Airbag Deployment ?
- Thread starter Kat
- Start date
...and you're still alive.....
LUCKY!
I'm pretty sure the truck is disabled if the airbags pop.
I went head on into a ditch with mine last March at about 85mph. It hit hard enough that the headlights and grille came out and landed about 35ft in front of the truck and the bags didn't even deploy. I have never had onstar turned on in my truck but they knew that I crashed it and the bags didn't deploy. A GM rep was there when I got back to my truck and they were all over it wondering why they didn't come out. But any who I had to shut it off too once I figured out the noise I was listening to was the fan hitting the bumper. It took a minute to come to my senses and get the blood out of my eyes.
The first guy that walked up looked right at me and said were you wearing your seat belt? And with blood running out of my nose and my shirt soaked all the way down to my jeans and a face print on the dash. I looked right at him and said yeah I sure was it just didn't work. I don't think he could figure out if I was joking or serious.:rofl:
I have never had onstar turned on in my truck but they knew that I crashed it and the bags didn't deploy. A GM rep was there when I got back to my truck and they were all over it wondering why they didn't come out. But any who I had to shut it off too once I figured out the noise I was listening to was the fan hitting the bumper. It took a minute to come to my senses and get the blood out of my eyes. The first guy that walked up looked right at me and said were you wearing your seat belt? And with blood running out of my nose and my shirt soaked all the way down to my jeans and a face print on the dash. I looked right at him and said yeah I sure was it just didn't work.
I don't think he could figure out if I was joking or serious.:rofl:I went head on into a ditch with mine last March at about 85mph. It hit hard enough that the headlights and grille came out and landed about 35ft in front of the truck and the bags didn't even deploy.
The first guy that walked up looked right at me and said were you wearing your seat belt? And with blood running out of my nose and my shirt soaked all the way down to my jeans and a face print on the dash. I looked right at him and said yeah I sure was it just didn't work.
I remembered that but I couldn't remember if the airbag deployed.
It's fun to watch airbags deploy, truly amazing on their speed. I've set off at least 10 in GM school and a couple at the dealer, all on purpose.
If you watch How It's Made on Discovery Channel, they showed how airbag were made, very interesting.
BTW, the aigbag does NOT shut down the vehicle, I don't recall any of them doing that, for safety reasons. Now the engine may shut off due to something hitting the engne, or the sudden decell making it stall or fuel connections opening, who knows, but I don't think it's part of the SRS's programming to shutdown when airbags deploy.
If you watch How It's Made on Discovery Channel, they showed how airbag were made, very interesting.
BTW, the aigbag does NOT shut down the vehicle, I don't recall any of them doing that, for safety reasons. Now the engine may shut off due to something hitting the engne, or the sudden decell making it stall or fuel connections opening, who knows, but I don't think it's part of the SRS's programming to shutdown when airbags deploy.
no the truck is NOT disabled. The engine will keep running. I think they (regulations) are required to keep running after a deployment, Kat are you sure the camaro and corvette's are SUPPOSED to shut off when an airbag deploys?? Because technically you could still be moving after the airbag deploys. Thats why it deflates immediately a split second after it deploys, theory is so if the vehicle is still moving, the bag deflates immediately so you can still see and steer to avoid anything else.
Bluemax- thats not possible...maybe someone reported it and then GM Reps came? The Gen 6 and 7 Onstar VCIM's do NOT have advanced accident capability, meaning, they will ONLY call onstar if an airbag is deployed. They CANT tell if you were in an accident with no airbag deployment. THink about it. How would they know? Our trucks dont have stability control or anything, and the deployment threshold in the SDM is at a fixed point that was not exceeeded (bags didnt deploy), so there is no way for the truck to know. The GMT-900 light duty's have this, if you are in a significant crash, but not bad enough to deploy the airbags, onstar can/will sometimes call the accidentresponse place automatically.
