Anyone know anything about 15 year old + undeployed Airbags? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Carrameow · #1 01-14-2005, 11:52 AM

I own a 91 1991 Volovo 940 Turbo and a 87 300D, both with airbags. On both cars, the SR5 light comes on correctly indicating the airbag is okay.

What is the true condition of 16 year old airbags that have never deployed? Cna you still trust them? Or should you reneder them unuseable/undeployable.

Does anyone have any websites? For someone who takes a lot of pride in his troubleshooting skills on both gassers and diesels, I know nothing about airbags.

dannym · #2 01-14-2005, 12:16 PM

Info I found on the internet:

Quote:

As these innovations are still relatively young, it's somewhat unclear if they deteriorate with time. "When initially designed, nobody knew, so airbag manufacturers limited liability to 10 years and car companies did the same," says Mats Oldman of Autoliv, a Swedish company and one of the world's major suppliers of airbags. "That's why some cars still have airbags giving expiry dates."

Oldman says that, in reality, airbags probably last as long as the vehicle itself, unless the explosive powder becomes moist. This is very unlikely and probably only a risk in areas prone to high humidity or torrential rain.

But, says Tom O'Connor of VW, the "lifetime guarantee" generally refers only to airbags fitted in the controlled environment when the car is being built and not necessarily for those installed afterwards. It's down to where the bag was stored and how it was handled.

Peugeot says that, up to a couple of months ago, it recommended that the pyrotechnics in belts and airbags be replaced after 10 years but has now increased it to 15 years. This is probably just as well, as replacing airbags which deployed in an accident is a big and sometimes costly job.

rwthomas1 · #3 01-14-2005, 01:32 PM

The older airbags are notorious for injuring people as they open with too much force. Very dangerous if you are a small person. I don't care for airbags at all. My eye doctor (surgeon) does lots of work on people that get hit in the face with airbags. Detached retina, ruptured corneas, etc. He paid a mechanic to show him how to disable the front airbags on his new Volvo. I prefer to wear my belts and drive a nice sturdy car. Sure the airbag may save you from facial lacerations, etc. but I would rather have scars and vision than be a good looking blind guy. I would disable them. RT

Carrameow · #4 01-14-2005, 01:41 PM

I mean if I had a Fiesta I would be really concerned, but I drive big cars because they are safer as long as you buckle up and drive carefully and slowly. I mean my 240D got hit by two cars and I was the first driver out of the cars. The glass was smashed and two of the doors were jammed shut, but the sheer integrity of the car saved my life.

I had heard that about the older bags.

Will_w202 · #5 01-14-2005, 01:52 PM

The door jamb sticker on my 97 C230 (produced 10/1996) says to replace both airbags as of 10/2011. So Mercedes, at least for the 202 chassis, says 15 years.

kerry · #6 01-14-2005, 02:26 PM

One advantage of air bags, I believe, is that they limit the amount that your head and neck can flail around in an accident. It is encouraging serious cervical spine injury to hold the lumbar and thoracic spine in place with belts but let the cervical spine fly around with our heavy heads on top of it.
I may be wrong, but I think airbags may limit this danger.

Carrameow · #7 01-14-2005, 02:40 PM

would limit cervical flailing..anyway I know enough to know that smarter and wiser people have designed these systems and that I'm not going to play with them or second guess them.
I will leave mine alone.
My feeling i starting to be thats its armed potent and ready-to-go, and not to be played/tampered with and the few answers I have gotten have given me some guidance.

Its just a little queasy feeling, you know I have taken off /apart and fixed clocks, alarms, CLS's, doors, locks, speedometers,seats, gas tanks, engines, dashes, replaced heater cores, but this airbag remains this little balck Cassandra's box that makes me nervous as h____

kerry · #8 01-14-2005, 02:43 PM

Headrest stops backward movement but not forward movement in a head on collision. Think Dale Earnhardt. Damage may not be as severe at highway speeds but the potential is still there.

Kestas · #9 01-14-2005, 03:16 PM

Tough call..... detached retina, ruptured cornea - versus - hyperextended neck. This additional information on air bag injury is welcome, though.

I can verify (through the automotive engineering journals) that neck injury is a real concern with restraint designs that have lap & shoulder belts but no air bag, such as cars from the 70s and 80s. Americans design air bags with powerful deployment to protect unbelted drivers. Europeans essentially design their cars with what is called a "face bag", fully expecting the driver to be restrained by belts.

If I may rant on a related subject..... head rests on American cars are useless! I'm tall, and when I tilt my head back with the head rest full up, I look straight up at the ceiling.... very little protection against whiplash! My MB gives full protection. Whatever happened to NHTSA requirements to protect people against whiplash?

kerry · #10 01-14-2005, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kestas

Tough call..... detached retina, ruptured cornea - versus - hyperextended neck. This additional information on air bag injury is welcome, though.

I can verify (through the automotive engineering journals) that neck injury is a real concern with restraint designs that have lap & shoulder belts but no air bag, such as cars from the 70s and 80s. Americans design air bags with powerful deployment to protect unbelted drivers. Europeans essentially design their cars with what is called a "face bag", fully expecting the driver to be restrained by belts.

If I may rant on a related subject..... head rests on American cars are useless! I'm tall, and when I tilt my head back with the head rest full up, I look straight up at the ceiling.... very little protection against whiplash! My MB gives full protection. Whatever happened to NHTSA requirements to protect people against whiplash?

Gotta concur. I have a serious neck injury so have become very aware of headrests. The one's in my 74 Olds were virtually worthless. I modified them with additional minicell foam, but the MB headrests are a quantum leap above the Olds design.

Hatterasguy · #11 01-14-2005, 10:13 PM

It doesnt matter what car you drive, in certain accidents you will get hurt. Drive a Maybach and a Kia into a wall at 100mph, your dead in both. Airbags are a good thing and help, but I wouldn't bet on mine working.

DslBnz · #12 01-14-2005, 10:23 PM

Obviously, the best restraint system to have ever been developed is the three point safety belt. Not enough thanks can be given to Nils Bohlin for this implementation into automobiles for 1959.

Hatterasguy · #13 01-14-2005, 10:41 PM

Your right the wearing a seat belt is the best thing you can do. MB even puts 3 point belts in the rear seats. I remember my Moms old 86 Olds ony had those stupid lap belts. I remember when I was really little we drove down to FL in that car, those stupid lap belts ticked me off for almost 2 days. They would get tighter and tighter. Even when I was a little kid I was thinking hmm those are going to hurt in a crash.

MBDFahrer · #14 01-15-2005, 12:14 AM

"The service life of the airbag extends to the date indicated on the sticker on the inside of the glove compartment door and on the radiator cowl in the engine compartment. To provide continued reliability after that date, it should be inspectedby an authorized MERCEDES-BENZ dealer at that time."

Page 38 of the Owner's manual. My 300D has had the airbag replaced in 1997 I believe.

Its funny to have to wonder about a airbags reliability, but in my friend's 2004 Honda Civic, he's been in 2 SEVERE frontal accidents (short of being a total loss) and yet, in both occasions the airbag didn't deploy.

#15 01-15-2005, 06:07 AM

Do the headrests on a 1981 300SD (w126) go up? I know they tilt forward and back but I cannot, for the life of me, get mine to go UP!

(and as far as I know, they are not power...just the seats)