Takata interim fix

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A couple of weeks back I got my wifes' air bag replaced. Today I received a notice that the will do an interim fix on my car. Replace it now with a new unit of same design. It will get a permanent fix once the new parts are manufactured. I guess the chemicals are unstable after 10 years that is why there is an interim fix. It looks like it will be a while before this is fixed permanently. Car is a 2007 A6.
 
I don't know what the deal is, but we are doing recalls on recalls on some of the Chryslers.
 
Ya Mazda just called back all the CX7 and CX9 passenger side inflators and took down the page for us to order them. The ones being installed were interim repairs and they do not have a way for us to order the permanent fix yet.

On some Ford models the passenger side inflator was just never available and customers were sent a letter in June of 2016 telling them there was an advance notice. They have not been given anything else yet so we get lots of people calling rightfully worried.
 
Originally Posted By: raaizin
A couple of weeks back I got my wifes' air bag replaced. Today I received a notice that the will do an interim fix on my car. Replace it now with a new unit of same design. It will get a permanent fix once the new parts are manufactured. I guess the chemicals are unstable after 10 years that is why there is an interim fix. It looks like it will be a while before this is fixed permanently. Car is a 2007 A6.


It is not so much a matter of age, but humidity. Humidity breaks down the pellets, so the generant is no longer in pellet for, but rather powder. This drastically increases the surface area of the generant, which in turn drastically increases the burn rate. Faster burn rate = higher than designed pressures.

There are two theories of how moisture gets in the generant chamber, which is supposed to be sealed. I don't know that Takata does, but our company does leak checks on inflators to verify they don't leak. A leaker is scrap.

Anyway, the theory that Takata wants you to believe is that the seal eventually fails on some inflators, allowing humidity to enter the generant chamber, thus breaking down the generant pellets. Within the industry, word is that Takata does not control moisture well enough during the generant manufacturing process. Thus the moisture is in the generant from the very beginning, resulting in some batches that have high moisture content sealed up right inside the inflator. For these, it is inevitable that eventually the generant pellets will break down.

Takata now adds desiccant to the inside of their inflators. This should greatly extend the time before the pellets start breaking down.

So, the short answer is, the interim fix Audi is offering should be safe until a permanent fix is offered.

I would do it if it were my wife's car.
 
There's more to the story than humidity and sealing.

There is metal debris in some airbags. That debris has killed some people.

There was no production control or proper labeling. Thus, recall re-use of airbag production that should have been condemned, because it couldn't be properly identified. You know the little dials for day/date and little numbers for production line molded into the back of so many plastic auto products nowadays? Stickers? UV print? Dot matrix print? Takata didn't do that.
 
I know that all of the latest ones we are installing have a white stripe around the passenger inflator. The previous ones did not.
 
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Originally Posted By: bdcardinal

On some Ford models the passenger side inflator was just never available and customers were sent a letter in June of 2016 telling them there was an advance notice. They have not been given anything else yet so we get lots of people calling rightfully worried.


Yep! This airbag thing has been a communication fiasco. GM sent letters to Silverado owners way in advance of parts being available, and many owners were understandably upset when they were told there was no ETA.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
There's more to the story than humidity and sealing.

There is metal debris in some airbags. That debris has killed some people.

There was no production control or proper labeling. Thus, recall re-use of airbag production that should have been condemned, because it couldn't be properly identified. You know the little dials for day/date and little numbers for production line molded into the back of so many plastic auto products nowadays? Stickers? UV print? Dot matrix print? Takata didn't do that.



Can you provide links to articles that provide evidence of this? I'm pretty positive this isn't correct.

When the inflator is over-pressurized from the defective generant, it bursts. The bursting inflator housing breaks apart into many pieces. This is where the metal debris comes from, resulting in injury and death.

There are no claims of foreign material in these inflators, except perhaps the moisture.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: HangFire
There's more to the story than humidity and sealing.

There is metal debris in some airbags. That debris has killed some people.

There was no production control or proper labeling. Thus, recall re-use of airbag production that should have been condemned, because it couldn't be properly identified. You know the little dials for day/date and little numbers for production line molded into the back of so many plastic auto products nowadays? Stickers? UV print? Dot matrix print? Takata didn't do that.



Can you provide links to articles that provide evidence of this? I'm pretty positive this isn't correct.

When the inflator is over-pressurized from the defective generant, it bursts. The bursting inflator housing breaks apart into many pieces. This is where the metal debris comes from, resulting in injury and death.