Were you wearing your seatbelt? If you arent wearing your seatbelt the airbags sometimes wont deploy because the SDM (airtbag computer) takes this into account when deciding whether or not to deploy the airbags (driver seatbelt usage)
Cbacon glad to hear you are ok! Amazing how safe these trucks are. The reason onstar didnt work is because you have a 2004 which has an onstar module that runs on the analog cell phone network. The FCC shut down the analog cell network so only 2005+ trucks with onstar will still work. Onstar cant shut off any GMT-800 series trucks remotely. I dont know about the -900's.
As for being in an accident and the airbags didnt deploy, read my numerous posts on the issue on DP
Bluemax- thats not possible...maybe someone reported it and then GM Reps came? The Gen 6 and 7 Onstar VCIM's do NOT have advanced accident capability, meaning, they will ONLY call onstar if an airbag is deployed. They CANT tell if you were in an accident with no airbag deployment. THink about it. How would they know? Our trucks dont have stability control or anything, and the deployment threshold in the SDM is at a fixed point that was not exceeeded (bags didnt deploy), so there is no way for the truck to know. The GMT-900 light duty's have this, if you are in a significant crash, but not bad enough to deploy the airbags, onstar can/will sometimes call the accidentresponse place automatically.
Were you wearing your seatbelt? If you arent wearing your seatbelt the airbags sometimes wont deploy because the SDM (airtbag computer) takes this into account when deciding whether or not to deploy the airbags (driver seatbelt usage)
Cbacon glad to hear you are ok! Amazing how safe these trucks are. The reason onstar didnt work is because you have a 2004 which has an onstar module that runs on the analog cell phone network. The FCC shut down the analog cell network so only 2005+ trucks with onstar will still work. Onstar cant shut off any GMT-800 series trucks remotely. I dont know about the -900's.
As for being in an accident and the airbags didnt deploy, read my numerous posts on the issue on DP
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Those are some pretty good points. I don't know maybe they were told by the highway patrol or something after they got me gone. They didn't waste any time getting me in an ambulance and hauling me away. The cop that came to get the statement from me at the hospital just told me all that stuff about the onstar.
If it has to do with the seat belts then that would explain it because I was not wearing it. But I told the GM rep guy that and he didn't mention that part?
The part that doesn't make sense about any of it is your post. My truck is an 03 which means what you said about 04 and older ones not working would mean mine wouldn't have called onstar in the first place? It appears I was lied to.
Oh well doesn't matter the guy called me every day till they released me, because the wrecker put it in my shop and locked it up, and wanted to crawl all over my truck. Had all kinds of crap plugged in and wires running every which way and found both airbag switches tripped but nothing deployed, He called my insurance company and told them to get him the details of where the truck was going if it was being repaired and that they would be taking it if it was totaled. I got a complete new airbag system compliments of GM while they were fixing it.:dontknow:
I'm not even going to go there :angel:
Trust me I can find him 99.9% of the time if I need him :witch:
Most fuel injected modern cars and trucks will shut off the fuel pump in the event of a rollover or serious collision. There is a NHTSA? mandate that you cannot leak much fuel in an accident. If there is a GM guy here, check the 1/2 ton Silverado Gas, the Corvette, and Dmax for something about "fuel pump reset switch" or procedure. I believe modern ones are computer-programmed with the airbags to reduce costs.
I am not sure it applies to 3/4 ton+ trucks which have their own safety specs.
I am not sure it applies to 3/4 ton+ trucks which have their own safety specs.
Oh well doesn't matter the guy called me every day till they released me, because the wrecker put it in my shop and locked it up, and wanted to crawl all over my truck. Had all kinds of crap plugged in and wires running every which way and found both airbag switches tripped but nothing deployed, He called my insurance company and told them to get him the details of where the truck was going if it was being repaired and that they would be taking it if it was totaled. I got a complete new airbag system compliments of GM while they were fixing it.:dontknow:
Thats why they didnt deploy. An airbag deployment with a driver who isnt wearing their seatbelt can be more deadly than no deployment with an unbelted driver. The SDM wont deploy the airbags if the driver isnt wearing his seatbelt.
