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replacing air bag

MadDog

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
618
Location
Augusta, GA
I removed the drivers airbag to pull and repair the dash. Its been about 9 months and I want to put the airbag back in. Should I reinstall it while the car battery is connected or not ?

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
Yeah, disconnect the battery and wait about 10 minutes, there's a backup power supply in the airbag module that keeps it live for a few minutes. Severe frontal crashes often cause the battery to move so violently that it disconnects, which is why airbag modules have short term backup power. Among other projects, I worked on airbag systems in my engineering tenure at Ford.
 
The airbag has been disconnected and sitting in a plastic bucket for 9 months, so its battery is dead. So, if I understand correctly, leave the main car battery disconnected while installing the drained-battery airbag.

Better safe than sorry.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
There's no battery in the airbag itself, just a squib (an electric igniter) to ignite the gas generator cartridge. Air bag propellant is rather static sensitive, the squib terminals on the bag should be shorted for safety until it is installed. The airbag sensing, diagnoses and deployment electronic module is the part with the backup power supply, the backup supply will only function for a few minutes after the vehicle battery is disconnected.
 
I forgot to mention this when I did it, but no problem at all. The airbag had sat for a few months, and it didnt go off when I plugged it back in. : )

Mad Dog
 
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