On 1st April 2007 the driver?s airbag suddenly deployed when I turned on the ignition while parked. In taking this up with Saab I was told that there was no evidence of a manufacturing defect or any other subsequent cause and that as the car was well out of warranty, it was my problem, not theirs. I do not consider an air-bag to be limited by a 3 year warranty and therefore I have a number of problems ......
1. The on-board computer reports via Saab?s service tool to the mechanic that there is an air-bag fault, that the air-bag is open circuit and that no air-bags have ever deployed in the life of the vehicle. This is contradictory.
2. My understanding from reading the user handbook is that there is no such thing as a front left side or right side event that would cause such an air-bag deployment. Indeed it states that both air-bags are interconnected. If the motion sensor and control unit legitimately fired the airbag, why did only one deploy? The motion sensor is apparently still in a ?primed? state waiting to detect a collision.
3. I am not keen to replace the air-bag and ancillary components while the cause of this deployment is undetermined. If no reason can be identified I am uncomfortable that next time (70mph in darkness or a busy road) I might not be so lucky. I am also not prepared to sell the car to anyone else while this is unresolved.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
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I'm sure I've heard of a similar case with a SAAB. Might be worth doing a web search.
Clearly the airbag falsely fired - presumbaly as a result of an electrical discharge (e.g. 'static' or induced current in the airbag wiring harness) and not as a result of the ECU firing the airbag - your point (1) is therefore not contradictory.
It is possible that a large current rise in a cable next to the harness, or perhaps pick-up from a mobile phone signal, generated enough current in the firing harness to fire the squib in the airbag.
I think you will have a tough time fighting this one, since the parts would only be warranted for 3 years like any other part.
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Thanks, This is useful, and you are right; Saab are being very unhelpful. I am in correspondence with VOSA and will fight them as much as possible.
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Have you tried searching the forums or posting on www.saabscene.com or www.saabcentral.com, you are more likely to find owners with similar problems there. A quick search on saabscene came up with quite a few threads about airbag warning lights but I didnt spot one that mentioned airbag deployment..
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Again, thanks for this quick response. I will take time this evening to have a good search to both of these and consider posting.
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as basically said it could be an eronious voltage spiked the airbag
suggest you have the squib under the steering wheel and the firing wire checked over to see if its worn through onto another cable
bare in mind that the yellow cable needs changing in anycase because the ends apparently melt (never seen this mind but its an abi recomendation)
sorry cant answer the reason any more other than to suggest a fault in the airbag controller- water penetration -speed bump had dislodged the ball bearing slightly etc etc
sorry
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Thanks for this. Saab's main dealer in Edinburgh checked the car over on their behalf but I do not have sight of this report. They were meant to be looking for things like shorts though, not just hooking up a CAT2. The process is still ongoing though so some more definite information might eventually be available.
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It will not be a cheap repair. New module, trim and harness required....
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Main dealer quotes > £1,150 and expressly disclaims any warranty or responsibility ... charming!
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well I bet that increased your heart rate when it went off. Its not unheared of & was quite common a few years ago but tended to be kept quiet. If you go to google & type in " air bag deployed for no reason" it makes quite interesting reading as its big new's in the states even with VW's. I would suspect as bellboy states that a wire has touched somewhere probably around the columb or you had a build up of static. I can understand you not wanting to replace it without answers but I think unless you find others with the same problem you will have no choice but to have the loom's stripped & inspected. You can find specialist who sell s/hand air bags & if cheap enough it may be worth fitting one & wear a crash helmet or ask Saab to road test it for a while then see how keen they are!
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Heart rate and adrenalin boost in general! Thanks for taking the time to reply. I did read the VW stuff in the USA. It rings a bell when you read of them solidly stonewalling in the face of increasing incidence. I don't see Saab volunteering to test, unless its for a sales manger who is well below target and while the crash helmet suggestion is helpful and novel, it fails the high speed in the dark scenario!
If it has to be scrapped then I will try to find a suitable high profile final parking place for the remaining months of the RFL. Outside my main dealer's showroom front door has no restrictions come to think of it.
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Out of interest what year is the car?