Not to sound like an ass, but the GM reps are idiots (big surprise) if they couldnt figure this one out. Wires running everywhere to diagnose everything is also stupid. All you have to do is plug in the Tech 2 and you can pull all the "snapshot" data off the SDM at the time of deployment (accident). It gives likea 5 second record of brake pedal usage, speed, TPS, seatbelt usage, RPM, etc.... leading up to the accident. You can also check for open deployment loops, short circuits, etc with a tech 2. Im not a dealer tech and have no formal education in such, but Rttoys has and Im sure he could either confirm this or correct me if Im wrong.
The SDM is constantly monitoring all the deployment loops. If there was a short or something in the wiring was amiss, it would immedaitely turn the airbag light on. It also tests everything everytime you start the truck. Airbag system failures are VERY RARE because in today's airbag systems everything is solid state.
The fact that the GM rep said "both airbag sensors were tripped" also proves his ignorance. Heavy duty trucks only have one EFS (the front end sensor), and the EFS CAN NOT DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS ON ITS OWN. The EFS can only assist the SDM in making a decision. The SDM has its own internal accellerometers/G meters that it uses to make decisions. Once the SDM's internal G meter crosses the "this accident is severe enough to cause serious injury" threshold, it THEN looks to the EFS as a confirmation. Smashing the EFS, as I said, isnt going to guarantee a deployment. Because think of it like this, what if you are driving along offroad, and hit something that knocks the EFS? When I hit a deer at 70mph it wrecked the whole front core support (on which the EFS is mounted) and definetly gave the EFS a good jolt. Airbags didnt deploy becuase a 7000 lb truck isnt going to experience any shock or rapid decelleration from hitting a 200lb deer, no matter how fast you are going. I didnt even feel it. So theres a case that proves the "airbag sensor was tripped" theory wrong. Also, as I said its solid state. There is nothing on it or in it that someone can visually look at and say "this was hit hard enough to where it should have deployed the airbags".
Old airbag systems (as in, like early 1990's) did have EFS's that were mechanical, had like a little ball bearing with a spring at a preset tension. Enough g-force causes the ball to push forward against the spring, deploys the bags. These were phased out in the late 1990's because of obvious potential issues, inaccuracy, susceptable to corrosion, etc.
Hope that helps shed some light on the situation...I just wanted to explain that and defend the airbag system so people dont assume they are prone to failure, dont work right all the time, areas for lawsuits etc.
ben
as for onstar, who knows...was your accident before Jan of 08?
If they didnt start talking to you and saying "hello mr so and so I see you're in an accident, emergency personell are on their way" over the speakers then onstar didnt do anything.
If you dont have an active subscription to onstar they will not monitor you and send people if the airbags deploy.... I could be wrong tho...
If they didnt start talking to you and saying "hello mr so and so I see you're in an accident, emergency personell are on their way" over the speakers then onstar didnt do anything.
If you dont have an active subscription to onstar they will not monitor you and send people if the airbags deploy.... I could be wrong tho...
Not to sound like an ass, but the GM reps are idiots (big surprise) if they couldnt figure this one out. Wires running everywhere to diagnose everything is also stupid. All you have to do is plug in the Tech 2 and you can pull all the "snapshot" data off the SDM at the time of deployment (accident). It gives likea 5 second record of brake pedal usage, speed, TPS, seatbelt usage, RPM, etc.... leading up to the accident. You can also check for open deployment loops, short circuits, etc with a tech 2. Im not a dealer tech and have no formal education in such, but Rttoys has and Im sure he could either confirm this or correct me if Im wrong.
The SDM is constantly monitoring all the deployment loops. If there was a short or something in the wiring was amiss, it would immedaitely turn the airbag light on. It also tests everything everytime you start the truck. Airbag system failures are VERY RARE because in today's airbag systems everything is solid state.
