Another airbag recall

[mclasser]

Honda sent me a notice in the mail saying there's another recall on the Accord's driver-side airbag inflator. It was already replaced once a few years back but apparently, that part is also defective

SMH... what a PITA. Can't wait to take my 17 yr old car into the stealership, yet again.

 

[KrisZ]

Since the chemistry of the charge is affected by its exposure to moisture and Takata could not keep up with production, probably still can't, manufacturers kept replacing the airbags with defective ones knowing full well they will need to be replaced again.

 

[The_Nuke]

It's a pain for sure, but you really need to take this seriously. What it boils down to is you basically have a hand grenade in your steering wheel (and passenger dash if also airbag equipped there). So if you get into an accident such that the airbag is commanded to deploy, you could have shards of metal coming at your head along with an airbag.

The underlying issue is with the mechanism that inflates the airbag. It has an explosive charge behind a metal ring holding the deflated airbag, and when commanded to deploy and inflate, the charge actually explodes to start the whole process. That explosion has enough force to fracture the metal ring, if it's been weakened by moisture and such, and spray those metal shards out into the passenger compartment.

And just to be clear, this is not theoretical. There have been 2 cases here in Texas that I know of where older cars with these airbags were involved in minor traffic accidents and their drivers were killed by the shrapnel coming out of the airbag deployment. Both vehicles were under active recall for their airbags, but evidently they had been purchased used and the recall notices were not sent to the new owners. Consequently, neither car had had the airbags replaced yet.

 

[KrisZ]

The moisture doesn't weaken the ring, it makes the chemical charge more powerful and less stable than originally designed. that is why they can get away with installing new, but still faulty airbags. The charge has no moisture in it.

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
The moisture doesn't weaken the ring, it makes the chemical charge more powerful and less stable than originally designed. that is why they can get away with installing new, but still faulty airbags. The charge has no moisture in it.


That's my understanding -- and it wil be safe for awhile, but not indefinitely.

Sure hope I don't have to go back in for mine...

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by JLTD
That's my understanding -- and it wil be safe for awhile, but not indefinitely.

Sure hope I don't have to go back in for mine...

And to me, the time would be the important factor to know if I had an affected vehicle and lived in a humid environment. All manufacturers are dead silent just how much time it takes for these airbags to be dangerous.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
Since the chemistry of the charge is affected by its exposure to moisture and Takata could not keep up with production, probably still can't, manufacturers kept replacing the airbags with defective ones knowing full well they will need to be replaced again.

Does this mean airbags need to be replaced every few years?

I also find it infuriating that this has gone on for 3? years already, and it still hasn't been resolved.

 

[bdcardinal]

The first round were the same parts but when new there is minimal risk. The second round will be the updated/corrected inflators.

 

[WagonWheel]

I had to have the same re-recall work done last month. I believe this was planned since the only replacement inflators at the time had the same latent defect. The upside was I got to drive a new CR-V for a half day.

Did you sign up for the Takata Honda class action settlement? I did but haven't seen anything. Expectations are low on that anyway

 

[Audios]

Im hoping the recall will include BMW, my front drivers bag was done barely 2 years ago and I got a fault the other day, drivers airbag resistance too high. No help from BMW or Takata so far.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I also received the airbag recall notice for my '04 Odyssey. My wife usually takes the van in for recalls, I look forward to the three page long list (of mostly garbage) they print off for her with stuff that needs replacing.

Last one was comical-- rear main seal (that's not leaking, just a wet spot from oil running down from when I miss the fill hole during an oil change!), battery (that's still testing fine to this day!), timing belt service (been done), fuel injection service and a dozen other things to the tune of $4k. They always make the same sales pitch to her-- "for much less than that $4k, we can put you in a brand new Odyssey with low monthly payments... do you want to test drive, do you want to take one home for a couple days??? blah blah blah" They're glad that I'm not there, they would get an earful.

 

[demarpaint]

The whole thing is a disgrace. My father is driving a 2013 Subaru and got notice about a month ago of the recall. It won't be until December that the dealership that sold him the car can do the job. I got notice on my 2016 Wrangler recently. I heard through a very reliable source they only get 15 airbags a week, so that the dealership is not overwhelmed with airbag replacements. That means mine is going to take a while too. A billion dollars+ in punishment isn't enough for those responsible for this, a long stay in prison on top or it would be nice.

I hope they get it right this time, the thought of going to a dealership for any kind of work is sickening. Having to do it twice, no thanks. Rant off.