There are no claims of foreign material in these inflators, except perhaps the moisture.


I'm pretty sure HangFire works for one of Takata's competitors so this would be first hand knowledge.
 
Had our Scion in for another recall and it is due for the passenger airbag inflator.

Was told that parts are not ready for the 2011 yet, and they are repairing them by model year. They are still working on the 2009 model year XB apparently.

I was told parts would be ready in 2018.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Can you provide links to articles that provide evidence of this? I'm pretty positive this isn't correct.

When the inflator is over-pressurized from the defective generant, it bursts. The bursting inflator housing breaks apart into many pieces. This is where the metal debris comes from, resulting in injury and death.

There are no claims of foreign material in these inflators, except perhaps the moisture.

There are two issues. The metal cartridge containing the explosive would rupture:
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news...ecall/index.htm

There has been plastic and metal shavings found in the airbags:
"A 2006 internal log of quality issues noted problems with inflators sold to Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T), Ford Motor Co (F.N), BMW AG (BMWG.DE), Honda Motor Co (7267.T), Daimler AG's (7267.T) Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T). The log listed problems including metal shavings and contamination, broken or missing clips, and deformed or misaligned parts. "
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-takata-inflators-exclusive-idUSKCN0VV0L6

I don't work for one of Takata's competitors. Until recently I had family working at Ford dealers (and have had, for, well, since there WERE Ford dealers), and at a previous job I worked in vehicle design with ex-Ford and ex-GM engineers.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Can you provide links to articles that provide evidence of this? I'm pretty positive this isn't correct.

When the inflator is over-pressurized from the defective generant, it bursts. The bursting inflator housing breaks apart into many pieces. This is where the metal debris comes from, resulting in injury and death.

There are no claims of foreign material in these inflators, except perhaps the moisture.

There are two issues. The metal cartridge containing the explosive would rupture:
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news...ecall/index.htm

There has been plastic and metal shavings found in the airbags:
"A 2006 internal log of quality issues noted problems with inflators sold to Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T), Ford Motor Co (F.N), BMW AG (BMWG.DE), Honda Motor Co (7267.T), Daimler AG's (7267.T) Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T). The log listed problems including metal shavings and contamination, broken or missing clips, and deformed or misaligned parts. "
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-takata-inflators-exclusive-idUSKCN0VV0L6

I don't work for one of Takata's competitors. Until recently I had family working at Ford dealers (and have had, for, well, since there WERE Ford dealers), and at a previous job I worked in vehicle design with ex-Ford and ex-GM engineers.



Your quote of the Reuters article stopped one paragraph short. It goes on to say:

"Those problems eventually could allow moisture to contaminate the ammonium nitrate propellant, which in turn could lead to an inflator rupture, one of the former Takata managers told Reuters."

Again, the problem is moisture breaking down the generant. This leads to extreme internal pressures in the inflator, causing it to rupture. When the inflator ruptures, it breaks into pieces, sending metal parts tearing through the cushion and towards the occupant.

Every case that has been reported is related to this condition. It is all related to Takata deciding to use Ammonium Nitrate in their generant.

Your link to the Consumer Reports article didn't work. I searched all CR articles on the Takata issue and couldn't figure which one it was that you were referencing.
 
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Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I'm pretty sure HangFire works for one of Takata's competitors so this would be first hand knowledge.


Actually, I work for one of Takata's competitors. Before that I worked for Takata. And before that I worked for Takata's competitor. I have over 26 years of experience in automotive safety systems, most of it in airbags, the rest in seatbelts. Among my jobs, I've managed testing of airbag inflators, and have been involved in teardwon and evaluation of performance of airbag inflators.

We have been watching the Takata issue very closely, as it has had a huge effect on our company also, and on the airbag industry as a whole.

My apologies to all who find it offensive when people here wave their credentials. (I am one of them.) But since it was already brought up, I wanted to clear the air. There is a lot of misinformation floating about on this issue.
 
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Not sure if this has anything to do with anything but I have noticed a lot of the driver side inflators are very rusty. These would be the ones I am packing up to ship back, or in Mazda's case, put on a pallet waiting until we can get to 200.
 
Well of course moisture is the big issue. I was stating there were two different issues with flying metal. And I have a citation which I quoted were there WAS a metal contamination problem, as I had previously stated. Trying to make that statement "go away" by ignoring it and steering the conversation back to moisture is kind of bizarre.

Another stab at the other link:
Consumer Reports
 
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