The fact that the GM rep said "both airbag sensors were tripped" also proves his ignorance. Heavy duty trucks only have one EFS (the front end sensor), and the EFS CAN NOT DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS ON ITS OWN. The EFS can only assist the SDM in making a decision. The SDM has its own internal accellerometers/G meters that it uses to make decisions. Once the SDM's internal G meter crosses the "this accident is severe enough to cause serious injury" threshold, it THEN looks to the EFS as a confirmation. Smashing the EFS, as I said, isnt going to guarantee a deployment. Because think of it like this, what if you are driving along offroad, and hit something that knocks the EFS? When I hit a deer at 70mph it wrecked the whole front core support (on which the EFS is mounted) and definetly gave the EFS a good jolt. Airbags didnt deploy becuase a 7000 lb truck isnt going to experience any shock or rapid decelleration from hitting a 200lb deer, no matter how fast you are going. I didnt even feel it. So theres a case that proves the "airbag sensor was tripped" theory wrong. Also, as I said its solid state. There is nothing on it or in it that someone can visually look at and say "this was hit hard enough to where it should have deployed the airbags".
Old airbag systems (as in, like early 1990's) did have EFS's that were mechanical, had like a little ball bearing with a spring at a preset tension. Enough g-force causes the ball to push forward against the spring, deploys the bags. These were phased out in the late 1990's because of obvious potential issues, inaccuracy, susceptable to corrosion, etc.
Hope that helps shed some light on the situation...I just wanted to explain that and defend the airbag system so people dont assume they are prone to failure, dont work right all the time, areas for lawsuits etc.
ben
When I said there were wires running everywhere I was meaning that he plugged some little box somewhat like a tech 2 into the sensors at the bumper after using the tech 2 on the obd port. When he was done he said the sensors had tripped I just figured he meant the ones up front and the impact was enough to set the sensors off and that the bags didn't go for some reason. I don't know I wasn't really listening to him that closely. I was on some good drugs and I was thinking more about my truck being crashed and having no transportation than the air bags.
But there are 2 sensors on the front end at least on mine anyway. Right beside the frame rails on each side that he showed me.
I was not saying that air bags don't work, as a matter of fact I wouldn't have minded if they had went off in this case. Because now a days my nose plugs up all the time, I get nose bleeds pretty easy, I have bad headache's all the time. I sound a little different than I used to now and I'm always afraid to get very close to any large magnets ,even though I know it's titanium, for fear that I might do a face plant into one and break my nose again.
I'm not bashing airbags I have seen them work like they are supposed to. I used to think that an air bag on a motorcycle was the dumbest thing they could have ever designed but after having a couple of customers come in after crashing theirs I am a firm believer that in the right circumstances they save a lot of lives. I just would have thought that in my case the bags would have been set to go off seat belt or not. I was running 90mph strobes and siren blaring when a woman pulled out in front of me without looking the only thing I saw was a kid in a car seat in the back window, that made it a pretty easy decision. I barely had time to hit the brakes and swerved and went head on into the bank of the road she pulled out of. My truck was still going every bit of 85 when I hit the bank and it stopped in no more than half the distance of the length of the truck. Maybe I'm wrong but in a situation like that they might help. Luckily for me my truck was tall enough it kind of went across the ditch and started up the bank instead of lawn darting into the bank like a car probably would have.
Again I'm not arguing with you because like I said he was talking fast and at the time I was in pain and didn't really give a crap about the air bags. They didn't go off for whatever reason, no biggie, but I still didn't have any wheels. I'm not sue happy and had no intention of trying to get any money out of it from anyone. The woman didn't look and I was going faster than I should have been emergency or not. I got a ticket paid it and it's over with.
That's some cool info about air bag systems that I didn't know though and thanks for sharing.
PS I hope I never crash bad enough to find out just how hard you have to hit something to set the bags off if mine was not enough impact.
And yes it hurt just in case anyone is wondering...
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