Are there special disposal sites where they detonate old airbags?


snipurl.com/1vhf0

:oP
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 16:23
Lifetime of an airbag - Lud
Ow! Yaroo!

bell boy enjoys letting off old airbags. To him perhaps they are the equivalent of Christmas crackers. So you can send your old airbags to him.
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Tue 18 Dec 2007 18:56
Lifetime of an airbag - Dynamic Dave
AJ 306

Usual problem is the wiring under the seats for the belt pretensioners. The links in the following thread *should* help you.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=50...2

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 18/12/2007 at 18:57

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Sat 22 Dec 2007 19:46
Lifetime of an airbag - Dynamic Dave
Just to inform how dangerous airbags can be when handling them:-

A postal worker was injured when a package containing a car steering wheel airbag exploded at a Devon post office. The car part was an Ebay purchase and exploded as it was being moved.

The sub postmistress suffered cuts to her face and minor shock and was taken to hospital for treatment.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7152977.stm
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Sat 22 Dec 2007 20:05
Lifetime of an airbag - Hamsafar
There was a test on a TV show, where they tested the oldest airbags they could find, they were about 20 years old and worked fine.
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Sat 22 Dec 2007 22:39
Lifetime of an airbag - Bromptonaut
There was a test on a TV show where they tested the oldest airbags they
could find they were about 20 years old and worked fine.


How many did they test?. If the recommended life is 10 yrs they don't suddenly become completely inneffective after 9yrs and 366 days.

Let's say the acceptable failure rate at 10yo is 2.5% (and in practice it might be much lower). Even at twice that age you'd potentially need to explode a lot of bags before you found the bad one.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 22/12/2007 at 22:40

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Sun 23 Dec 2007 11:48
Lifetime of an airbag - Honestjohn
The common factor of the two recently reported cases of drivers being burned by old airbags when the seams split is that both drivers were women. Several readers have pointed out that many women drivers drive ridiculously close to the steering wheel, as they might have done driving 1936 Wolseleys in the days before power steering. These women drivers need to learn to relax and sit back much further from the wheel. My wife is 4' 11", I'm 5' 9", and I can step into her car and drive it 200 miles without a twinge without moving the seat at all. (Admittedly it is an automatic, so with no clutch to push that makes it easier for her to sit back.)

HJ

Edited by Honestjohn on 23/12/2007 at 11:49

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Sun 23 Dec 2007 16:47
Lifetime of an airbag - Bilboman
Lifetime of an airbag?
According to the Parliament Act 1911, there must be elections after no more than 5 years of a parliamentary term.
A lot of them keep getting back in, though...
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Sun 23 Dec 2007 17:38
Lifetime of an airbag - Screwloose

No: that's a windbag - a slightly different animal.....
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Sun 23 Dec 2007 17:45
Lifetime of an airbag - Bilboman
Similarities between an airbag and a windbag:
*You're not aware of them doing anything until they suddenly explode.
* They've got your interests at heart, apparently, but when they suddenly act it costs a fortune to clear up the mess afterwards.
* They make us tighten our belts so they can do their job properly. Or so they say...

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Sun 23 Dec 2007 18:03
Lifetime of an airbag - Pugugly {P}
...and they leak like sieves....
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