Could it be the clockspring breaking down, the clockspring is a coil of wire that allows the steering wheel to turn while maintaing electrical contact with the airbag, horn and any steering wheel mounted contols. On my Mondeo a failing clockspring caused the airbag warning light to illuminate intermitently, usually when twirling the wheel while parking. If it is the clockspring that is at fault by replacing both it and the airbag would ensure that your faith in the car could be restored.
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Many thanks for this comment. The car is a V reg 1999, 100K miles, serviced by main dealers and specialists to schedule. What you suggest may be a possibility especially if intermittent though I was not turning the wheel at the time. I have never seen as much as a flicker from the airbag warning light in all of the years, just a sudden deployment!
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will fight them as much as possible.
About what? a problem on a 7 year old car? Ok so its an air bag, but so what?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thanks; so what is that it could be fatal, that's all. I expect a new new house not to collapse around my ears after 10 years guarantee etc etc
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Thanks; so what is that it could be fatal that's all. I expect a new new house not to collapse around my ears after 10 years guarantee etc etc
Fatal,? Hardly they are designed to be non invasive in the event of a unprogrammed deployment. IE you can move the thing out of the way.
Its an explosive device. There has always been an accepted risk that in a very small percentage of cases there will be unintended deployment
So far you have one and you have found another one. Out of the millions of cars that SAAB produced since the time your car was made, I would hardly call that an event.
Oh and btw, your house was designed to last for 75 years. You car was not.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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will fight them as much as possible. About what? a problem on a 7 year old car? Ok so its an air bag but so what? ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
TVM - you've been in a situation where an airbag has deployed (albeit correctly). In your opinion, if it deployed while you were driving, would you be able to continue driving safely or would the shock affect you? I'm afraid that an airbag deploying inadvertently is one of the things I would expect never to happen, and would fight the manufacturer on the issue if it were my car.
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TVM - you've been in a situation where an airbag
If it was just the drivers airbag? Then yes probably. If they all deployed? (side curtain, thorax and passenger) then no probably not - the combined shock to your senses is too much.
But the point is what does the OP expect SAAB to do about it? withdraw every SAAB since 1999? pay him compensation?
Its like this. Airbags are explosive devices. It was always recgonised that, as such, there would be a miniscule chance of unintended deployment. They minimise the risk where ever possible, but there is still a risk. They have saved gazillions of lives and that one has exploded to the OP on his 7 year old car frankly is tough.
Dont get me wrong, he has my sympathy, but its still Tough.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thats an excellent solution parked outside the dealer with notices all over it! Wicked
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Yep; it's growing on me hour by hour!
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I wonder if your car's computer had the date programmed into it for this particular stunt?
659. (Ex pre-GM SAAB owner; GM versions - no thanks).
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I do not think the date was programmed in but I do feel that I am dealing with a large and impenetrable GM rather than a Swedish Aerospace company with a proud customer service and safety reputation. In short, I am being fobbed off if possible. To dump the problem on me because I cannot prove a manufacturing defect seems crass. I think it might be time to go back to BMW after a great 900 full turbo coupe (240K) and this 95 HOT Aero (100K). I do so reluctantly but can smell it when I encounter it!
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From UKSaabs.co.uk we have (edited by deletions)
brian duncan
Joined: 05 Apr 2006
Posts: 6
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:20 am Post subject: Airbag went off while stationary
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Saab 9-5 3.0 v6 1999 4-door.
my passenger side seat airbag went off last August while the car was stationary. that was scary enough as the xplosion was pretty loud.
I took it to Saab, eventually, as I had a problem getting an appointment, and ever since discussions have taken place a at snails pace.
Saab told me that the wiring was faulty and it would be £900 to fix. to be honest I was shocked at the cost and that the problem was faulty wiring.
what happened was, that my wife broke her foot and I was picking her up from the hospital. I stopped the car and got her in the front seat, crutches first, then I nipped round to and nipped in the drivers door, switched on the ignition (did not start the car or move off) and BOOM! not knowing what happened, stunned and shocked we got out the car very quickly. then realised the airbag had gone off.
does anybody know anything about the airbag sensors and where they are located ? I believe the faulty wiring story I'm being told is not right. why has the faulty wiring never happned before and could it happen again ?
I think the aluminium crutches made the sensors go off ? by their location sitting right beside the sensor, such that when power was applied it went off . and if so then its liable to happen again.
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